US Steel notes improvement in European steel demand

US Steel Corporation, one of the largest steel producers in the United States, notes the improvement in European demand. It is stated in the company’s forecasts for the first quarter of 2023.

US Steel’s European segment returned to positive EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) in February 2023, and the same trend is forecast for March.

In the first quarter of 2023, adjusted EBITDA for the European segment is likely to be negative, but a better result is expected than was forecast in the earnings report in February 2023.

“Market prices are improving, reflecting increased demand and lower import activity. In addition, a warmer winter reduced electricity costs in the region, creating an additional tailwind for the segment’s expected performance in the first quarter,” the company said in a statement.

In 2023 the Slovak steel company US Steel Kosice (USSK) plans to increase steel shipment by 1-20% compared to the previous year – up to 3.8-4 million tons. In 2022, the shipment of steel to customers decreased by 13% compared to 2021 – to 3.76 million tons. In the fourth quarter of 2022 the company reduced product shipments by 30% compared to the same period in 2021 – to 715,000 tons. Such a sharp decrease in shipments reflected the decrease in demand for steel in Europe.

As GMK Center reported earlier, at the beginning of this year US Steel Kosice resumed work on all three blast furnaces. In January 2023, the company restarted BF-2, which was stopped for maintenance in September 2022, and BF-1, which was idle for a month and a half. The restoration of capacities took place amid the growth of European prices for hot-rolled coils and demand from service centers. In general, the plant is equipped with three blast furnaces with a total capacity of 4.5 million tons per year.