Day: 8 July 2020

The sheet industry fair Euroblech will be postponed to March 9-12, 2021, after major exhibitors pulled out of the event initially planned for October 2020, the event’s organizer Mac Brooks Exhibitions said July 7.

The biennial fair, located in Germany’s Hanover, is one of the most important fairs for the flat steel industry in Europe with around 56,000 visitors.

“The past months have been challenging, in particular for the sheet metal working industry and its related industry sectors. We have seen a decrease in orders of capital goods and many companies are telling us about their challenges in dealing with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although we have recently received authority approval for our Safety and Security concept to hold Euroblech in October this year, we have decided to postpone Euroblech to spring 2021,” according to Nicola Hamann, managing director of Mack Brooks Exhibitions.

There will be a virtual summit nevertheless October 27-30, providing a digital platform for exhibitors.

The Wire & Tube fair in Duesseldorf, a similarly important fair, will be going ahead however following the postponement from spring to December 7-11 this year.

Opinions are mixed in the steel market whether to attend a fair at all this year in light of the possibility of a second wave of the pandemic and travel restrictions that could be tightened on short notice.

Sources at major mills, which usually exhibit at the Tube & Wire and Euroblech, said before the official postponement of the Euroblech that many exhibitors chose one of the fairs as both were scheduled close to each other.

A European mill source said the date of the Tube & Wire in December would be a disadvantage for sales discussions as most would be usually winding down activities at that time. December is also usually the time when the German distribution sector is decreasing inventories and do not look for many buying opportunities compared with November.

— Laura Varriale

Most European integrated steelmakers are likely to record negative Ebitda this year for the first time in ten years, according to Joerg Leib of the Steel Hub consultancy firm.

Speaking during a webinar this week attended by Kallanish, the analyst said Steel Hub created a model to calculate profitability of major integrated steelmakers in Europe. The model is based on the assumption that revenue will be down between -15% and -30% year-o-year in 2020, as a consequence of the coronavirus emergency and the fall in steel demand.

In the most positive scenario, with revenues moving down -15% y-o-y, all integrated steelmakers, except for Austria’s voestalpine, will record negative Ebitda. On the other hand, if a second wave of lockdowns occurs and revenues fall as much as -30% y-o-y, all firms’ Ebitda will drop significantly.

Leib also said spreads between raw material input costs and steel prices will remain stable compared to 2019, when they dropped significantly.

Based on current visibility, it is unlikely European integrated steelmakers will report a greater fall in Ebitda than -30% this year, Leib concluded.

Italian stainless steel scrap prices are flat month-on-month in new July contracts depending on grade. Some grades are less sought after and therefore decreasing in price, merchants in the country tell Kallanish.

The unprecedented downturn in the domestic and European stainless steel sector is persisting. Prices for finished flat products and tubes continue to fall and both producers’ and distributors’ stocks are said to be high. Merchants in Italy are selling very small volumes for July, while some mills have put off their July scrap deliveries to September because of their high stocks. Demand also remains subdued due to Acciai Speciali Terni’s substantial production cut, with no change from last month.

Domestic grade 304 scrap is sold at €960-990/tonne ($1,085-1,119) delivered excluding blend, a less pure scrap quality that is mixed and processed by merchants with 304. The high point of the range is paid by larger mills.

Grade 316 prices are on a downward trend. Despite the short supply, mills are not requesting this grade. Prices for 316 are now at €1,430-1,440/t delivered on average, some €50/t less compared to last month, sources say.

Merchants say they consider July “…the worst month in the past ten years.”