Finnish steelmaker Outokumpu said May 7 the market recovery in Europe was continuing, and it expected second-quarter stainless steel deliveries to rise 5%-15% from Q1.
Outokumpu also said the political strike in Finland hit its first-quarter results by Eur30 million ($32 million) and it expected a similar impact on Q2.
“After a weak second half of the year 2023, the new year started off relatively well,” President and CEO Heikki Malinen said. “From a market perspective, we have seen positive signals. Gradual recovery in Europe has continued.”
“However, a wave of unexpected political strikes in Finland impacted Outokumpu … We have done everything under our control to mitigate the situation in order to limit the negative impacts of the four-week strike to Eur60 million from the earlier estimated Eur80 million,” Malinen said.
Q1 stainless steel deliveries were 12% lower year on year and 1% down from Q4 2023 to 444,000 mt, as volumes decreased significantly in Europe due to the strike in Finland and a weaker overall market environment.
The strike indirectly impacted the company’s operations in other countries through disruption to internal material flows in both Europe and Americas.
Outokumpu was, however, able to partly mitigate the effect in Europe with higher realized prices. A tight scrap market impacted the profitability of both stainless steel businesses, while costs remained relatively stable.
Annalisa Villa
