Spanish stainless steelmaker Acerinox posts €122.7 million net profit in 2010

Friday, 25 February 2011

The Spanish stainless steel producer Acerinox, S.A. has announced that in 2010 its profit after tax amounted to €122.7 million, compared to a loss of €229.2 million in 2009, while its sales came to €4.5 billion, increasing by 50.3 percent year on year.

"In the whole year, Acerinox worked with a melting capacity lower than 80 percent, which makes the achieved results very worthy, proving the success of the ‘Excellent Plan 2009-2010', which has allowed us to improve the competitiveness in the three factories, reads the company's statement.

In the given period, sales in Europe accounted for 40.3 percent of Acerinox' total sales, while 44.4 percent of total sales were made to the Americas. Acerinox supplied 9.1 percent of its total sales to Asia, 5.9 percent to Africa and 0.3 percent to Oceania.

In 2010, melting output amounted to 2.06 million metric tons, 14 percent higher than in 2009.

Regarding the outlook, Acerinox said that the demand recovery, sustained from the year end, and the increase of the alloy surcharges are favoring the orders entry and allowing the company to increase capacity utilization during the first quarter of 2011, which makes the company feel optimistic for the first quarter results. In addition, Acerinox said that the inventory level in the market will allow the consolidation of better price levels.

With the startup of the cold rolling mill in Bahru Stainless in the summer, the outputs of the other factories will increase to supply the new Asian factory of Acerinox with hot rolled coils.

Tags: stainless , stainless , Spain , Europe , fin. Reports , steelmaking , European Union , Mediterranean

North American Stainless to make USD 30 million investment in Ghent facility

Monday, 31 Jan 2011

Governor Steve Beshear joined community leaders and executives of North American Stainless to announce the company’s plans to invest USD 10 million for increased peeled bar production plus USD 20 million for additional equipment upgrades in its Ghent facility.
The expansion, which is the company’s ninth since it began operations in Kentucky in 1990, will also add 10 new jobs at the plant.

Construction will begin this spring, adding 35,000 square feet to North American Stainless’ Long Products facility. The project is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2012. Peeled bar stainless steel is used in a variety of products, including many used in the aviation, automotive, chemical, plumbing, general manufacturing and food services industries.

Governor Beshear said “North American Stainless and its parent company, Acerinox, have made substantial investments in Kentucky over the past two decades. This new USD 30 million investments further enhances North American Stainless’ footprint in Kentucky and is a testament to the caliber of international enterprises that call Kentucky home. It also demonstrates the company’s continued confidence in our workforce and business climate. We appreciate that confidence and look forward to working together to ensure success for decades to come.”

Mr Cristobal Fuentes president and CEO of North American Stainless said “We are very pleased that our parent company, Acerinox SA, has authorized this investment and again demonstrated its confidence in our employees, Kentucky and Carroll County.”