Day: 11 July 2021

The European Commission has announced it has adopted a new “Sustainable Finance Strategy”, which includes the proposal of a “European Green Bond Standard”. German steel association WV Stahl says some issues with the strategy remain unresolved, however, Kallanish notes.

The strategy is to facilitate funding of long-term projects. Issuers may use European green bonds to fund multi-year EU projects, such as converting a production facility like a steel plant to reduce its emissions, the Commission explains. It notes that the European green bond also applies to “transition activities”, and in this context names cement and steel manufacturing.

“The direct reduction technology, which is indispensable for climate-neutral steel production, is not clearly classified as sustainable,” WV Stahl president Hans Jürgen Kerkhoff points out.
 
Kerkhoff is particularly concerned about the lack of understanding that the transformation in materials industries such as steel does not take place abruptly, but step by step. “For the transition to a climate-neutral steel industry, both breakthrough technologies such as direct reduction and investments in traditional process routes must be considered sustainable,” he says.

For the path to climate-neutral steel production, it is also necessary that the use of natural gas in direct reduction is recognised as sustainable until it can gradually be replaced by green hydrogen, he notes.

Christian Koehl Germany

Russian steel company MMK, which decided to restart the hot end of its Turkish subsidiary MMK Metalurji and started commissioning work in May, has started trial production at the mill, S&P Global Platts learned from an industry source July 9.

Following the trial production, the company is aiming to start sales to the market as of the beginning of September, the source said.

A service center manager also said the company has already started to take hot-rolled coil orders for late August deliveries with prices around other Turkish mills’ offer prices.

Turkish mills have been offering HRC to the domestic market generally at $1,080-$1,120/mt ex-works for October, depending on producer and tonnage, but discounts could be available.

With the entrance of MMK Metalurji to the HRC market, the competition in the domestic market is expected to rise.

MMK Metalurji’s casting and rolling module comprises an electric arc furnace and a compact hot strip mill with an overall capacity of 2.3 million mt/year, idle since November 2012.

The company is aiming to raise the capacity gradually in line with market requirements. Once MMK’s hot end module is restarted and ramped up to capacity, MMK expects to be able to produce 2 million mt/year of HRC.

The company could sell around half its HRC production to the market while using the other half for its own requirements, as MMK Metalurji has a 1.2 million mt/year continuous pickling line, a 750,000 mt/year cold-reversing mill, a 900,000 mt/year hot-dip galvanizing line and a 400,000 mt/year color-coating line.

— Cenk Can

Asian stainless cold-rolled coil prices rose in the week to July 9, boosted by improved sentiment amid stronger nickel and rising Chinese physical and futures market.

S&P Global Platts assessed 304 grade 2 mm 2B stainless CRC at $2,860/mt CFR East and Southeast Asian ports on July 9, up $30/mt on the week.

The official nickel cash price on the London Metal Exchange settled at $18,180/mt on July 8, up $98/mt week on week. And nickel prices increased strongly further on July 9.

Market sentiment in Chinese domestic market continued to improve during the week, amid expectations of output cut and strong futures market. Spot market increased by as much as about Yuan 300/mt ($46/mt) on the week.

Mills had also lifted their domestic list prices for future delivery amid the relatively bullish sentiment, said a Chinese trader.

Taiwanese mills were likely to raise their offers for August shipment Offering level given the upward market trend, said a regional trader. New offers would be higher than the previous level at $2,850-$2,900/mt CFR, as overall demand in the seaborne market remained healthy, he said. Some Japanese and European mills had stopped quoting, as they could not deliver cargoes in time due to the tight supply, he added.

The most actively-traded August 2021 stainless steel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange was at Yuan17,360/mt on July 9, up Yuan 1,030/mt, or 6.3% on the week.

— Dai Yuelin