Day: 14 March 2023

A GBP 5 million ($6 million) investment in new electric induction furnaces will reduce emissions from one of Tata Steel’s tube mills in Corby, UK, by 2,000 mt/year of CO2, Tata Steel Europe said March 13.

The site, in Northamptonshire, is capable of manufacturing 250,000 mt/year of thin-wall welded tube for a range of applications, including construction, engineering and energy infrastructure.

Supplier Inductotherm Heating and Welding will be replacing the original Radyne units installed in 1980 with 12 more technically advanced and energy efficient induction heating coil assemblies, along with associated electrical infrastructure, cooling systems and process control gear, London-headquartered Tata Steel Europe said in a statement. The work will be carried out over two weeks at the end of October.

The package includes a stretch reduction mill that takes 169-mm diameter steel tubes and heats them to around 1,100°C before they are stretched into as small as 40mm diameter hollow sections with wall thicknesses as thin as 3.2 mm.

“The improved efficiency of the new furnaces means we’ll need less pre-heating from the gas-fired furnaces and therefore fewer associated emissions,” said Project Lead Paul Ilko.

The project is in line with Tata Steel’s environmental ambitions of becoming net-zero globally by 2045. As part of its sustainability commitment, the Corby works also aims to move its electricity supply towards low-carbon, renewable sources in due course, it says.

— Ekaterina Bouckley

Sentiment among French construction companies deteriorated again in February. The firms surveyed say they saw a negative performance in their past activity and cannot predict the future evolution of the market due to the current uncertainty, Kallanish learns from a l’Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (Insee) report.

Last month, as many contractors as in the previous month considered their order books to be higher than average and have orders for over eight months of work. Production capacity also decreased in February.

The same number of construction firms as in January reported slowing output because of supply difficulties. The issue however is easing. “Slightly less than half of the companies (49%) have reported to be at the limit of their production capacity (production bottlenecks), that is to say that they could not produce more with their current means if they were to receive more orders” the report states.

Fewer companies than in January will increase their prices over the next three months.

The French rebar market is going through a weak patch, with prices and sales volumes reducing. Uncertainty is causing buyers to purchase small quantities and adopt a wait-and-see attitude (see Kallanish passim).

Natalia Capra France

Klöckner & Co’s board says it has taken note of Swoctem GmbH’s intention to make a voluntary public takeover offer for the distributor’s whole issued share capital. Swoctem is offering €9.75 ($10.47) cash per share. KlöCo’s share price on the Xetra exchange was €9.98 on 13 March.

Swoctem is by far the largest single shareholder in the German-based steel distribution group. It is owned by Friedhelm Loh, whose Loh Group includes steel processing and distribution units, which makes it Klöckner’s only large stakeholder with related activities. At the latest notification in 2016, Swoctem held slightly more than 25% in Klöckner. Other companies hold a maximum of 5% each, but mostly less, Kallanish notes.

Klöckner’s board says it welcomes the fact that Loh supports the implementation of the “Klöckner & Co 2025: Leveraging Strengths” campaign and that his announcement underlines his interest in KlöCo’s long-term development.

It also says it is evaluating the situation and will inform shareholders with its assessment of the offer and its conditions in a timely manner after the submission of the offer document.

Christian Koehl Germany

Italian plate transaction prices remain flat compared to the beginning of the month. Sales this month are slower as the large buyers purchased sizeable volumes in February, Kallanish learns from market participants.

Plate re-rollers are quoting €960/tonne ($1,024) for the basic S275 grade and €1,010/t for the higher 355 grade. Lead times continue to extend to end-April and May for some steelmakers. Domestic contracts are flat at €920-950/t ex-works for S275 and €1,000/t for 355. The gap in price depends on buyer and tonnage.

Because slab prices will remain high this month amid relatively short supply, producers intend to continue increasing plate values, targeting €1,000/t for S275, with €50/t more for 355, a price already consolidated in northern Europe. Order books for the second quarter are considered good. One plate re-roller observes his clients have work in hand and is reporting a strong first quarter for sales.

Asian-origin slab is being bought at $720-750/t cfr Italy, sources suggest.

Natalia Capra France