Aberdeen-headquartered John Lawrie Metals has reported a decrease in turnover with steel and oil and gas prices being blamed.
The metal recycling business reached a turnover of £48m in its accounts for the year ending December 31, 2023. This was compared to sales of £54m in 2022.
The company made pre-tax profits of £2.4m in the financial period, significantly up from a £9.7m loss, when it wrote off a £10.8m inter-group loan.
Steel and oil and gas prices affected turnover
Company directors said “certain commodity prices” had played its part and it continues to “monitor these markets”.
The strategic report accompanying the accounts said: “The company’s activities are affected by certain commodity prices, being steel and oil and gas.
“The movements in the price of these commodities have a direct and indirect effect on the price of materials that the company trades in.”
Sites across the region
Founded in the 1930s by metal merchant John Lawrie, JLM is a consolidator of ferrous scrap metal, exporting to steel producers mainly in western Europe.
It has scrap metal yards and metal recycling facilities in Aberdeen, Montrose Port, Shetland and Evanton, near Inverness.
The company sources about half its material from the oil and gas market.
Supplies of scrap are expected to grow significantly over the next decade, due to a growing number of infrastructure decommissioning projects in the North Sea.
In a bid to meet demand JLM constructed a new dedicated decommissioning facility at Montrose Port for offshore oil and gas infrastructure which has reached the end of its service life.
Waste management and environmental permits from the Scottish Government will allow the facility to handle and process all types of materials produced during an offshore decommissioning campaign.
The latest accounts have revealed staff numbers have fallen from 42 in 2022 to 35 in 2023.
This led to staff costs decreasing from £4m in 2022 to £2.6m last year.
JLM multibillionaire part owner
In March 2022, JLM became part-owned by Indian multibillionaire steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal.
His family’s business ArcelorMittal acquired more than one third of the firm for an undisclosed sum.
Mr Mittal spent many years at the top of the annual Sunday Times Rich List of the UK’s wealthiest people.
He and his family are currently ranked sixth on the list, with an estimated fortune of £16 billion.
As well as JLM, the multibillionaire’s business interests include a 20% stake in London football club Queens Park Rangers.
