Market Segment
October 18, 2022
NLMK USA’s Sales Decline Considerably
Written by Laura Miller
NLMK USA saw a considerable decline in third-quarter and year-to-date sales due to high inventories and a slowdown in customer activity because of falling steel prices.
The US flat-rolled steel company — made up of NLMK Indiana, NLMK Pennsylvania, and the Sharon Coating galvanizing facility in Pennsylvania — posted preliminary sales of 300,000 metric tons in Q3. This was a 9% drop from second-quarter sales and a 42% decline from Q3 2021.
Q3 production in the US was 1% lower sequentially, said Russian parent company NLMK Group in its latest trading update.
The company reported weak overall demand from automotive companies because of semiconductor supply disruptions, high stock levels, and cheaper raw materials prices.
In the first nine months of the year, lower demand from 2021’s high base resulted in a 27% year-on-year (YoY) decline in sales for NLMK USA to 1.1 million metric tons.
A recovery of demand in Russia and Turkey led to an 8% sequential rise and a 5% YoY rise in NLMK Group’s company-wide Q3 sales to 4.3 million metric tons. In the first three quarters of the year, total sales of 12.9 million metric tons climbed 4% higher YoY.
By Laura Miller, Laura@SteelMarketUpdate.com
