The net loss of Novolipetsk Iron & Steel Works (NLMK) reached $481m in the last quarter of 2008, while its net profit dropped by 110.8% against the third quarter of 2008, NLMK’s financial report for 2008 states.

The enterprise’s net debt amounted to $841.5 million on December 31, 2008, while the available monetary resources totaled to $2.16bn and the financial debt to $3bn (including $1.1bn worth of short-term debts and $1.9bn of long-term ones). NLMK’s accounts receivable came to $1.488bn, which fell short of the figures for 2007 by 12%.

NLMK says their losses have been brought about by the dropping demand and the plummeting ferrous metal prices due to the global financial crisis. These losses force the company to cut down on the production outputs and make a lot of Sverdlovsk Region-based workers redundant. Among NLMK’s local companies are VIZ-Stal and Nizhneserginskiy Metallurgical Plant.