North America appears to be pulling out of its 2020 slump, with weakness remaining in only a few energy related products, says Russian steel producer Evraz.

Evraz’s 2020 crude steel production was down -15.1% on-year, “...mainly due to market turbulence amid the Covid-19 pandemic and energy market uncertainty, which led to falling demand and lower production volumes,” the company says. 

Semi sales dropped by -25% from 2019 as the company wrapped up a large contract, while flat-rolled sales fell by -27% and tubular sales fell by -37.9%, Kallanish understands.

“In Q1 2021, production and sales volumes for construction, flat-rolled and rail products are expected to continue to improve in line with market recovery,” Evraz says. “For tubular products, the uncertainty in energy markets remains a significant factor impacting North American customers, however, the OCTG (oil country tubular goods) market has started demonstrating early signs of returning demand.”