Sales in the Business Area Performance Products increased 10% from €545.2M to €601.7M due to improvement in graphite electrode volumes resulting from the global growth in electric steel production.
As expected, cathode sales in Q3 2011 recovered slightly, but at lower sales prices.
EBIT amounted to €100M compared to €110.5M in the first nine months of 2010 due to lower graphite electrode prices.
Start-up costs for the commissioning of the new Malaysian production facility continued to weigh on earnings. Return on sales at 16.6% prevailed near the level seen in H1 2011.