Steel Mills

NLMK USA Posts 30% Increase in Tonnage Sold

March 30, 2014

According to recently released data from Novileptsk (NLMK), their North American operations sold 737,000 net tons of flat rolled steel products during the 4th Quarter 2013. This includes sales of hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steels. The new number represents an improvement of 240,000 tons compared to the 4Q 2012 (+30 percent). For the year, North American operations sold 1,996,283 net tons which represents a 4 percent increase year-over-year.

North American operations accounted for 14 percent of the total sales of the Russian parent company.

NLMK USA was a key contributor to the success of NLMK as the USA division returned $33 million EBITDA.

NLMK reported USA prices on flat rolled increased by 2-5 percent on average during the fourth quarter over the prior quarter.

NLMK USA had sales of 270,000 of hot rolled during the 4th Quarter 2013 which was 11 percent lower than the previous quarter. For the year NLMK USA sold 1,177,267 net tons of hot rolled coil which represents a 9.8 percent increase year-over-year.

Cold rolled sales totaled 136,686 net tons, up 12 percent quarter-over-quarter. For the year the company sold 509,267 net tons (+3.8 percent).

Hot dipped galvanized sales totaled 88,000 net tons for the quarter which is 23 percent higher than the 71,650 net tons sold in the prior quarter. Total sales of HDG for the year was 306,442 net tons which was 14.8 percent lower than 2012.

Production of steel at the NLMK Indiana plant totaled 180,778 net tons during the 4th Quarter and 747,366 net tons for the 2013 calendar year. Both were down by 7 percent (quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year). The balance of tons sold came from slabs purchased from the parent company as well as elsewhere around the world and rolled in their Pennsylvania operations.

The company is forecasting stable production volumes with higher sales dollars based on improving conditions both in Russia and their external markets.