[Ferro-alloys.com]:Steelmaker Ternium, controlled by Italian-Argentine group Techint, saw its Q3 net income fall by more than 80% year-on-year to US$220mn.

The result was influenced by the impact of the Argentine peso’s depreciation against the US dollar, the decline in steel prices and high operating costs. But the steelmaker is confident of a better 2023.

"In Argentina, steel demand remains stable. The country’s construction sector, as well as the household appliances, automotive and energy industries, are operating at good levels,” the company said in a press release on Thursday.

Net sales fell to US$4.13bn from US$4.59bn.

The World Steel Association forecasts that steel demand will contract 2.3% this year due to high inflation, US monetary tightening and China's economic slowdown, but expects demand will increase slightly in 2023.

"Our current forecast for global steel demand growth has been revised down compared to the previous one. The prospect for 2023 depends on the impact of tightening monetary policies and central banks’ ability to anchor inflation expectations. Particularly the EU outlook is subject to further downside risk due to the high inflation and the energy crisis that have been exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine war,” said Máximo Vedoya, CEO of Ternium and president of worldsteel's economic committee in an October release.

Ternium's steel shipments in the first nine months of 2022 were 8.88Mt, down from 9.24Mt in the same period 2021. The drop was due to a fall of 684,000t in the volume of slabs shipped to third parties, partially offset by an increase of 322,000t in shipments of finished steel.

In Argentina the steelmaker has the Rosario, Canning, Florencio Varela, Haedo and Ensenada units and its main one, San Nicolás.

In 2021, the company exported 12Mt of steel through its facilities in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, the southern United States and Central America. Argentina accounted for 20%.

• [Editor:Alakay]