The big three have reported

Luleå SSAB outclassed the stock market, LKAB and Boliden decreased their operating results. The three major industrial companies operating in Norrbotten have presented their interim reports this week.

SSAB reported an operating profit of SEK 4.7 billion, which was 35 percent better than analysts' expectations. This caused the company's shares to rise by 5.7 percent on Wednesday, one of the largest increases on the stock market that day.

Still, operating profit declined compared to the same quarter last year when it was SEK 8.2 billion. But it was an increase from the fourth quarter of 2022 by 1 billion.

LKAB's operating profit also deteriorated from SEK 6.5 billion in the first quarter of last year to SEK 5.2 billion this year. The quake in the Kiruna mine in 2020 is still limiting production.

“We continue to see strong demand for our highly upgraded iron ore products, but we remain hampered by production restrictions in Kiruna. Alongside this the deficiencies of the Ore Railway are clearly already causing a bottleneck, with increased costs and reduced flexibility, and this is expected to become worse in the time ahead. It not only risks putting the brakes on the major industrial investments that are planned but is also a threat to existing operations. We are in ongoing dialogue with the Swedish Transport Administration concerning the measures that are still needed,” says Jan Moström, President and CEO LKAB.

Boliden also reports a lower operating profit, SEK 3 billion compared with SEK 4.5 billion first quarter last year. Here too, production was affected by disruptions in several of Boliden's mines. In Aitik, outside Gällivare, there was a belt failure between the main crusher and a storage station in March. High short-term absenteeism and unfavorable winter conditions with large temperature fluctuations contributed to the reduction in production.

“We have fundamentally high stability in all of our units. However, during the quarter several factors affected us, leading to production challenges, especially in our mines. At the same time, it’s pleasing that our major investment projects are proceeding according to plan,” says Mikael Staffas, President and CEO.

Lennart Håkansson

editor@northswedenbusiness.com