Tiraspol, 27 April. /Novosti Pridnestrovya/. The introduction of US import steel duties has affected the work of Moldovan Steel Works (MMZ), the plant's CEO, Sergey Kornev, told Novosti Pridnestrovya.
"After the introduction of these duties, Turkish manufacturers had to explore new markets, and they began to sell part of their output to European markets, including Romania, which is one of our major consumers. Naturally, because of the increased supply, the prices for finished products have decreased," said the CEO.
According to Sergei Kornev, on average, MMZ has lost about $50 per tonne of delivered products in April. However, this price reduction is not fatal. "Of course, this is sensitive for us, but it can be said that it is not unprofitable. We are still working with a positive margin, but it is not yet what we would like," he says.
While the main risk is the inability to accurately predict the development of the further situation, it is also unknown how long the impact of the protective duties will last and what response measures the European Union will take.
According to Sergey Kornev, the European Commission is now working on two scenarios to protect its domestic market from the influx of products previously supplied to the United States. This is the introduction of quotas for the import of metal or licensing of enterprises that have the right to supply their products to the EU. However, these are only proposals so far; the final decision is yet to be made.
A meeting of the Board of Directors is scheduled for 28 April at which response measures will be discussed. Nevertheless, the plant intends to work according to the previously approved business plan, the CEO says. According to him, the enterprise should produce 650,000 tonnes of finished products per year. It is nearly 1.5 times more than in 2017, when 460,000 tonnes was produced.
The first quarter saw the overfulfillment of the plan, Sergey Kornev notes. The data of the State Statistics Service of the PMR show that the volume of iron and steel production in January-March increased by more than three times in comparison with the same period in 2017. The bulk of this increase accounts for MMZ.
In April, however, due to changes in the market environment, the plant has slowed down a bit, but this is a temporary phenomenon, the general director believes.
