Evraz's third quarter production rises due to repairs at Russian mine

Steel, iron and coal explorer Evraz’s third quarter production increased following repairs at a blast furnace at its Russian mine but output of tubular products fell in North America.

During the third quarter the FTSE 250 miner’s crude steel output increased by 6.3% to 3.4m, compared to the second quarter, following repairs at a blast furnace at the west Siberian iron and steel plant (ZSMK).

The output of steel products, net of re-rolled volumes, rose by 5.6% to 3m tonnes and the share of semi-finished products increased to 43%, compared to 34.8% last quarter, its standard level, following the blast furnace repairs which boosted the volume of steel available for export.

Crude steel and steel product output increased by 8.2% and 9.9% respectively, as production in the previous quarter was affected by at blast furnace repairs, while overall, steel prices in the quarter were higher than the previous period.

In North America, output of tubular products such as large-diameter pipes, oil country tubular goods and small-diameter line pipes fell by 12.5% due to delays in pipeline projects and low oil prices, while the output of construction products and flat products also decreased by 14.7% and 25.7% respectively due to lower demand.

Coking coal concentrate output fell 3.8%, vanadium slag production increased by 2.4% and final vanadium products decreased by 0.7%.

Shares in Evraz were up 1.58% to 206p at 0818 BST.