The Russian steelmaker Novolipetsk Steel (NLMK) has announced that in 2009 it produced 10.6 million mt of crude steel, managing to maintain its 2008 production level, mainly due to the timely launching of the blast furnaces that were stopped in 2008 and due to the consolidation of its US-based subsidiary Beta Steel Corp.
NLMK's 2009 production volumes (million mt):
| 2009 | 2008 | 2009/2008 change (%) |
Pig iron | 8.476 | 8.408 | +0.8 |
Slabs | 10.614 | 10.500 | +1.1 |
Flats | 5.020 | 5.005 | +0.3 |
Billets | 0.268 | 0.542 | -50.6 |
Long products | 1.176 | 1.196 | -1.6 |
Metalware | 0.190 | 0.146 | +30.1 |
Total production | 10.583 | 10.617 | -0.3 |
Due to the higher production volumes and lower stocks seen mainly in Q3, NLMK's total 2009 steel sales increased by 3.3 percent year on year to 10.6 million mt, including 559,000 mt of pig iron - down 9.3 percent, 3.44 million mt of slabs - up 10.8 percent, 4.92 million mt of flat products - up 3.2 percent, 271,000 mt of billets - down 49.8 percent, 1.23 million mt of long products - up 12.7 percent, and 187,000 mt of metalware - up 28.8 percent, all compared to 2008.
In Q4 2009, NLMK's production facilities were run at approximately 87 percent capacity, including its main production site in Lipetsk, where the utilization rate reached 99 percent, and the long products division operations, where the utilization rate grew to 73 percent.
According to the company's statement, in Q4 2009 NLMK's total sales amounted to 2.8 million mt, showing a decrease of 12 percent quarter on quarter, mainly due to the seasonal decline in demand for steel products. On the other hand, NLMK says that its Q4 sales will exceed $1.7 billion, while its EBIDTA margin will be in the range of 25-30 percent.
In Q1 2010, NLMK expects that its steel production will amount to 2.8 million mt - down from 2.9 million mt in Q4 2009. "In Q1 2010 we expect an insignificant reduction in production and sales volumes driven mostly by a seasonal decline in demand. Within the period of low demand the group companies will perform repair works at main production facilities," reads the company's statement.
Meanwhile, in the first quarter of this year, NLMK expects that its financial performance will be driven by growing steel prices both in the international and domestic markets.