Russian steel giant Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works (MMK) has announced that its Turkey-based subsidiary MMK Metalurji's finished steel output decreased by 3.5 percent year on year to 334,000 mt in the first half of this year. In the second quarter, the company's finished steel output amounted to 185,000 mt, up 23.8 percent quarter on quarter.
During the given quarter, the company also registered a 23.8 percent increase in finished steel sales compared to the first quarter, primarily due to seasonal growth in demand for construction products, as well as renewal of metal purchases by traders in April 2014 as a result of political stabilization following the Turkish elections in the end of the first quarter of 2014.
In the first half, the hot rolled flat product output of MMK Metalurji totaled 28,000 mt, declining by 10 percent, while its galvanized steel production amounted to 195,000 mt, up 31.3 percent, both compared to the same period of the previous year. The steelmaker's color coated steel production in the first quarter decreased by 33.5 percent year on year to 110,000 mt.
AccordiNg to MMK Metalurji, given the current level of demand in the Turkish market, it is expected that high capacity utilization rates will be maintained in the second half of 2014.
