Germany-based steelmaker Salzgitter Group has announced its financial results for the first quarter of the current year, posting a net profit of €1 million, compared to a net profit of €32.7 million in the corresponding quarter of 2015.
Salzgitter's sales revenues amounted to nearly €1.86 billion in the first quarter this year, decreasing by 18.3 percent year on year, while the company's EBITDA totaled €105.6 million, decreasing by 29.4 percent compared to the first quarter of 2015.
In the current year, Salzgitter expects that the activities of its strip business unit will be subject to extremely challenging framework conditions. The sharp increase in the volumes of cheap imports from China since the second half of 2015 has exerted considerable pressure on prices. Spot market prices for rolled steel products in the European market were recently observed to be picking up, albeit starting from a very low level. Meanwhile, the plate/section business unit of the company is also exposed to a difficult market environment in the current financial year. Due to the flood of imports, the plate mills in particular are confronted with partly ruinous price declines that are currently stabilizing at a low level.