Sao Paulo — Brazilian integrated steelmaker CSN shipped 1.32 million mt of steel products in the second quarter of 2018, up 13% from 1.17 million mt in Q2 2017, according to results released Wednesday.
Of that total, 798,000 mt was sold domestically, up 22% year on year, while 449,000 mt was sold to the company's foreign subsidiaries and 74,000 mt direct exports.
CSN maintained a high percentage of coated products in the most recent quarter's total sales volume. Sales of coated products such as galvanized items and metallic sheets accounted for 56% of the company's flat steel sales in the quarter. Coated products accounted for 84% of CSN's overseas flat steel shipments.
CSN's steel slab output totaled 997,000 mt in Q2, a decrease of 10% compared with Q2 2017. In turn, production of flat rolled products increased 4% compared with Q2 2017 to 981,000 mt.
The company's slab cost per ton in Q2 was Real 1,635/mt ($437), up 16% from Q2 2017 and 11% higher than in the first quarter of 2018. A rise in the price of raw materials and foreign exchange headwinds boosted the costs.
Coke represented 33% of the production costs, followed by energy at 14% and iron ore at 14%.
The company's long rolled steel production, by contrast, decreased 5% year on year to 53,000 mt from 56,000 mt.
CSN posted net revenues of Real 4.09 million ($1.09 million) in Q2, an increase of 11% and 34% from Q1 2018 and Q2 2017, respectively, mainly because of the steel price rises, and an increase in the volumes shipped and price obtained by its mining segment.
The company's cost of sales in Q2 increased 13% compared with the previous quarter to Real 3.27 million, mainly because of higher raw material prices and corrective maintenance.
