Třinecké železárny concluded its 2021 financial year

Yesterday, the General Meeting of Třinecké železárny closed the company's financial results for 2021. Despite the decline in production, the company achieved a profit of CZK 1.306 billion. The mill produced 2.4 million tonnes of steel last year, down 7 percent year-on-year. The result was positively impacted by the development of sales, which increased by CZK 8.6 billion compared to the previous year to a total of CZK 43.715 billion.

Nevertheless, last year's performance was marred by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has had a major impact on life and business in all countries around the world. Another negative development was the extreme rise in the price of input materials and the continuing problems in the automotive industry, mainly due to the shortage of electronic components. 

"All of this culminated in a sharp rise in energy prices at the end of the year due to the steep rise in the price of emission allowances, which was one of the impetuses for kick-starting inflation. Although thanks to a sophisticated business strategy we managed to eliminate the unfavourable conditions, the company's performance was undoubtedly affected," summarised Tomáš Chrenek, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of TŽ.

The slight drop in steel production was caused by a 60-day shutdown of one of the two blast furnaces, which the company reconstructed after more than 20 years of continuous operation. The loss of pig iron production associated with the blast furnace shutdown was reflected in the sales of semi-finished products and other products. 

As in previous years, the largest contributor to the sales volume was wire rod, of which the company sold 962 kilotonnes. Nearly 72 percent went to foreign markets, mostly to European Union countries, where the company supplies the vast majority of its production.  Rolled and further finished wire has the largest share of production in the Třinecké železárny Group of companies and constitutes the largest customer and product portfolio.

Sales in the bar and section steel range are also thriving, reaching 536 kilotonnes last year, of which almost 63 percent was exported. Bar and section steel is mainly used for the production of flexible parts used in the automotive industry.

Traditional export product of Třinecké železárny are rails and railway accessories. Out of their total sales volume of 235 kilotons, the company exported 194 kilotonnes to the EU, USA, Canada, Egypt, Israel and other destinations.

Last year, the plant invested a total of almost CZK 1.7 billion. In addition to the repair and modernisation of the blast furnace, this included investment in the expansion of the ∅600 mm format on all casting streams of the continuous casting plant, which increased the share of steel sales to the wind power industry. 

"We plan to invest CZK 1.7 billion this year. Among other things, we will advance projects whose implementation will enable us to reduce CO2 emissions. Modernization actions aimed at increasing the added value of bar steel or automating production processes in the rail transport segment will be crucial for the steel market," says Ján Moder, First Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

He adds that the company is ready to invest in sustainable steel production. However, it needs to ensure adequate support for increased operating and investment costs as well as sufficient economically available energy.

The annual production of Třinec Ironworks is around 2.5 million tonnes of steel. The main products include mainly long rolled products - wire rod, shaped steel, special bar steel, drawn steel, rails, wide steel, seamless pipes and metallurgical semi-finished products. Current employment is 6,878 inhabitants, mainly in the region of Trinec and Jablunkov.

Petra Macková Jurásková
Press Secretary of the Třinecké železárny - Moravia Steel Group
phone: +420 558 535 841
mobile: +420 602 265 738
e-mail: Petra.Mackova@trz.cz