SSAB earnings rise in Q3

SSAB, a Sweden-based producer of recycled steel with operations in Europe and North America, has reported net income of nearly 1.87 billion Swedish krone ($198 million) in this year’s third quarter, marking a 50 percent increase from one year earlier.

The steelmaker says it achieved the result despite an overall market environment in which its revenue shrank by 5.8 percent year on year.

In remarks accompanying the company’s third quarter financials, SSAB CEO Johnny Sjöström says the company’s improved earnings mainly were driven by a stronger development in SSAB Americas.

Sjöström says its SSAB Americas’ business unit, which includes recycled-content electric arc furnace (EAF) mills in Alabama and Iowa, enjoyed an operating margin of 16 percent in this year’s third quarter, adding that higher prices for semifinished steel contributed positively.

SSAB Europe’s operating margin for the same quarter was -2 percent, however, with the CEO saying lower prices for standard products had a negative effect.

“The European steel market was cautious during the seasonally weaker third quarter," Sjöström says. "SSAB Europe carried out planned maintenance and used time banks to adjust operations. Market prices in North America for heavy plate softened somewhat during the quarter [and] SSAB will carry out planned maintenance both in North America and in Europe during the fourth quarter.”

SSAB says it welcomes new proposals from the European Commission designed to replace existing safeguards and counteract the negative impacts of global excess capacity on the European steel industry.

In the United States, Sjöström says the direct impact of U.S. steel tariffs on SSAB is limited, as local production accounts for most of SSAB’s sales on the U.S. market. He adds, though, that certain special products, mainly high-strength steel for the automotive industry, are exported from its mills in northern Europe.

Sjöström says the outlook for the fourth quarter is uncertain.

“SSAB Europe’s shipments are expected to be higher during the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to the third quarter of 2025, [but] prices are assessed to be lower," he says.

"Both shipments and prices are assessed to be somewhat lower [in the Americas]. The costs of raw materials for SSAB Special Steels and SSAB Europe are expected to be somewhat lower compared to the prior quarter, whereas for SSAB Americas, costs are expected to be stable.”