Aperam reports profits in Q2

Stainless steel producer and recycler says profitability wave might have crested, however.

pile of stainless steel for recycling against blue sky
Aperam says earning in its Recycling & Renewables business unit, which includes ELG, rose by 7 percent in the second quarter compared with the prior quarter.
Photo by Recycling Today staff

Aperam, a Luxembourg-based stainless steel producer which also owns stainless steel scrap trading firm ELG, has announced earnings of $402 million euros ($412.6 million) in the second quarter of this year. The metals company says it is its “sixth record quarter” but also says the recently concluded quarter might have marked the end of a “cyclical peak.”

The $412 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) entails a 26.8 percent rise from 317 million euros ($325.4 million) EBIDTA the previous quarter.

Aperam says it shipped 635,000 metric tons of product in the second quarter, which actually represented a 5.6 percent decrease from the 673,000 metric tons shipped in the first quarter of this year.

Aperam CEO Timoteo Di Maulo says, “We achieved the sixth consecutive set of record results despite an increasingly challenging market environment. While Brazil is stable at a high level, adverse market conditions have increased in Europe."

He continues, “Our focus on cash enabled us to reduce debt in the second quarter, ahead of the curve. We expect more positive cash flow over the coming quarters coherent with the market development. We trust our agile and resilient business model to continue to deliver benchmark cash returns for our investors in today’s markets.”

The company says its Recycling & Renewables business unit, which includes global stainless steel scrap processing and trading company ELG, had sales of 788 million euros ($808.8 million) in the second quarter, an increase of 7 percent compared with 735 million euros ($754.4 million) of sales in the prior quarter.

Shipments in the recycling unit decreased by 8 percent during the quarter, however, falling to 363,000 metric tons. “Average selling prices were higher during the second quarter,” Aperam says.

Get curated news on YOUR industry.

Enter your email to receive our newsletters.

Loading...