UK to maintain HRC trade barriers until 2027
The UK government confirmed this week that it will maintain the existing anti-dumping and countervailing measures on imports of HRC from China, Brazil, Iran and Russia at least until 2027.
Kallanish understands that the decision of the government follows the reccomendation of the local Trade Remedies Authority (TRA).
As a result, AD and countervailing measures against Chinese HRC will remain in place until 7 April 2027. AD duties against Russian, Brazilian and Iranian HRC will continue until 7 October 2027.
The government noted, also, that the existing ban on all imports from Russia remains in place and includes HRC. Similarly it confirmed the decision to revoke trade barriers on imports of Ukrainian HRC as “dumping of products from Ukraine was unlikely to recur, due to reduction in Ukraine’s production capacity and limits on the ability to export caused by the war with Russia.”
Emanuele Norsa Italy
High carbon FeCr prices tick up in Europe; buyers gradually return
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for ferro-chrome high carbon 6-8.5% C, basis 65-70% Cr, max 1.5% Si, delivered Europe climbed to $1.75-1.94 per lb Cr on Tuesday, up 6.32% from the week before.
“Looking at the past week, [we only sold a small amount] but there are many enquiries coming in these days for delivery in September,” a ferro-chrome supplier said. “I guess starting from next week, we will see more movement.”
“With China being [firmer] and prices going up, as well as [Europe] returning to the market, we’re seeing an increase in [high carbon] transactions,” a seller added.
A source on the buy side added that offers had risen in recent days, with sellers increasingly unwilling to accept lower levels.
Prices were also up in the lower grade market, with reports of support from high input costs in India, which is a key supplier of the material.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for ferro-chrome high carbon 6-8.5% C, basis 60-64.9% Cr, max 3% Si, cif Europe rose to $1.13-1.20 per lb Cr, up 7.34% week on week.
Chrome ore prices have been rising in the country in recent weeks, with mining reportedly affected by the monsoon season there.
“Chrome ore prices in India have increased a lot, causing higher ferro-chrome prices,” a sell-side source in India told Fastmarkets. “It’s monsoon season now, and the rain has caused mining problems for chrome ore.”
Meanwhile, low carbon ferro-chrome prices moved into a wider range, amid reports from the buy side of strong supply and weak liquidity, versus the sell side’s reluctance to accept lower prices.
On Tuesday, Fastmarkets’ fortnightly price assessment for ferro-chrome 0.10% C, average 65-70% Cr, delivered Europe stood at $2.30-3.15 per lb Cr, compared with $2.35-3.00 per lb Cr as of the previous assessment. This marked an overall increase of 1.87%.
“Stocks are big and there’s low liquidity,” the buy-side source said. “There are lots of stocks in Rotterdam.”
“[We’ve had] no low carbon deals — we’re struggling in that market,” the seller added.
However, a second seller told Fastmarkets that it was still possible to achieve the higher levels seen in recent weeks, with reasonable liquidity over the course of August, and that he had not accepted lower bids.
“I’ve heard offers at [lower levels] but we haven’t lowered our prices,” he said. “If we do this, we’ll start to lose money. We’re still at our level of [a few] weeks ago.”
Meanwhile, there were also reports during the latest pricing session that the supply of lower-priced Chinese and possibly Indian low carbon ferro-chrome may be receding in Europe, with suggestions that access to the required grade of chrome ore may have decreased and that the opportunity to make a profit by selling into Europe had also faded.
“The ore supply is poor. They don’t have enough material coming and there’s not enough material [there] at the moment,” the buy-side source said.
“These cheaper imports… are much lower than what they used to be,” a distributor added. “If you look at the Chinese price [on a CIF basis] and add the duties and so on, it’s close to the current low and that’s a zero-profit price.”
According to the distributor, this could lead to reduced interest in exporting, which may provide some price support in Europe in the short term.
Published by: Claire Patel-Campbell
European CRC, HDG producers mull higher prices
Firm offers for cold-rolled and hot-dip galvanized coil were still rare in Europe, because the market has not fully restarted after the summer holidays.
But mills were reportedly aiming for price rises, expecting restocking activity to support a rebound.
“The level of inventories is low across the entire supply chain; buyers will come back for volumes in September,” a mill source told Fastmarkets.
Buyer estimates of tradable values were between €750 ($811) and €770 per tonne ex-works for CRC and around €780-790 per tonne ex-works for HDG in Northern Europe.
One mill indicated a price idea for CRC at €800 per tonne EXW and around €800-810 per tonne for HDG.
But still-weak demand from end-use sectors, including automotive and construction, was the major stumbling block for a sustainable price rise, market sources said.
At the same time, European mills are said to be experiencing delays with their deliveries, especially for HDG, with delays reportedly at a minimum of 1-2 weeks from “practically all mills,” several trading sources told Fastmarkets.
European producers were also said to be trimming output, running “production campaigns for coated coils,” sources said.
“Mills run their HDG mills on demand, fulfilling the order, and then stop for 1-2 weeks. That means availability is reduced,” a trader in Germany said.
This was also due to a change in buying attitude because nowadays buyers prefer to book “strictly what they need and maintain stocks at low levels due to high market volatility,” another trader noted.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel cold-rolled coil domestic, exw Northern Europe, was €750-770 per tonne on Wednesday, widening up by €10 per tonne from €750-760 per tonne on August 23.
