Bulgarian second-quarter steel performance weakens

Bulgaria’s steel industry saw its main indicators fall during the second quarter, Kallanish notes. Crude steel and finished products output each decreased compared to the previous three months and year-on-year, the Bulgarian Association of Metallurgical Industries (BAMI) says in its latest quarterly report.

Crude steel output reached 133,300 tonnes in Q2, down 14,800t over January-March and 11.1% weaker compared to the same period of last year. First-half crude steel production reached 281,400t, down 2.3% over January-June 2022.

Meanwhile, finished products output fell by 11,900t on-quarter to 260,000t, and was also 18.1% less on-year. Of this volume, long steel production was 199,300t, down 2.2% over the previous quarter and 20% lower y-o-y.

Q2 flat steel output reached just 60,700t, a decrease of 19.3% and 10.9% over Q1 and on-year, respectively.

Six-month rolled products output totalled 538,900t, 10.4% fall y-o-y.

Bulgaria’s April-June steel exports rose by 32,200t on-quarter to 210,200t but was 7.2% lower when compared to the 226,400t shipped abroad in Q2 2022. Long steel exports represented 154,000t of overall shipments. H1 exports reached 388,200t, which was 8.9% down y-o-y.

Domestic demand, meanwhile, slowed in the period. Q2 steel sales were 54,700t, a decrease by 28.8% q-o-q and 11.5% on-year, respectively. Six-month sales totalled 131,500t, or 1,000t more over H1 2022, BAMI confirms.

Todor Kirkov Bulgaria