Třinecké železárny (TŽ) achieved a profit of 469 million crowns last year, which was 141 million (23.1 percent) less than in 2019. This is the worst result in the last decade, but the company achieved a positive economic result despite uncertainties in the steel market and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Revenues from the sale of products and services to the company fell by three billion to 35.1 billion crowns year on year.
The company, which is the largest metallurgical company in the Czech Republic, produced 2.581 million tons of steel last year. It was 73 kilotons more than in 2019. According to the company, last year was one of the most challenging in modern history. Despite the difficult situation, the company did not have to shut down any of the production units during the pandemic, but according to the spokesperson, this brought about a fundamental change in the organization of work and care for employees.
“Adherence to strict company anti-epidemic and security measures has paid off. The damage caused by production and trade restrictions has been reduced to a minimum. Production and sales have remained at previous levels. This is an almost miraculous result when we realize that 2020, steel production in the EU by almost 12 percent, “said Tomáš Chrenek, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of TŽ.
The company exports most of its production, 69 percent. The most important export countries include Germany, Slovakia, Italy and Poland.
“Třinecké železárny’s share in domestic production of crude steel increased to 58 percent in 2020. The best-selling product remains wire, whose total sales amounted to a record 1,017 kilotons. Sales in the range of bar and profile steel reached 542 kilotons,” said Macková. Thanks to a higher degree of finalization of bar steel, according to her, sales of products with higher added value, which are used mainly in the automotive and engineering industries, are growing.
Třinecká huť invested 1.42 billion crowns last year. The most significant investments included the modernization of two wind heaters or finishing line number 2. This year, the company plans to invest 1.6 billion crowns.
“We compiled the investment plan with regard to the current market situation, economic prospects, and we also took into account the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic,” said TŽ CEO Jan Czudek.
The smelter will start this year’s most significant investment in the second half of August. It will be the reconstruction of one of the two blast furnaces for more than 600 million crowns. “This year, Třinecké železárny will also modernize the equipment for continuous casting of steel number 1, where it will replace the original frames of guide benches from 1989 and transform the casting streams into the possibility of casting a continuous casting diameter of 600 millimeters,” said the spokeswoman.
Including separate operations in Ostrava, Bohumín in the Karviná region, the Old Town near Uherské Hradiště and Kladno, TŽ has over 7,000 employees. Even with its subsidiaries, there are around 10,000 employees.