CMC Poland’s earnings should remain fairly even sequentially in the February fiscal quarter as cost management offsets a weak market environment. This comes after imports depressed margins in the November quarter, offsetting improving Polish demand in certain end market applications and regional supply discipline, says US parent CMC.
CMC Poland’s shipments fell 9% on-year in the November quarter to 343,000 short tons, with merchant bar and other products down 7% to 206,000st and rebar falling 12% to 107,000st. Average selling price inched up 1% to $639/st, Kallanish notes.
Cost of ferrous scrap utilised also rose 1% to $370/st, meaning metal margin was up $1/st to $269/st. Net sales fell 7% to $209.4 million and adjusted Ebidta was down 34% to $25.8m. Still, this gave a respectable Ebitda margin of 12.3%.
Rebar imports into Poland from Germany in January-October 2024 reached 410,863st, up 43% on-year. They accounted for 65% of all rebar imports into Poland versus 56% in 2023 – and 36% in 2022 – CMC points out.
Poland’s residential construction market is recovering; new housing permits and the number of units under construction have rebounded, CMC notes. The expected release of €65 billion ($67 billion) to Poland from the EU Recovery and Resilience fund should boost activity.
Adam Smith Poland
