Essar Steel Algoma earned less in the first quarter of its fiscal 2016 year than the same period in the previous year, according to a press release.
On Aug. 27, the company issued a report on its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the first quarter of the 2016 fiscal year, which ended June 30.
The company earned $5.6 million this year, as compared to $12.4 million during the same period last year.
The company said despite maintaining “strong production throughout the quarter and…currently operating at 90 per cent capacity utilization,” resulting in higher shipments, it wasn’t enough to counter low prices, which resulted in a $28.9-million operating loss for the quarter.
Essar noted the Canada Border Services Agency is expected to make a ruling on September 8 regarding Indian and Russian dumping practices — flooding the North American market with imported steel — and duties may be imposed, potentially retroactively, to June 10.
“This past year, dumped imports have wreaked havoc on North American markets, displacing domestic market share and placing downward pressure on price,” Essar Steel Algoma president and CEO Kalyan Ghosh said in a news release. “Despite recovering demand, we are just now witnessing some price recovery and with the prudent application of trade remedies we anticipate the return of a level playing field.”
Ghosh noted that the company had begun its modernization and expansion program at the Sault steel plant, which, when complete, will allow it to adopt new technologies to improve productivity, enhance its competitive cost structure, and increase its offering of advanced steel grades.
EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure of profitability, used by management as an indicator of the operational health of the business.
