April 29 (Reuters) - Swedish steelmaker SSAB

reported a 57% drop in its first-quarter operating profit on

Tuesday, pressured by weak market conditions and lower prices in

North America.

Its operating profit slumped to 1.35 billion Swedish crowns

($140.29 million) in the January-March quarter from 3.16 billion

crowns a year earlier.

In addition to pressure from inexpensive Chinese steel and

elevated energy expenses, European steelmakers are now

contending with increased U.S. import duties.

SSAB, which operates steel businesses on both sides of the

Atlantic, however, said in a statement that U.S. President

Donald Trump's tariffs did not impact its business during the

latest quarter, as it benefits from having production facilities

close to major customers both in Europe and the U.S.

Nonetheless, the company said that due to tariffs, the

outlook for its steel divisions for the second quarter is "more

uncertain than usual".

The specialized high-strength steels producer expects

shipments by its Special Steels, Europe and Americas divisions

to be "somewhat higher" this quarter than in the previous one.

However, it cautioned prices would vary across the three

divisions -- from "stable" for Special Steels to "somewhat

higher" in the European unit and "significantly higher" in the

Americas unit.

Raw material costs should be "stable" in the Special Steels

and European units and "somewhat higher" in the Americas

division, SSAB said.

($1 = 9.6232 Swedish crowns)