Severstal, Russia's largest steel maker, cut its 2008 earnings forecast yesterday and said it would defer most of its $8 billion (U.S.) 2009-2011 investment program as market conditions worsened.
It cut the 2008 forecast for EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation, to $5.1 billion to $5.3 billion from an earlier $5.8 billion-$6.1 billion target.
The company also said it would further reduce its output and head count by an unspecified amount and would slash capital expenditure for 2008 by 20 per cent.
Steel makers in Russia, the world's fourth-largest producer of the metal, have slashed output and delayed planned investments since October as demand for their products slumped and payments slowed in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Russia's majors are also scrambling to refinance debt.
