Štore Steel saw its revenues fall 20 percent to €138.7m in 2019 thanks to slowing demand from the automotive sectors. Its profits fell to below €3m, compared to €8.6m in 2018, with the volume of sales reaching just 131,000 tons, 26,000 tons short of its plan. The result in 2020 is that the falloff in demand this year isn’t as dramatic as it might have been, in part because the company had already undertaken cost cutting measures. These include delaying certain investments, like the installation of a new inductive steel bar line estimated at €3.5m. Although the company’s director Jani Jurkošek admitted to STA that it was having trouble with staff absenteeism, these problems weren’t yet jeopardizing production. He said that with more supply of steel than demand, the company will likely have to work for lower prices.