Fastmarkets’ corresponding weekly price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil domestic, exw Northern Europe, was €780-800 per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged since July 26.
Import offers for CRC and HDG to Europe were rather limited in the assessment week, sources said.
Most overseas suppliers were offering material for shipment in mid-October/early November, which would mean arrival would be in November and December.
One mill from South Korea was offering CRC to Southern Europe at €685 per tonne CFR, with a transaction reported at this level about 10 days ago.
Japan-origin CRC was on offer to Southern Europe at €700-710 per tonne CFR.
A Vietnamese supplier was said to be aiming for $830-840 per tonne CFR for 0.5mm HDG with z100-120 coating, for October shipment.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
Lack of end-user demand remains major concern for European HRC market
European mills were making attempts to consolidate prices for HRC around €700 ($759) per tonne ex-works, but no such price was achieved in deals because the majority of buyers considered it to be unworkable.
“Demand is still very low, from practically all [end-user] sectors, so major price rises are unrealistic,” a trading source in Germany said.
“From the customer side, the demand is not there,” a second trader said, “so we do not believe that €700 [per tonne ex-works for HRC] is realistic.”
But at the same time, stock levels were quite low among distributors and steel service centers, so restocking could prompt some price upticks for HRC during September.
“Maybe restocking will allow a price increase [for HRC] of as much as €15-20 per tonne to be achieved during September, but the question is whether the increase will be sustainable in the fourth quarter – we will see,” a trading source in the Benelux area told Fastmarkets.
Most mills in Europe could still offer October-delivery coil, which indicated weak order books, sources said.
One German mill was reported to be hoping to get €700 per tonne ex-works for November-rolling coil, while another German mill was reported to be out of the market.
A major integrated producer in Northern Europe was selling limited tonnages of HRC for October delivery at €650-670 per tonne ex-works, but was hoping to increase offers for November-December, because otherwise sales would be loss-making, Fastmarkets heard.
As a result, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at €650.21 ($704.69) per tonne on August 30, down by just €0.18 per tonne from the previous calculation of €650.39 per tonne on August 29.
The index was up by €7.50 per tonne week on week but down by €5.79 per tonne month on month.
Fastmarkets’ calculation of its corresponding daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, was €635.83 per tonne on Wednesday, up by €0.41 per tonne from €635.42 per tonne on August 29.
The Italy index was up by €2.50 per tonne week on week, but down by €8.75 per tonne month on month.
Italian steelmakers also had bullish intentions, with price ideas still reported at €700 per tonne delivered (about €680-685 per tonne ex-works).
The market in Italy was expected to fully restart in the week beginning September 4, when market sources expected to see a clearer price direction.
Buyers were still estimating tradeable values no higher than €630-650 per tonne ex-works, citing insufficient demand from end-users.
“The market [for HRC] is still silent this week [starting August 28]. We will see more activity from buyers at the beginning of September,” a trading source in Italy said.
Import HRC options remained limited for European buyers due to inconvenient lead times (late November or early December), safeguarding risks and high prices.
“I heard that a lot of traders have problems with the [EU quarterly import] quotas, so a lot of them are trying to move to January [delivery],” a trader in Europe said.
A supplier from Taiwan was offering December-delivery HRC at €620 per tonne CFR to Antwerp, while a Turkish mill was offering October- or November-delivery HRC at €640 per tonne CFR to Antwerp.
A mill in South Korea was offering December-delivery HRC to Italy at €625 per tonne CFR.
And one Indian supplier was offering limited volumes of base-grade HRC with November-December delivery at €600 per tonne CFR to Italy.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
Vogten Staal became a member of EUROMETAL
We are pleased to inform that Vogten Staal BV joined as member of EUROMETAL.
Situated in Maastricht, Netherlands, Vogten Staal BV was established in 1967 and has evolved into a renowned Steel Service Center with a specialization in HRC.
- Founded in 1967
- Domiciled in the Netherlands, Maastricht
- Owners and directors: Dennis H.M. Vogten ( 3rd generation) and Jack C. Papen
- FTE: 90
- Classic Steel Service Center, specialized in HRC, with 4 different production processes:
- Cut to length (2 – 20 mm)
- Push Pull Pickling line (1,85 – 15 mm)
- Slitting line (1,5 – 12 mm)
- Shearing (1,85 – 15 mm)
- Current production capacity: about 550.000 mt
- Means of transportation: water, rail (nearby) and road
- Direct sales as well as tolling.
- ISO 9001 certificate as off 2012
- IATF 16949 certificate as off 2020
- ISO 14001 in preparation
- In 2021: purchase of a new plot in Maastricht, to expand our current business with a new facility, very close (less than 1 km) to the current facility.
- Investment in a greenfield, state of the art, highly automated, sustainable facility of 38.000 square meters with:
- 2 new cut to length lines (2 – 25 mm)
- 1 new push – pull pickling line (up to 16 mm)
- New CTL lines in serial production as off Q1 2024
- New PP pickling line in serial production as off H1 2025
- Due to the investment and overlapping functionality, very high delivery reliance in case of major technical issues.
- New production capacity of both facilities: about 1.100.000 mt
More information: vogtenstaal.com