CEO Mark Vassella says he’s terrified about a hollowing-out of Australian manufacturing if a dysfunctional energy market is allowed to continue.
BlueScope’s overall net profit more than doubled to $2.81 billion in the year ended June 30. Underlying earnings before interest and tax totalled $3.79 billion, a full-year record. It was the highest profit since BlueScope was split off from BHP in 2002 and had its own ASX listing.
The group has forecast lower earnings before interest and tax in July-December of $800 million to $900 million as demand slows after customers built up inventory as a buffer against supply chain disruptions.“It’s not unusual to see our customers in a falling pricing environment, step back,” he said. It is now assessing a further expansion of the North Star mill in Ohio in a project to remove delays that would add an additional 500,000 tonnes of annual production.
BlueScope is a strong player in painted steel products for building and construction operations in Australia, with demand for its flagship Colorbond roofing product strong as housing and renovations boom. Demand from the manufacturing sector for steel was also strong, despite disruptions from the pandemic. Mr Vassella said the group has increased Colorbond prices by between 6 per cent to 8 per cent in fiscal 2022.
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