Steel slump almost wipes out LKAB third quarter profits

摘要

Swedish iron ore producer LKAB blamed declining world steel markets for a collapse in its' pre-tax profits during the third quarter. Income after financial items dropped 87.8 percent to Skr61m against Skr501m in the same period in 2000.LKAB closed one of its three pelletizing plants at Kiruna for two months during the third quarter and cut costs in other ways by cancelling or postponing planned expenditure. LKAB president Carl Ameln said: 'Further production cutbacks cannot be discounted... it is now apparent that this year's year-end results will be considerably lower than last year's."