The company cites a challenging first-quarter trading environment with low consumption across its product range and forecasts a slowdown in the mining sector in the second half of 2023. The company achieved sales of €1.4 billion ($1.49 billion) in the first three months of the year, down 2% y-o-y. "Bekaert had a good start to 2023 and continued to benefit from pricing and business mix improvements despite volume decreases in some segments," the report said.
Sales of the steel wire unit totalled EUR 327 million in the first quarter, down 9% y-o-y due to lower volumes in all regions. Lower raw material prices were partially offset by favourable price-mix effects. However, demand from the energy sector remained strong.
The Special Business unit generated revenues of EUR 173 million, down 9 per cent, mainly due to lower volumes in the construction sector and lower demand for combustion technologies.
Revenue of the North American joint venture Bridon-Bekaert Ropes Group (BBRG) increased by 23% to €152 million, thanks to higher volumes and favourable price-mix effects. Strong growth in both ropes and A-cords was sustained by high order books and good demand from the mining and oil & gas sectors, particularly in Latin America and North America.
Meanwhile, the Steel Wire Solutions joint venture in Brazil reported sales growth of 1.7%. The sale of Bekaert's interests in the Steel Wire Solutions businesses in Chile and Peru for $136 million is in progress and is expected to be completed this year, the company said.
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