Steel and vanadium slag producer Evraz Highveld Steel and Vanadium announced on Monday that its 2012 fourth-quarter hot metal production volumes were 108% higher than in the third quarter.
Hot metal output amounted to 175 699 t in the fourth quarter, compared with 84 437 t in the previous quarter.
Further, the production of continuously cast blocks was up 114% to 165 715 t, compared with the 77 506 t produced in the third quarter. Rolled steel and vanadium slag production volumes were also higher in the fourth quarter, compared with the third quarter.
Evraz noted, however, that the significant increase was owing to the low base achieved in the third quarter, when the company’s output was impacted on by industrial action, and the ramp-up of production post the strike.
Operational problems experienced during the ramp-up of production also negatively impacted the fourth-quarter output, with hot metal production down 9% compared with the 193 201 t produced in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Meanwhile, Evraz Highveld reported that ferrovanadium production dipped from 1.1-million kilograms in the third quarter to 855 000 kg in the fourth quarter as the required volume of vanadium slag was not delivered to the plant owing to the transport strikes experienced towards the end of the year.
The company achieved comparable average selling prices for steel in the third and fourth quarters - $754/t and $727/t respectively – but selling prices were down on 2011’s average price of $822/t.
Ferrovanadium prices followed this downward trend, with the company achieving $24/kg in the third quarter and $23/kg in the fourth quarter – down slightly from the $25/kg achieved in the last quarter of 2011.