Trading company C&F to close German headquarters
German trading company C&F International is to close its Essen headquarters by the end of March, further streamlining its activities, sources close to the company told S&P Global Platts.
Following the closure of its office in Hamburg and the Spanish trading arm in Madrid last year, the Essen office continued to operate the activities of the closed offices, Platts learnt. Sources said a smaller company called S&P Steel Products will now look after the remaining trading business of C&F, which has another main office in Houston, US.
S&P Steel Products, headquartered in Houston, is a trading arm of Mexican industrial and financial group Villacero International, parent company of C&F. C&F, formerly known as Coutinho & Ferrostaal, was acquired by the group in 2012.
Villacero is the largest distributor of steel products in Mexico, and has manufacturing plants, distribution facilities, sales offices and service centers throughout Mexico and the US.
Platts was unable to reach C&F or Villacero for comment despite repeated attempts.
Laura Varriale and Peter Brennan, PLATTS
Antwerp port boosts ferrous throughput in 2016
The port of Antwerp, one of the main transport hubs for ferrous metals in Europe, saw its throughput of steel and scrap increase significantly last year. This supported the hub’s overall expansion in 2016, Kallanish learns from the port authority.
The port handled over 1 million tonnes of scrap, up 6.5% year-on-year while movements of steel finished products reached 7.7mt, up 12.8% y-o-y.
Europe saw an increase in scrap exports to Turkey and other destinations in 2016, while the continent also increased significantly its imports of steel products, according to data from Eurofer.
Iron ore throughput at the port fell by -10.5% y-o-y to 2.1mt suggesting slightly lower activity from integrated mills’ imports of raw materials through Antwerp. Coal handled reached 1mt, down more significantly by -34.2% on-year.
The ferrous business at the port grew stronger than that for other sectors. The port handled 214mt of cargoes in total during 2016, up 2.7% y-o-y.