NLMK USA steel sales drop to end 2020

Shipments from Russian steelmaker NLMK's US-based subsidiary declined by 22pc in the fourth quarter from a year prior amid a labor strike and a lack of available duty-free slabs.

NLMK sold 370,000 metric tons (t) in the final quarter of 2020 from its US operations, down from 472,000t a year earlier.

The steepest drop in sales came from cold-rolled and galvanized steels. NLMK shipped 50,000t of cold-rolled steel, down by 54pc from the prior year quarter, while galvanized volumes were down by 69,000t from 118,000t. Only sale of hot-rolled steel rose, increasing by 3pc to 251,000t.

For the entire year, NLMK's shipments declined by 27pc to 1.6mn t. Volumes were down across products with cold-rolled shipments falling by 31pc to 313,000t, galvanized steel dropping by 28pc to 567,000t, and shipments of hot-rolled steel down by one quarter to 1.176mn t.

The company attributed the decline in 2020 to the widespread negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition, NLMK highlighted a 21pc sequential rise in scrap costs in the US and EU, reflecting the rally in rolled steel prices and demand. Lower scrap collection volumes because of Covid-19 restrictions also played a role, the company said.

Global sales of pig iron rose to 1.5mn t in 2020 from 510,000t a year earlier.

By Zach Schumacher