Posted on 04 Mar 2021
Swiss Steel benefitted from an upswing in the engineering and special steel sector in Q4 2020 but saw a depressed stainless and tool steel market, the steel producer said March 3.
Presenting the annual results for 2020, the company said that sales volumes in stainless steel and tool steel decreased compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Overall, Swiss Steel saw a 16.1% year-on-year decline in sales volumes for 2020 to 1.5 million mt and a 23.2% y-o-y revenue decrease to Eur2.3 billion.
"After a very difficult year due to COVID-19, sales cautiously started to improve after the summer break," said CEO Clemens Iller.
"This trend continued in the fourth quarter, generating improved sales and order volumes driven primarily by the automotive industry, with a slight recovery in mechanical and plant engineering. However, demand in the energy segment, especially with oil and gas, remains sluggish," said Iller.
Crude steel production at the company increased in Q4 by 14.6% year on year to 501,000 mt and Swiss Steel said that capacity utilization across the network of eight electric arc furnaces was at 80%.
Sales volumes increased 20.8% year on year in Q4 in quality and engineering steel, supported by a recovery in demand from the automotive industry, but declined 2.8% on the year in stainless and 3.1% in tool steel.
Despite signs of recovery in the most important segments and the oil price, overall demand in the fourth quarter remained low for stainless and tool steel, said Swiss Steel.
Order backlog at the end of 2020 was up by 35.7% year on year to 566,000 mt year primarily due to a slight recovery in the automotive sector during Q4.
Swiss Steel anticipates continuing pandemic-related uncertainties in the first half of the year, "but is cautiously optimistic of moderate normalizations" in the second half of 2021.
Source:Platts
