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Mit freundlichen Grüssen
Andreas Steffes

North European stockholders wary of further margin squeeze

If European steelmakers achieve targeted flat product price rises, a number of stockholders could be facing disaster unless they can pass the higher costs on, sources said Friday.

Overcapacity in the steel production sector is mirrored downstream, with fierce competition chasing every ton weighing on stockists’ outsell prices. One German distribution source said margins had been trimmed by €10/metric ton as a result of lower sales prices to end users, and a slight increase in purchasing prices from mills.

“Our margins reduced by €10/mt by not being able to pass on the increases. If the customer says it does not believe the mill price is up, they can always go elsewhere,” he said.

European mills have hardened their attitude to sales, with further increases announced in recent days, and one major player withdrawing previous offers in a bid to impose higher levels. The problem for German stockholders is the lack of material they have, indicating at least some will have to buy soon.

According to stockholder association Bundesverband Deutscher Stahlhandel (BDS), flat steel stocks in Germany totalled 1.24 million mt at the end of December. That total is likely to have declined through January. In the first two months of 2015, total sales of flat products was 1.07 million mt, suggesting current stock levels are only just over two months, a much lower total than normal. Mills are confident this will result in new sales at higher prices.

A senior industry figure said stockholders require higher working capital when prices rise as the price multiplying factor applied to stock volumes and to tons sold increases. The increased value of assets requires higher financing on the liabilities side of the balance sheet, meaning increased support from either shareholders or banks.

“Considering these arguments and eventually some others, it is only one step to admit that consolidation in European steel distribution might in the coming months and years move significantly higher on the agenda of steel distribution stakeholders,” he said.

The stockholder agreed noting, “sooner or later some companies have to disappear from the market. We have good financing and we’re pretty strong but we’re also depending on making margins. It’s not just about cash flows. It cannot continue.”

Whereas multi-product stockholders and service centres are struggling, those with automotive contracts have enjoyed a good start to the year. “Demand has been the same as January, it was such a good month for us. Don’t ask us why, we’re on a lonely island with great volumes whereas everyone else is struggling,” a source in Germany said.

He also pointed to lower inventories in January as a sign mills will be able to increase sales prices. It seems the ability of downstream players to pass the extra costs onto their customers will be crucial to survival.

Peter Brennan, PLATTS

Journée Construction Acier le 15 novembre 2016

L’événement clé de la construction acier en Belgique

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Mardi 15 novembre 2016, De Montil, Affligem

  • Networking : rencontre avec des relations d’affaires existantes et nouvelles
  • Expo Acier : découverte des dernières tendances et innovations
  • De nombreuses conférences
  • Proclamation des lauréats du Concours Construction Acier
  • Publication d’un ouvrage de référence de la construction en acier

 

Public cible

Plus de 500 professionnels et décideurs du monde de la construction se donnent rendez-vous à la Journée Construction Acier : architectes, bureaux d’études, maîtres d’ouvrage, constructeurs métalliques, entrepreneurs, pouvoirs publics….sont également présents de nombreux étudiants et professeurs…

Sponsor Folder – 2016 – FR

Revista Infoacero Enero 2016

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Revista Infoacero correspondiente al mes de Enero.

Les indicamos algunos de los contenidos de la misma:

  • Opinión – D. Antonio Ibáñez Baeza- Miembro de la Junta  Directiva  de la UAHE.
  • Evolución de los índices de Precios de Chatarra de Eurofer y de Precios Medios de Mercado
  • Construcción: Resumen del Informe de Euroconstruct- Diciembre 2015- Situación y Previsiones para España en 2016
  • Segunda Mano: Maquinaria a la venta en el mes de enero.
  • Colaboración ASCEM: “Panorama 2016: un año de grandes expectativas e incertezas”- D. Jordi Romañá Ribé, Presidente de ASCEM.

Infoacero-Enero-16

Newsletter AIIS January 2015

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Important Questions for 2016
Good questions are the necessary antecedent to knowledge, which is often considered the forerunner to wisdom. Good questions posed in a timely way typically inform sound business judgment. Affirming this point, Eric Schmidt, Chairman of Alphabet (Google)–which recently overtook Apple
as the world’s most valuable company–said “We run this company on questions, not answers.”

So with a nod to Eric Schmidt, and with deep appreciation for the long-observed nexus between steel trade, both imports and exports, and the vitality of the American economy, here are four questions regarding key issues I believe prudent participants in the steel supply chain should think carefully about in 2016:

1. Is Martin Wolf, the noted Associate Editor and Chief Economics Commentator for the Financial Times, correct in his recent, important, thought-provoking prediction that the global economy, which he describes as “addicted to credit bubbles,” is on the verge of a difficult adjustment, one that the United States will do nothing about? Mr. Wolf makes a compelling argument that this is so.

