Spanish stainless steel producer Acerinox (BME: ACX) is shifting production towards the nuclear and semiconductor sectors as uncertainty linked to the conflict in the Middle East continues to weigh on investment in oil and gas projects, executives said on Friday.
“The geopolitical situation is keeping demand low in the oil and gas sector, but the reconstruction is still to come,” finance chief Esther Camós said on an analyst call, referring to the group’s high-performance alloys business.
While waiting for that demand to return, Acerinox is looking to benefit from strong demand for small modular reactors and from the higher margins available in semiconductor-related markets, Camós said.
The transition has been under way for several months and is expected to accelerate during 2027, Chief Corporate Officer Miguel Ferrandis said, adding that weakness in the chemical-processing industry was also contributing to the shift.
Oddo BHF analyst Maxime Kogge described the opportunity as “relatively modest”, noting that neither Europe nor the United States is currently experiencing a major wave of nuclear plant construction.
Shares in Acerinox were down 5.7% by 1230 GMT as investors focused on management’s sequentially weaker fourth-quarter core earnings outlook despite a third-quarter earnings beat.
(Reporting by Javi West Larrañaga in Gdansk; Editing by Matt Scuffham)
