Russian miner and steelmaker Evraz says it is launching the process of soliciting proposals for the acquisition of its North American subsidiaries, Kallanish notes.

The sale will allow to unlock the stand-alone value of the North America business, the enterprise claims.

“The solicitation process is currently being conducted under the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) General License INT/2022/1710676 and we are in contact with OFSI as part of this process,” the steelmaker says. “The possible transaction will be subject to regulatory and corporate approvals and applicable sanctions laws, and will require approval from relevant sanctions authorities, including OFSI.”

The steelmaker does not intend to provide any additional information on this process unless or until the process is finalised.

Evraz North America has six plants – in Portland (Oregon, US), Pueblo (Colorado, US), Regina (Saskatchewan, Canada), Calgary, Camrose and Red Deer (Alberta, Canada).

Evraz tells Kallanish it plans to continue the construction by 2023 of the new long rail mill at the Pueblo unit despite its plan to sell the US assets. “In 2022, Evraz Plc did not receive and does not plan to receive any income from the activities of Evraz North America,” the firm says.

Evraz’s consolidated revenue increased by 31% on-year in the first half of 2022 to $8.1 billion, while consolidated Ebitda rose 19.4% to $2.5 billion on higher coal and steel sales prices (see Kallanish passim).

The company’s crude steel output in H1 remained flat on-year at 6.8 million tonnes, coking coal production fell 12.9% to 10.1mt, while iron ore output rose by 4.2% to 7.4mt.

Evraz is partially owned by Roman Abramovich, who the UK government added to the list of sanctioned individuals on 1 March. In May, the UK then sanctioned Evraz Plc, as it said the company "operates in sectors of strategic significance to the government of Russia".

The company denies allegations that it is or has been involved in providing funds, goods or technology that could threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine.