Portuguese coil mill’s shipments fall as disposal falters

Lusosider (Brazilian steelmaker CSN’s Portuguese unit), has seen its shipments reduced so far in 2019 compared with 2018. Meanwhile the attempt to sell the unit previously announced by the group is not believed to being progressing.

According to CSN’s official quarterly results, Lusosider shipped 248,000 tonnes of products during the first seven months of 2019. This volume is around -8% below the level witnessed during the same period of 2018. Overall the company shipped over 350,000t of products in 2018 versus more than 360,000t in 2017. The mill has the capacity to produce up to 500,000t of processed CRC and HDG using HRC as raw material.

CSN announced the intention to sell its European assets, including Lusosider, in 2018. Since then some discussions regarding the sale of the German longs’ unit of Stahlwerk Thüringen have been reported by the group, while news of any progress in the Lusosider spin-off has remained elusive.

A source close to the matter explains to Kallanish that a sale of the Portuguese unit “… does not seem to be on the cards.” The unit continues to operate, serving the local market mainly, but it is not considered to be attractive for investors at the moment, he adds.