South African steel producer Evraz Highveld Steel & Vanadium narrowed its loss during the year ended December to R379-million from R943-million in 2012, as its production increased, the company announced in a statement on Wednesday.

Evraz also reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of R22-million, as opposed to a loss of R697-million for 2012, while revenue from the sale of goods increased to R5.19-billion from R4.35-billion during the prior year.

Steel sales volumes for the year under review increased by 7% from 452 836 t in 2012 to 486 706 t in 2013. Domestic sales increased by 23% to 440 044 t, while export sales volumes decreased to 46 661 t.

Ferrovanadium sales for the period increased slightly by 1% to 4 827 t.

Steel output for the period increased by 12% from 571 787 t to 642 405 t during 2013, owing to increased iron availability and improved stability at the company’s steel plant, and iron output increased by 3% to 638 912 t for the year, compared with the previous year when production suffered as a result of a four-week strike.

Meanwhile, with regard to the company’s mining operation in Limpopo, production of lump ore increased by 22% from 1.17-million tons to 1.43-million tons, while fines ore production increased by 7% from 607 473 t to 651 209 t.

The pit mining trial that Evraz started in March 2013 was completed last year with the first commercial pit mining expected to start during the first half of this year, the company said.

Further, Evraz said labour stability, the health of the market and production stability continued to pose a threat to the operations of the company and its ability to generate profits.

“The company continues to use credit lines that are committed only to December 31, 2014, but are already fully drawn and may not be sufficient to support Evraz if it cannot achieve its production and sales and cost targets,” the company said, adding that management had taken significant steps to address Evraz’s cost structure and other risks.