In support of his case, Mr. Wolf cites several factors. He argues that the global economic picture is far from healthy in large part due to the deteriorating performance of emerging economies, particularly the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa). Of the five BRICS, Mr. Wolf notes that only India is experiencing a revival, while the other four are in significant trouble.
He points to the fact that China, the most important emerging economy, is undergoing market turmoil that has “reduced confidence in the competence of its [China’s] leadership”. Mr. Wolf adds that China’s problems “are not amenable to any quick fixes” because China’s economy is “extremely unbalanced, with incredibly high savings rates, wastefully high investment rates, and high debt.”

Looking more broadly at the developing economies, Mr. Wolf notes that another set of credit bubbles in these economies is “loudly popping,” which will “leave a legacy of financial shocks and, if mishandled, bad debt.”

Mr. Wolf comments that in addition to these problems, we are seeing slowing growth in international trade. “Globalization is losing dynamism,” he worries. And indeed this is a major concern. Last September, the World Trade Organization revised its 2015 forecast of global trade growth downward, from 3.3 percent previously to 2.8 percent. There are other significant concerns with respect to prospects for the global economy. Ratification of the recently completed Trans-Pacific Partnership (continued ).

AIIS-January-2016-Newsletter

Commission launches new anti-dumping investigations into several steel products

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The EU now has 37 trade defence measures in place on imports of steel products, while nine investigations are still ongoing

The European Commission today opened new anti-dumping investigations to determine whether imports of three steel products have been dumped on the EU market. If this is found to be the case, the Commission will take measures to protect the European industry from damaging effects of unfair trade.

All three steel products subject to these investigations – seamless pipes, heavy plates and hot-rolled flat steel – originate in China.

In addition to these three new investigations, in another ongoing case concerning a steel product, the Commission decided to impose as of today provisional anti-dumping duties on cold-rolled flat steel from China and Russia. This follows other provisional anti-dumping measures adopted recently, on so called ‘high fatigue performance rebars’ from China, imposed on 29 January.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said: “The steel sector currently faces a range of challenges. EU trade defence instruments cannot on their own solve all those problems, but the European Commission is acting and applying the instruments at its disposal to support and ensure a level-playing field.We cannot allow unfair competition from artificially cheap imports to threaten our industry. I am determined to use all means possible to ensure that our trading partners play by the rules. We have so far put in place trade defence measures for more than 30 different types of steel products, and we will continue to effectively address legitimate concerns of our industry.”

With today’s decisions, the EU now has 37 trade defence measures in place on imports of steel products, while nine investigations are still ongoing. In parallel, the Commission has also proposed to modernise and make more effective the use of Trade Defence Instruments, a proposal which is now being discussed between Member States. The Commission hopes that Member States will swiftly approve this proposal.

As regards the investigation launched on hot-rolled flat steel today, the Commission decided to take action on the basis of a “threat of injury”, rather than waiting for such injury to materialise. This is an early preventive action which is in itself an exceptional step in trade defence proceedings. The European Commission decided to activate this instrument since the complaint presented by the industry contained sufficient evidence to meet the legal demands.

The provisional duties on cold-rolled steel imposed today range between 13.8% and 16% for the Chinese companies and between 19.8% and 26.2% for the Russian ones. Thanks to an earlier registration of imports, the Commission also has the possibility to decide at a later stage to collect duties retroactively as of December 2015.

Concerning the three new investigations, the Commission will now collect information from Chinese exporters, European producers and importers, as well as industrial users to determine whether anti-dumping duties should be put in place in the coming months or not.

The relevant notices of initiation of these investigations will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 13 February 2016.

Background information

The European Union, like most major economies, operates a system of Trade Defence Instruments. These instruments – Anti-Dumping (AD), Anti-Subsidy (AS) and Safeguard measures – allow the EU to defend its producers against international distortions of competition in the form of dumped or subsidised imports and, in the case of safeguards, against dramatic shifts in trade flows in so far as these are harmful to the EU economy.

The use of these instruments is based on World Trade Organization (WTO) rules and is a legitimate and necessary part of the multilateral trading system. By international comparison, the EU is a moderate user of TDI. The EU maintains high standards through a regular review of rules and, when necessary, by adapting TDI to evolutions in external and internal economic conditions and jurisprudence.

The aim of TDI is not to act against low priced imports as such, or to eliminate the genuine competitive advantages of some third countries, but to counter the artificial advantages which third countries may enjoy in international trade through state induced or privately organised distortions.

Dumping is normally the result of state interference in economic operations, or of protection or lack of competition in the exporting countries’ markets which allows local producers to charge artificially high prices in their home market and subsequently use the profits from such activities to “subsidise” exports at prices below real market costs.

An anti-dumping investigation is initialled once the complaint filed by the industry is approved – the Commission services have 45 days to reject or approve a complaint. The investigation is in two parts, within the nine months after having initialled, provisional measures are disclosed and within the six months thereafter the definitive measures. Over the whole investigation period (of maximum 15 months) the Commission services constantly interact with the stakeholders (the so-called ‘interested parties’) and perform on-spot verification visits.


