Metso announced on Monday that due to the current market uncertainty caused by the covid-19 pandemic, the company will cancel its market outlook statement released February 6.
Metso will publish a new market outlook statement in its interim review for January-March, which is scheduled to be published on May 7
“The market development in January and February 2020 was in line with the outlook statement, but uncertainty caused by the measures to globally fight against the spreading of the coronavirus has increased in our markets towards the end of March,” Metso stated in the press release.
Market activity in both segments, Flow Control and Minerals, is expected to remain at the current level in both the equipment and services business.
Metso will publish a new market outlook statement in its Interim Review for January-March, which is scheduled to be published on May 7.
Update on covid-19 impact
During February, Metso’s operations in China were largely impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The Chinese factories were nevertheless restarted successfully during the month and are now running at the normal capacity, the company said.
“The order intake from China in the first quarter is estimated to be on the planned level, while sales in China will be lower than planned, having a minor impact on Metso’s financial performance,” Metso said.
“The quickly enforced measures to contain the spreading of the virus in various countries around the world are limiting the mobility of workforce and have started to have an impact on our field service operations recently.”
Currently, Metso’s operations, especially in India, Peru and South Africa are affected by the restrictions imposed by governments. The company said the restrictions might also affect supply chain activities.
“Metso will continue to focus on the safety of its personnel and customers, as well as leveraging its global operations in order to provide a maximum flexibility to ensure continuation of its own and its customers’ operations.”
The company had earlier implemented a strong cost control. The planned short-term activities could include reduction of worktime and reduced overall spend.
Metso Executive Team announced it will participate in this undertaking by lowering its own compensation.