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Evraz Sees North American Production Fall in 2016
01/19/2017 - Weak demand for rail and tube, along with extended outages, led to a 24 percent decline in crude steel production at Evraz’s two North American mini-mills.
According to the company, its Colorado, USA, and its Saskatchewan, Canada, mills produced 1.37 million metric tons of crude steel in 2016, down from nearly 1.8 million tons in the prior year.
The company said lower capital spending from Class I railroads drove down demand for rail, and similarly, low spending from energy producers and delays in pipeline approvals softened demand for transmission pipe and oil country tubular goods.
Additionally, it said that facilities took extended outages to allow for capital improvements. At the Saskatchewan plant, it upgraded the caster and rolling mill. And at the Colorado plant, it replaced major mechanical components in the roof of the electric arc furnace.
All told, the facilities were down 148 days in 2016. By comparison, the facilities were down for 86 days in the prior year.
However, Evraz said it expects conditions to soon improve.
“In (the first quarter of) 2017, the combination of major increases in tubular products orders, marginally higher rail and flat-rolled products orders, and the absence of major planned outages will likely result in higher volumes and a positive pricing trend,” it said.
The company said lower capital spending from Class I railroads drove down demand for rail, and similarly, low spending from energy producers and delays in pipeline approvals softened demand for transmission pipe and oil country tubular goods.
Additionally, it said that facilities took extended outages to allow for capital improvements. At the Saskatchewan plant, it upgraded the caster and rolling mill. And at the Colorado plant, it replaced major mechanical components in the roof of the electric arc furnace.
All told, the facilities were down 148 days in 2016. By comparison, the facilities were down for 86 days in the prior year.
However, Evraz said it expects conditions to soon improve.
“In (the first quarter of) 2017, the combination of major increases in tubular products orders, marginally higher rail and flat-rolled products orders, and the absence of major planned outages will likely result in higher volumes and a positive pricing trend,” it said.
