(Ecofin Agency) - Morocco’s national steel manufacturing company (Sonasid) ended 2019 with a net income of MAD8 million, down 84% compared with the MAD49.7 million in 2018.

The leader in steel production on the Moroccan market attributed this bad performance to a deterioration of market conditions both internationally and locally. “The pressure of the international context has been accentuated by the more marked drop in the price of finished products compared to that of raw materials and by the rise in the price of industrial consumables,” Sonasid said in a recent financial communication.

On the local market, the company listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange faced “a strong increase in imports, especially from Turkey.” Subsequently, Sonasid's turnover fell by 5% to reach MAD3.5 billion at the end of 2019 against MAD 3.8 billion in 2018.

Sonasid is controlled up to 64.86% by Nouvelles Sidérurgies industrielles (NSI), jointly owned by the Luxembourg steel group ArcelorMittal and the Moroccan investment fund Al Mada.

Chamberline Moko