Třinecké železárny generated a profit of CZK 610 million last year

Třinecké železárny has concluded 2019 with the company's profit of CZK 610 million. This is the lowest economic result since the economic crisis in 2008. The financial results were approved by the General Meeting of the company on Monday, June 29.

Revenues from the sales of products and services for 2019 amounted to CZK 38.405 billion. In 2018, it was CZK 40.496 billion. Třinecké železárny (TŽ) produced 2,508 thousand tonnes of crude steel in 2019, i.e. 75 kilo tonnes less than in the previous year.

"The company's financial results reflect the difficult market situation of the second half of last year. Mainly it occurred by pressure on prices of steel products due to strong competition on the European market. The major impact had also rising prices of raw materials and energy, “says Tomáš Chrenek, Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

Last year, the European economy struggled with the effects of the US-China trade war, the influx of cheap steel from third countries and weakening demand in the automotive industry. Finally, the negative growth was marked by a dramatic rise in the price of emission allowances.

Wire rod remains the best-selling product

The total sales of Třinecké železárny were traditionally drawn by wire rod; the company managed to sell 991 kilo tonnes, of which 70% was sold to foreign markets. The volume of sales in the range of bars and profiles amounted to 523 kilo tonnes. Thanks to investments in new refining and processing capacity, these are products with higher added value, which are used mainly in the automotive and engineering industries. The sales volume of semis exceeded 360 kilo tonnes, last year the company sold rails and railway accessories in a volume exceeding 260 kilo tonnes.

Investments are focused on automation and ecology

Třinec steel producer invested CZK 2,195 million last year. The total costs of ongoing ecological investment projects in 2019 amounted to CZK 547 million, mainly directed to two projects of dedusting equipment for the preparation and processing of raw materials.

Třinecké železárny planned to invest CZK 1.4 billion this year. Due to the negative impact of pandemic disease COVID-19 and its economic consequences, our steel making company will have to reassess that plan of investments.

The biggest investment, which has been started this year, is the construction of a new peeling line for CZK 715 million. In terms of investments, the company will also focus on reducing CO2 emissions. The smelter is ready to transform and innovate production flow so that production will be directed to ecological projects as much as possible. In the field of dedusting, the steel producer has reached the maximum level when thanks to massive investments it reduced dust emissions to 128 tons in 2019. The company intends to reduce CO2 emissions by a quarter to 2030.

However, this year will be difficult. "Before the pandemic, we expected higher production of crude steel than in the previous year. However, the current estimate of the economic result, especially with regard to sales prices on the market, is not favourable", says Jan Czudek, the CEO of Třinecké železárny. The economy will be affected by weakening growth in the European economy, uncertainties associated with changes in the automotive industry, insufficient protection (so-called safeguards) against the influx of cheap steel into Europe and the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic.

The annual production of Třinecké železárny is about 2.5 million tonnes of steel. 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 ten years. Throughout its history since 1939, Třinecké železárny produced more than 180 million tonnes of steel. It employs over 7,000 people.

 

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