Trinecke Zelezarny sales surge despite reduced production

Blast furnace-based Czech steelmaker Trinecke Zelezarny (TZ) reported a 24% on-year surge in 2021 sales to CZK 43.7 billion ($1.82 billion), despite the 7% drop in crude steel production to 2.4 million tonnes. Profit was registered at CZK 1.31 billion.

Performance last year was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, surge in input material costs and continuing problems in the automotive industry, mainly due to components shortages. “All of this culminated in a sharp rise in energy prices at the end of the year due to the steep rise in the price of emission allowances, which was one of the impetuses for kick-starting inflation,” TZ supervisory board chairman Tomáš Chrenek says in a note seen by Kallanish.

The drop in steel production was caused by a 60-day shutdown of one of the two blast furnaces, which the company reconstructed after more than 20 years of continuous operation. The loss of pig iron production associated with the blast furnace shutdown was reflected in the sales of semi-finished products and other products, TZ points out.

Wire rod was again the main product sold, registering deliveries of 962,000t in 2021. Nearly 72% of these deliveries went to foreign markets, mainly in the EU. Bar and sections sales hit 536,000t, of which 63% was exported. Rail and railway accessories sales were 235,000t, of which 194,000t was exported to the EU, US, Canada, Egypt and Israel, among others.

Adam Smith Poland