Swedish miner LKAB noted that demand for iron pre products has been strong in early 2021 but remains uncertain about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on through the year.
The company has made exploration work a high priority in 2021 as securing access to ore remains important. In 2020, the company produced 27.1mn mt of iron ore compared to 27.2mn mt in 2019. In Q4 2020 the company’s iron ore production was 6.8mn mt compared to 7.2mn mt in the same quarter in 2019.
LKAB’s iron ore deliveries rose to 28.5mn mt compared to 24.9mn mt in 2019. Deliveries in Q4 2020 increased to 7mn mt over 6.5mn mt in Q4 2019.
The firm’s 2020 net sales increased to SEK33.9bn ($4bn) from SEK31.2bn in 2019. Net sales in the last quarter of 2020 increased to SEK9bn from SEK6.9bn in Q4 2019. LKAB’s operating profit in 2020 slipped to SEK11.6bn from SEK11.7bn in 2019 while it rose to SEK 3.6bn in Q4 2020 from SEK 2bn in Q4 2019.
($1 = SEK8.3)