SSAB AB (publ)

Reported Q2 steel shipments were 1,760 kilotonnes, up 24 kilotonnes sequentially and 52 kilotonnes year over year. Revenue was SEK 27.5 billion, up SEK 2.2 billion versus Q1 and SEK 1.9 billion versus Q2 last year. EBITDA was SEK 3.8 billion, compared with SEK 3.2 billion in Q1 and SEK 3.2 billion in Q2 last year; EBITDA margin was 14% versus 12% last year. Operating result was SEK 2.7 billion versus SEK 2.2 billion in Q1 and SEK 2.1 billion in Q2 last year. Management said Q3 will see significantly lower volumes in Special Steel and Europe and somewhat lower volumes in Americas due to maintenance, while prices are expected to be somewhat higher, guided in the 0% to 5% range overall. Q3 will also include around SEK 800 million of maintenance impact across all steel divisions. Full-year CapEx guidance was unchanged, with maintenance CapEx around SEK 3 billion, strategic CapEx rising in Luleå and Oxelösund, and annual IT-related cost guidance unchanged; the full-year operating expense increase versus last year remains around SEK 200 million.

Johnny Sjöström described Q2 as a stable quarter with better profitability than Q1 and last year, supported by higher shipments and higher prices. He emphasized that SSAB’s strategic shift remains on track, highlighting the continued Oxelösund conversion, the Luleå mini-mill project, and the new quenching line in Oxelösund as key steps toward more fossil-free and more specialized steel production. His tone was confident but measured, acknowledging that higher variable costs, especially logistics, energy and alloys, reduced some of the upside.

Leena Craelius focused on the financial bridge: Q2 shipments of 1,760 kilotonnes, revenue of SEK 27.5 billion, EBITDA of SEK 3.8 billion, and operating result of SEK 2.7 billion. She said average prices were 6% higher quarter-on-quarter and 2% higher year-on-year at group level, while variable costs added SEK 510 million of pressure in Q2 and fixed costs were seasonally higher due to salary indexation, summer workers and higher activity. She also highlighted strong cash generation, net cash of SEK 8.6 billion, gearing at minus 12%, Moody’s new Baa2 investment-grade rating with stable outlook, and unchanged CapEx and cost guidance.

Analysts pressed management on whether the new EU ETS proposal could create benefits, but management said it is too early to quantify; still, they see potential upside from linking free allocation to investment and from possible EIB financing/grants. Questions also focused on pricing lags in Europe and the U.S.; management said contracts are mostly quarterly, so price realization lags market moves by about a quarter in Americas/Europe and even longer in Special Steel, but they still expect further price increases, especially after European inventories clear by end-Q3. On Luleå, management said the latest safety stoppages were tied to very small hydrogen cyanide detections, but they believe the revised procedures and gas monitoring make further interruptions less likely; Q2’s pause cost about SEK 60 million in OpEx, with limited expected Q3 impact.