Swedish specialty steel producer SSAB has posted its financial results for 2018, reporting a net profit of SEK 3.8 billion ($419.5 million), rising by 64.6 percent compared to 2017. The company's sales revenues amounted to SEK 74.9 billion ($8.3 billion) in the year in question, increasing by 13.44 percent year on year.
In 2018, SSAB's crude steel output remained almost stable at 8.03 million mt, while finished steel production stood at 7.4 million mt, remaining unchanged, both year on year. Its steel shipments in the given period went down by 0.1 percent year on year to 6.9 million mt.
SSAB said that in North America demand for heavy plate is estimated to remain strong during the first quarter of 2019. In Europe, demand is expected to be fairly stable. Global demand for high-strength steels is expected to remain strong during the first quarter of 2019.
For SSAB Americas, shipments are expected to be higher during the first quarter of 2019 compared with the fourth quarter of 2018 when a major maintenance outage was completed. Shipments for SSAB Europe are expected to be higher in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter when maintenance outages were completed in parts of the operation. Shipments for SSAB Special Steels are expected to increase during the first quarter, primarily following the planned maintenance outage in Oxelösund during the fourth quarter.