Stalprofil reported a 30% on-year slump in first-half-of-2023 revenue to PLN 449.8 million ($110.6m) and 87% drop in net profit to PLN 8.3m amid volatile market conditions, the firm indicates in its preliminary results.
H1 2022 was a unique period that saw a sudden spike in demand and record-high prices after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. The same period a year later was meanwhile characterised by falling demand and a continuation of the price downtrend that began in the second quarter of 2022, the Polish distributor says.
“The low level of public and private investment and the resulting weaker demand for steel products are reflected in the national statistics of steel production and consumption,” Stalprofil says in a note seen by Kallanish. The Polish Steel Association reported 14.3% on-year lower national crude steel output in the first four months of 2023, while apparent steel demand slumped 21.2%.
Steel prices fell across the board in H1, including for long products which account for the majority of Stalprofil’s offering. Prices in Poland for HEB 200 beams were 35% on-year lower in June and down 12% from March.
The firm took into account the decrease in steel prices, updating the value of its steel product inventory. The total balance of write-downs on inventories of steel products at end-June lowered the firm’s second-quarter gross profit by PLN 6m.
Adam Smith Poland
