Stelco Holdings Inc. said its steel shipments in the fourth quarter of last year were below its previously disclosed forecast as it was hurt by production and logistics challenges and the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

“It’s spreading like absolute wildfire and what we’re seeing is impacts all over the place including getting transportation [and] issues we have to deal with in the company with absent workers,” Alan Kestenbaum, chief executive officer of Stelco, told BNN Bloomberg Thursday.

“But the thing that’s gotten us and really provoked our announcement today is the lack of visibility we have with our customers because many of our customers started reporting to us in that last few days of December that they simply don’t have work crews to produce parts.”

The Hamilton-based steelmaker said it shipped about 625,000 net tons of steel in the fourth quarter of 2021, below its forecast of between 675,000 and 680,000 net tons.

Stelco said in a statement earlier Thursday it was hurt by unplanned outages on its hot strip mill, logistics challenges and the spread of the Omicron variant which affected the company as well as its customers and suppliers.

Kestenbaum likened the company’s current situation to the position it found itself back in March 2020 because of the severe lack of visibility from its customers.

The latest COVID-19 variant has fuelled a massive spike in cases and caused labour shortages as sick workers have been forced to stay home.

The company added that shipments for the first quarter of this year will be at or potentially lower than those in the fourth quarter.

It said the lower guidance for the first quarter is due to planned outages that have been advanced as well as softer prices, weaker demand and increased COVID-19 related disruptions.

However, Kestenbaum said he’s confident he can lead the company through these challenges.

“I’ve been through this before. I’ve navigated ships through some very tough waters, whether it be the financial crisis, COVID during 2020,” he said.

“The company is in a better position to navigate through it than it was previously, in terms of our balance sheet, core structure and everything else. But the biggest concern that’s precipitated this is final demand from the consumer and complete lack of visibility as to how long this is going to last.”

-- With files from BNN Bloomberg