Steel Mills

SSAB Americas Feels Chill of Winter

April 26, 2014

SSAB Americas felt the effects of the winter freeze in the first quarter of 2014. Sales for the Americas segment were SEK 3,685 million ($559 million), down 2 percent from fourth quarter 2013 but 7 percent higher than Q1 2013. Higher prices and a favorable product mix were offset by lower volumes.

External steel shipments for the quarter totaled 604,000 tonnes (665,784 tons). High strength steel shipments fell 8 percent from fourth quarter to 145,000 tonnes (159,832) and were down 19 percent when compared to first quarter 2013. High strength steels accounted for 24 percent of SSAB Americas total shipments. Compared to fourth quarter 2013, crude steel production dropped 3 percent and steel production was 7 percent lower.

A maintenance outage at the Mobile, Ala., plant reduced production at the end of the quarter. Severe weather dampened demand as well as slowing transportation of raw and finished products. Demand from Automotive and Construction Machinery improved during the quarter while other segments weakened. SSAB remains optimistic for 2014 with North American operations expected to improve as the economy continues to pick up.

Swedish steel maker SSAB posted a net loss of SEK 49 million ($7.4 million), narrowing the loss from Q1 2013 of SEK 137 million ($20.7 million). Losses were attributed to weather related disruptions of North American production and demand as well as lower sales to Russia and Turkey. The Americas division of SSAB comprises 40 percent of the company’s sales.