More information

Anti-dumping regulation on cold-rolled flat steel
Anti-dumping regulation on high fatigue performance rebars
EU trade defence proceedings
Video: Trade Defence Instruments

Les livraisons d’acier en hausse de 6% en 2015

Cesare Vigano, Vice President EUROMETAL
Cesare Vigano, Vice President EUROMETAL

Bruxelles.- En 2015, les livraisons de produits plats effectuées par les centres de service européens ont poursuivi leur remontée selon EUROMETAL, association regroupant les traders et distributeurs d’acier. Comparativement à 2014, elles se sont accrues de 6%. Sur le seul mois de décembre, les livraisons ont également progressé de 8% en glissement annuel.

Les dernières données ont montré que le sort des centres de service européens gravitait autour du volume d’activité émanant du secteur automobile et des industries connexes. En décembre, les ventes de produits plats destinées aux utilisateurs finaux se sont accrues de 8% sur un an. Le total pour l’année 2015 était supérieur de 6% à celui enregistré en 2014.

Un centre de service allemand fait état du niveau excellent de la demande des constructeurs automobiles locaux : « la demande issue de l’industrie automobile est très robuste. Nous atteignons de bonnes marges et les perspectives sont plutôt encourageantes pour les prochains trimestres».

Ces belles performances contrastaient avec les ventes effectuées en décembre par les centres de stockage et de distribution multi-produits de proximité, en repli de 16% sur un an. En 2015 sur ce segment, les ventes totales ont décliné de 3% par rapport à 2014.

D’après Cesare Vigano, vice-président d’EUROMETAL, à plus long terme, de nouvelles restructurations et consolidations seront nécessaires en vue d’équilibrer les capacités. L’an dernier en Europe du Sud, si le secteur de la distribution a montré des signes de redressement en termes d’expéditions, les indicateurs de performance clés étaient toujours décevants dû au déséquilibre permanent entre l’offre et la consommation réelle.

Source: La Tribune de la Sidérurgie du Mercredi 10 février 2016

WTO issues call for papers for 2016 WTO Essay Award for Young Economists

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The WTO launched on 8 February an invitation to young economists to submit papers for the 2016 WTO Essay Award. The Award aims to promote high-quality research on trade policy and international trade co-operation among young economists and to reinforce the relationship between the WTO and the academic community.

Prize

The annual WTO Essay Award consists of a prize of CHF 5,000 to the author(s) of the winning essay. In the case of a co-authored paper, the prize will be equally divided among the authors. The winning paper will be officially announced at the annual meeting of the European Trade Study Group (ETSG), which is the largest conference specializing in international trade. The award ceremony will take place in September 2016 in Helsinki, Finland. The winning author(s) will receive funding to attend the meeting.

Selection

An Academic Selection Panel is responsible for the selection of the winning paper. The Panel comprises:

Dr Robert Koopman (Director, Economic Research and Statistics Division, WTO Secretariat) is ex officio member of the Panel. Dr Roberta Piermartini (Counsellor, Economic Research and Statistics Division, WTO) coordinates the work of the Selection Panel.

Eligibility

The paper must address issues related to trade policy and international trade co-operation.  The author(s) of the paper must possess or be engaged in the completion of a PhD degree and, if over 30 years of age, be no more than two years past a PhD defence. In the case of co-authored papers, this requirement shall apply to all authors. In addition, to be considered for the Award, essays cannot exceed 15,000 words.

Past winners

  • 2015: Christoph Boehm (University of Michigan), Aaron Flaaen (Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington D.C.) and Nitya Pandalai-Nayar (University of Michigan)
  • 2014: Jonathan Dingel (Columbia University) and Claudia Steinwender (LSE)
  • 2013: Felix Tintelnot (Princeton University).
  • 2012: Treb Allen (Yale University)
  • 2011: Rafael Dix-Carneiro (University of Maryland) and Kyle Handley (Stanford University)
  • 2010: Dave Donaldson (MIT) and Olena Ivus (Queen’s University)
  • 2009: Ralph Ossa (University of Chicago). The runner-up was Mostafa Beshkar (University of New Hampshire).

Important deadlines

Essays must be submitted by 1 June 2016. The Economic Research and Statistics Division of the WTO Secretariat will shortlist eligible papers by 15 June 2016 and the Selection Panel will take a final decision by 15 July 2016. Only the author(s) of short-listed essays will be notified.

Publication

The winning essay will be published in the WTO Working Paper Series and it is the responsibility of the author(s) to endeavour to secure publication of the contribution in a journal.

Submissions

All submissions should be sent to essay.award@wto.org. Submissions should include as separate attachments in PDF format:

1. the essay 
2. the CV of the author(s), specifying (i) current affiliation(s), (ii) the academic institution awarding the PhD, (iii) the year (or the expected year) of the PhD, (iv) the date of birth of the author(s).