Higher steel prices and lower energy costs, as well as management cost improvements are projected to drive better first-quarter Ebitda at US Steel Kosice (USSK) versus Q4 2023, says parent company US Steel.
In Q4, USSK saw lower average realised prices and product mix versus Q3; however, iron ore and coal costs were also lower.
In 2023, although USSK shipments rose 4% on-year to 3.9 million net tons, net sales fell 17% to $3.55 billion, while Ebitda was down 81% to $98m (see Kallanish passim).
Despite the lower sales in 2023, USSK’s merchant semi-finished steel sales rose 63% on-year to $168 million, US Steel’s annual report reveals. Of the main products, the largest fall in revenue came from cold rolled sheet, which saw sales drop 30% to $269m.
Of the main customer segments, shipments to construction rose 25% to 1.3mnt. Deliveries to steel service centres, and transportation and automotive each rose slightly to 848,000nt and 636,000nt respectively. However, deliveries to containers and packaging, and appliances and electrical equipment fell 26% and 24% respectively to 312,000nt and 172,000nt.
Adam Smith Poland
