Global Steel Market Overview
This week, the global steel market experienced a general trend of slight price declines amid weak demand. Below is a detailed review of the major markets:
Semi-finished Products Market
- China: Market futures weakened, resulting in a subdued sentiment. Steel billet export prices fell by approximately $10.
- Southeast Asia: Market transactions were sluggish, with prices continuing to decline. A leading Indonesian steel mill quoted $490/ton FOB for 3SP billet, down $5/ton.
- Russia: Prices for slabs remained stable, while billet export prices to Turkey fell by about $5.
- Iran: Amid the declining billet prices in Asia, Iranian products struggled with competitiveness, keeping prices steady.
Long Products Market
- China: Domestic and export prices fell by around $5 due to falling futures prices and the off-season.
- Asia: The long products market was weak to stable, with average transaction performance. Malaysia’s rebar prices remained at $520/ton DAP Singapore. Vietnam’s long products prices for both export and domestic markets held steady.
- Turkey: Rebar export prices rose slightly due to stronger scrap prices but overall transaction performance was poor.
- Italy: Domestic rebar prices ranged between €350-370/ton EXW, unchanged from the previous week.
Flat Products Market
- China: Futures prices fluctuated lower, with domestic hot-rolled coil prices generally declining amid falling demand.
- Vietnam: Market demand was weak, and purchasing power was low.
- India: July listings for hot-rolled coil prices fell by about $5/ton.
Overall, the global steel market exhibited a weak to stable trend, with demand showing little improvement from last week. Chengjiu expects steel prices to remain weak and volatile in the near future.
Market Developments
- Italy Rebar Producers Raise Prices: Italian rebar producers plan to increase domestic benchmark prices from €340-370/ton to €400/ton, marking the second price adjustment since last month.
- Saudi Arabia Hadeed Company Raises Prices: Hadeed, a subsidiary of SABIC, raised long products prices due to cost constraints.
- Nucor Lowers Hot-Rolled Coil Prices: Nucor Corporation announced a price drop of $35/ton for hot-rolled coil to $680/short ton, the lowest since April this year.
- EU Reduces Imports of Russian Semi-finished Products: From January to April 2024, the EU’s imports of Russian semi-finished products decreased by 3.8% year-on-year to 1.2 million tons.
- Vietnam Plans 3000 km Highway Construction by 2025: At the 12th meeting of the National Steering Committee for Major Transport Projects, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized completing 3,000 kilometers of highways by December 31, 2025.
Steel Plant Updates
- ArcelorMittal to Restart Eisenhüttenstadt Blast Furnace: ArcelorMittal announced maintenance on its Eisenhüttenstadt plant in Germany from June 24-29, with plans to restart the blast furnace on June 28.
- Pakistan Plans to Shut Down Largest Steel Plant PSM: Due to an inability to pay for natural gas, Pakistan’s federal government decided to shut down the financially troubled Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) and plans to establish a new steel plant in cooperation with the Sindh provincial government.
- UK Tata Workers Plan to Strike: Tata Steel UK workers plan an indefinite strike from July 8 in response to the company’s plan to shut down the South Wales blast furnace, putting 2,800 jobs at risk.
Industry Data
- Spain Steel Production Growth: In May, Spain’s steel production increased by 9.9% year-on-year to 1.11 million tons.
- Turkey Cold-Rolled Imports Decline: From January to April 2024, Turkey’s cold-rolled imports fell by 20% year-on-year.
- France Crude Steel Production Rise: In May, France’s steel production increased by 36.4% year-on-year to 1.09 million tons.
- Brazil Steel Import and Export Trends: In April, Brazil’s steel imports increased by 11.4% year-on-year, while exports fell by 11.5%. Domestic sales increased by 9.5%.
- Global Crude Steel Production Increase: In May, global crude steel production from 71 countries increased by 1.5% year-on-year.
International Trade Policies
- EU Extends Steel Import Safeguard Measures: The EU has officially extended steel import safeguard measures by two years until June 2026, following a request from 14 EU member states for an investigation.
- China and EU Start Electric Vehicle Anti-subsidy Talks: On June 22, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao held a video meeting with EU Executive Vice President and Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis to discuss the EU’s anti-subsidy investigation into Chinese electric vehicles.