SSAB expects stable demand for steel in the second quarter

Swedish steel producer SSAB expects stable demand for steel in the second quarter of 2023. This is stated in the company’s report according to the results of the first quarter.

The company’s operating profit in January-March 2023 amounted to SEK 4.73 billion ($460 million), exceeding analysts’ forecasts. Compared to the adjusted results of the fourth quarter of 2022, it increased by SEK 965 million.

According to the report, SSAB Special Steels and SSAB Americas continue to show strong results. Meanwhile, a weaker European market with lower prices but higher raw material costs compared to Q1 2022 impacted SSAB Europe and subsidiaries Tibnor and Ruukki Construction. The latter were also affected by weak European construction activity.

“Demand improved and we increased production due to better capacity utilization and increased supply, which offset lower sales prices,” the company said in a statement.

SSAB predicts that the European market has stabilized after the downturn in the second half of 2022, and demand will be stable during the second quarter of this year. The company expects shipments from Special Steels and the European division to be slightly higher than in the first quarter in the period, and to remain flat at SSAB Americas.

SSAB sees strong demand for steel without a carbon footprint. The company has launched a new steel that reduces indirect customer emissions, the world’s first product of its kind with zero fossil carbon equivalent emissions per kg of steel. The group estimates that total deliveries of SSAB Zero during 2023 will amount to about 40,000 t to leading customers as the Volvo Group.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in March 2023, SSAB presented development strategy until 2030. The Swedish steelmaker plans to increase its annual profit by at least 10 billion Swedish kroner ($968 million) from 2030 thanks to the green transition. The company will also continue to develop the production of high-strength steels.