SSAB Half-Year Report 2013

The quarter

  · Sales of SEK 8,894 (10,816) million
  · Operating profit/loss of SEK -115 (755) million
  · Profit/loss after financial items of SEK -273 (609) million
  · Earnings per share of SEK -0.44 (1.48)
  · Operating cash flow of SEK 796 (948) million and cash flow from current
operations of SEK 624 (495) million

Comments by the CEO

As anticipated, the second quarter was characterized by a continued weak
European market. In addition, the improved economic climate in the US has had no
appreciable effect on demand for steel. The slow-down of the growth in China and
weak development in the Australian mining industry had a clear impact on demand
for steel. The stronger Swedish krona has weakened our competitiveness. The
negative effect on the result compared to the first half of 2012 was
approximately SEK 500 million.

Restocking by customers, which began during the first quarter, came to an end at
the beginning of the second quarter and inventory levels at customers and
distributors are now considered to be in balance, although at relatively low
levels.

The efficiency program within SSAB EMEA has been implemented and has had a
positive impact on earnings for the quarter. The full effect on an annual basis
will be achieved as from 2014. In SSAB Americas, a scheduled maintenance outage
resulted in lower earnings than in the preceding quarter. Thanks to continued
focus on efficiency we have reduced our costs according to plan.

It appears that the weak trend in southern Europe will continue during the third
quarter, while demand in northern and eastern Europe appears to be more stable.
During the latter part of the second half of the year, the improved economic
climate in the US is expected to impact on demand for steel, and it appears that
demand in Latin America will remain stable. In Asia, demand in China is expected
to stabilize during the second half of the year, while growth in the mining
industry, particularly in Australia, is expected to be weak during the remainder
of the year.

Customary maintenance outages will be carried out in the Swedish operations
during the third quarter. Due to the anticipated market trend, the maintenance
outage in Mobile (originally scheduled for the fourth quarter) will partly be
brought forward to the third quarter, and this is expected to negatively impact
on SSAB Americas’ third quarter earnings in the amount of SEK 50 million. Even
if there is still a great deal of uncertainty regarding trends on the steel
market, most signs indicate stabilization in demand during the second half of
2013.


Presentation of the half-year report
SSAB invites to a presentation of the half-year report today July 19, 2013.
Venue and time of briefing: World Trade Center (WTC) Stockholm, Kungsbron 1,
Conference room Manhattan, 09:30 a.m. CET.
The press conference will be held in English and live webcasted on SSAB's
website www.ssab.com. Instructions on how to participate in the webcast will be
available on SSAB's website, including presentation material for downloading.
This information is such that SSAB must disclose in accordance with the
Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication on July
19, 2013 at 08.00 am.

For further information:
Helena Stålnert, Executive VP Communications Tel.+46 8 - 45 45 734
Catarina Ihre, Director, Investor Relations, Tel. +46 8 - 45 45 729

SSAB is a global leader in value added, high strength steel. SSAB offers
products developed in close cooperation with its customers to create a stronger,
lighter and more sustainable world. SSAB has employees in over 45 countries and
operates production facilities in Sweden and the US. SSAB is listed on the
NASDAQ OMX Nordic Exchange, Stockholm. www.ssab.com.