Finnish stainless steelmaker Outokumpu has reported a "challenging quarter" and a drop in earnings for the period July-September 2019, due to a weak market and a sharp increase in the price of nickel, the company said in its quarterly results statement.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) were ?,?45 million ($50 million) in the third quarter of the year, down from ?,?128 million in the corresponding months of 2018.The weak stainless steel market has led to significantly lower base prices. This caused Outokumpu's sales to fall to ?,?1.59 billion in the third quarter of 2019, down from ?,?1.73 billion in July-September 2018.The main reason for the fall in profitability, the company said, was an 8% drop in stainless steel deliveries as a result of the poor market in Europe and "significantly" lower base prices, as well as raw material-related inventory and metal derivative losses of ?,?31 million...