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Acerinox sees steel market improving after 2023 earnings majorities

Spanish steelmaker Acerinox said on Thursday it expects need for steel to start recuperating in coming months after its net profit more than cut in half last year.

Net earnings fell 58% to 228 million euros ($ 246.31 million). in 2023 after rising to record levels in 2021 and 2022 as strong. demand pushed costs higher.

A market modification that started in the 2nd half of 2022. led to lower stainless steel demand and lower costs, Chief. Executive Bernardo Velazquez told .

He stated he anticipates an improvement as early as the second. quarter of this year in the United States however not before the. third quarter in Europe.

The European economy is still lagging behind the U.S.. lower rates of interest are likely to make more cash readily available and. could revive demand for household devices and vehicles,. Velazquez said.

The European Steel Association Eurofer said earlier this. month that the prepared for steel market recovery in 2024 will be. slower than expected as commercial output is still controlled on a. bleak financial outlook.

Velazquez approximates that steel consumption in both Europe. and the U.S. came by around a fifth, while the alloys. business, which accounted for 22% of Acerinox's income in 2023,. stayed positive.

To make the most of the strong market for alloys and faster. healing in the U.S., Acerinox this month announced the. acquisition of alloys maker Haynes International for. $ 798 million. The North American market currently represented. around half of Acerinox's sales.

Velazquez declined to give a success target for the. year but approximated the company is losing 180,000 euros daily. due to a strike that began three weeks earlier at its Cadiz steel. mill, which represents about a quarter of the business's. production.

The business likewise said it will propose a dividend of 0.62. euros per share to be paid out of 2023 revenue, up 3% from that. paid on the previous year's earnings.

(source: Reuters)