Třinec Steel Producer Managed to Earn More Than CZK 1 Billion

In 2017, Třinecké železárny (TŽ) earned CZK 35.859 billion for sales of products and semi-products. It was CZK 3.64 billion more than in 2016. Today, the General Meeting has concluded the company's profit with CZK 1.424 billion, representing a slight decrease compared to 2016 despite the higher sales volume.

The lower operating result was influenced by the increase in the prices of the decisive input commodities and higher personnel costs. Last year, the company invested more than 2.7 billion crowns in new facilities including ecological projects.

The production of crude steel at Třinecké železárny in 2017 fell from 2,605 million tonnes in 2016 to 2,528 million tonnes. The main reason was the reconstruction of the gas conversion station at the oxygen converter steel plant. "Despite the difficult conditions of investment construction, we have continued to be the largest producer of steel and rolled material, when every second tonne of Czech steel was cast in Třinec," says Tomáš Chrenek, Chairman of the Supervisory Board. As a result, the company retained its position as the largest steel producer in the Czech Republic, which has been holding for nine years.

In the overall summary, the best-selling product is a wire rod in amount of 995 kt, whose share of total sales in 2017 reached 42.6%. The second best-selling product is the assortment of steel bars and profiles in amount of 574 kt. Thanks to investment in new refining and processing capacities, and thus a higher level of finalization, the sale of products with higher added value is growing. Its application is mainly used in the automotive and engineering industries. 67% of total production is exported.

Last year was significant in the reduction of emissions of solid pollutants. All the investments in de-dusting of the main production units have been fully implemented. Thanks to this, a year-on-year reduction in dust emissions reached a new historic minimum of 148 tonnes, which means a decrease of almost 75% compared to 2013 when those investments started.

The threat for the steel industry in the medium and long term perspective could be the introduction of custom tariffs on US markets, as this is in fact a threat to increased imports into Europe. "The level of European exports to the USA, which was 4.9 million tonnes in 2017, is currently falling and new outlets for redundant products will be sought," notes Ján Moder, vice-chairman of the Supervisory Board. He added that the other problems faced today by steelmakers are disproportionately high energy prices for energy-intensive manufacturing companies and the reform of emissions trading. "The impact of this reform can cause an additional increase in extra costs," he concluded.

This year, the company plans to invest around 2.5 billion crowns in several dozen investment projects. Most of them is aimed to increase the added value of steel products. Třinecké železárny will plan to produce 2.55 million tons of steel this year. The newly reconstructed and modernized production units, which were renewed last year, will allow it.

The annual production of Třinecké železárny is about 2.5 million tonnes of steel and its main products include mainly rolled products – wire rod, shaped steel, special steel rod, drawn bars, rails, wide steel, seamless tubes and semi-finished products. Třinecké železárny is the largest producer of crude steel in the Czech Republic for the last nine years. Throughout its history since 1939, Třinecké železárny produced more than 180 million tonnes of steel.

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