French stainless steelmaker Aperam expects the market to remain challenging in the months to come and forecasts a lower Ebitda compared to the good results achieved in the first half of the year.
“We achieved the sixth consecutive set of record results despite an increasingly challenging market environment. While Brazil is stable at a high level, adverse market conditions have increased in Europe,” chief executive Timoteo Di Maulo says in the company’s first-half-of-2022 financial report monitored by Kallanish.
Aperam’s shipments increased in H1 to 1.31 million tonnes from 974,000t in the same period last year. The company achieved €4.7 billion ($4.8 billion) in sales, up from €2.4 billion in H1 2021. Ebitda stood at €712 million, also a notable increase from the level of €446m in H1 2021. The Stainless & Electrical Steel segment had sales of €3.1 billion, from €2 billion achieved in H1 last year.
The European stainless steel coils and derivatives market is going through a standstill, with low orders and falling hot rolled and cold rolled coils prices. CRC prices are now approaching the level of €3,200-3,400/tonne delivered on average in Europe, depending on country. This is down from the peaks of €5,400/t for CRC seen in May. Some coil producers in Europe are implementing early stoppages to balance demand and supply (see Kallanish passim).
Natalia Capra France
