Report for the first quarter of 2012

The quarter   

  · Sales were largely unchanged and amounted to SEK 11,023
(11,056) million                         
  · Operating profit of SEK 479 (621)
million            
  · Profit after financial items of SEK 329 (509) million
· Earnings per share of SEK 0.87 (1.16)                        
    · Operating
cash flow improved to SEK 1,887 (242) million and cash flow from current
operations to SEK 1,684 (-89) million
    · Shipments of niche products now
account for 39 (37)% of steel shipments

(In the report, amounts in brackets
refer to the corresponding period of last year. The comparison period has been
adjusted as a consequence of changed accounting principles; for details, see
page 12).
Comments by the CEO          

As expected, the first quarter of 2012 was
characterized by a degree of inventory replenishment in the market, at the same
time as spot market prices increased. However, as far as SSAB was concerned,
quarterly prices during the first quarter were lower compared with the fourth
quarter 2011 due to the fact that many of our sales agreements were signed at
the end of 2011, at a time when there was clear pressure on prices.

Demand
improved during the first quarter, with Material Handling and large construction
equipment within Construction Machinery being the strongest segments, together
with large parts of the energy sector in North
America.                                

Our efforts to optimize working
capital are continuing to show results, and we were able to report an operating
cash flow of SEK 1.9 billion for the first quarter. The cost efficiency program
initiated within the EMEA business area is proceeding according to plan, and
among other things approximately 200 white collar positions will be phased
out.

During the quarter, we resumed operation of our larger blast furnace in
Oxelösund, at the same time as we are now making preparations for suspension of
production at the smaller blast furnace. A gas pipe breakdown at the plant in
Oxelösund resulted in a 10-day outage in production, with approximately 10
thousand tonnes of production loss. It has been possible to make up for some of
the loss in production, and a full assessment of the effect can be made during
the second quarter.

Prospects for the future indicate a continuation of the
recovery in North America, while developments in Europe are uncertain. Despite
signs of a lower degree of growth rate in China, we see continued great
opportunities for our products, both there as well as in the rest of Asia. As a
consequence of the price rises we witnessed on the spot market during the first
quarter, we anticipate some price increases, especially within EMEA, during the
second quarter.

During the second quarter, we will also experience the impact
on earnings of the 12 percent reduction in iron ore prices which entered into
effect for deliveries for the first quarter. No iron ore price agreement has yet
been signed for the second quarter and onwards. So far this year, spot prices
for coal have remained stable at levels which are more than 10 percent lower
than the levels at which we purchased coal in the autumn of 2011, while spot
prices for scrap metal in North America fell by approximately five percent
during the quarter.

Our major capital expenditure projects aimed at further
strengthening our position on the quenched steels market have now begun to be
brought into commission. Through these projects, we will be able to expand our
customer offering of our unique range of quenched steels. The investments will
enable us to achieve our goal that high strength steels will account for 50% of
our shipments in 2015. It also means that capital expenditures this year will be
significantly lower than last year, which will contribute to achieving our
ambition of further reducing the net debt/equity ratio.

Martin Lindqvist,
President and CEO
Presentation of the report

SSAB invites to a presentation
of the report today April 27, 2012.
Venue and time of briefing: World Trade
Center (WTC) Stockholm, Kungsbron 1, Conference room Manhattan, 09:30 a.m.
CET.
The press conference will be held in English and live webcasted on SSAB's
website www.ssab.com (http://www.ssab.com). Instructions on how to participate
in the webcast will be available on SSAB's website, including presentation
material for downloading. 

This information is such that SSAB must disclose
in accordance with the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for
publication on April 27, 2012 at 08.00 am.
For further information, please contact:
Helena Stålnert, Executive Vice
President, Communications, +46 8 45 45 734
Catarina Ihre, Director, Investor
Relations, +46 8 45 45 729
SSAB is a global leader in value added, high strength steel. SSAB offers
products developed in close cooperation with its customers to create a stronger,
lighter and more sustainable world.SSAB has employees in over 45 countries and
operates production facilities in Sweden and the US. SSAB is listed on the
NASDAQ OMX Nordic Exchange, Stockholm. www.ssab.com