Germany-based steelmaker Salzgitter Group has announced its financial results for the first nine months of the current year, posting a net loss of €29.8 million ($32.81 million), compared to a net profit of €194 million in the same period of 2018.
Salzgitter's sales revenues amounted to €6.64 billion ($7.31 billion) in the January-September period this year, down 4.2 percent year on year primarily due to selling prices, while the company's EBITDA totaled €351.9 million ($387.42 million), down 39.8 percent compared to the first nine months of the previous year.
Meanwhile, the company produced 5.06 million mt of crude steel in the period in question, decreasing by 2.7 percent year on year.
The company stated that the results for the first nine months of the year were affected by the gradual decline in steel selling prices, higher iron ore costs and a downturn in demand, not only from the automotive sector. Besides, the suspected cartel arrangements regarding heavy plate and steel strip products against the company also contributed negatively to the results.
Salzgitter Group commented, “Against the backdrop of restructuring expenses still to be determined for the implementation of the new profit improvement program, we anticipate for the Salzgitter Group to post a pre-tax loss and lower external sales of under €9 billion ($9.91 billion) compared with the previous year.”