Aperam’s stainless steel deliveries fall on year in 4Q

Market: Metals
14/02/25

Luxembourg-based global stainless steel producer Aperam's stainless and electrical steel shipments fell on the year in the fourth quarter owing to a sharp contraction in demand.

But its deliveries recovered on a quarter-on-quarter basis as the European market did marginally better, while Brazil recorded better than expected demand.

Aperam's stainless and electrical steel shipments fell by 1.5pc year on year to 401,000t in October-December. Fourth-quarter shipments rose by 2.56pc relative to the third quarter, with full-year 2024 sales registering a 4.9pc rise to 1.626mn t. Higher 2024 shipments can be attributed to the low base of 2023 driven by downstream distributor destocking.

Aperam's stainless and electrical steel segment's adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) rose to €42mn in the fourth quarter, up from a loss of €34mn over the same period in 2023. Revenues for full-year 2024 nearly doubled to €175mn, up from €92mn in 2023.

Shipments in the group's services and solutions segment rose by 9pc on the year in the fourth quarter to 169,000t, with deliveries of alloys and specialties flat on the year at 10,000t.

Scrap metal shipments in Aperam's recycling and renewables segment — including scrap processor ELG and the group's Brazilian entity Aperam BioEnergia — fell by 7.4pc on the year to 312,000t, but full-year volumes rose by 6.63pc to 1.464mn t.

Aperam's overall adjusted ebitda in 2024's fourth quarter more than doubled on the year to €116mn, attributed to a record-high performance of its alloys segment with together with strong results at its Recycling & Renewables division.

Aperam expects ebitda in the first quarter of 2025 to be at a lower level relative to 2024's fourth quarter. The group is also expecting significantly higher net financial debt in the first quarter owing to the consolidation of Universal Stainless & Alloy Products completed in recent weeks.

By Raghav Jain

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