Northern European wire rod prices stable, increases expected
Northern European wire rod prices have remained stable this week amid a quiet market in Europe and subdued exports, sources say. Participants are however expecting increases in the next few weeks.
“Demand is still low, because the steel [drawing] mills have not started to restock for the moment,” one trader from the Netherlands tells Kallanish.
Domestic transaction prices for drawing-quality wire rod are at €640/tonne ($694/t) ex-works and mesh-grade wire rod is at €650/t.
Producers are asking for €660-670/t ex-works, on average, for mesh-quality rod.
“I hope that after scrap prices have started to increase in Europe, there will also be some movement in the wire rod market,” another buy-side participant notes. “We hope there will also be more rod imports from countries outside the EU, like Turkey and Algeria, which will influence the European trade.”
Offers are being heard from outside the EU at €600-610/t cfr Rotterdam, with very small tonnages being booked.
European scrap values have meanwhile increased so far this month due to new demand and export deals being concluded. German old thick scrap sort 3 is at €355/t, while new scrap sort 2/8 was at €345/t. E40 shredded scrap was at €370/t. In Austria, scrap prices have also increased by €15-20/t for most sorts. For new scrap, sort 2/8 is at €350/t, with old thick scrap sort 3 at €360/t.
Italian wire rod producers are expected to push up values by a further €20/t compared to mid-December due to high processing costs and increasing scrap prices (see Kallanish passim). Mills intend to increase prices to €700/t for February delivery, up from last month’s asking price of €670-680/t delivered for drawing-quality wire rod. Transactions are stable versus December at €670-680/t ex-works.
Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria
Tata Steel in talks with unions to reach an agreement on green transition in the UK
Executives of Tata Steel met with GMB and Unite unions at a London hotel to discuss the future of the largest UK steel company on Jan. 18.
Sources expect Tata Steel to formally announce that it will go ahead with its plan to replace the two blast furnaces at its Port Talbot works in south Wales with one electric arc furnace, a move that would put around 3,000 workers at risk of redundancy.
Tata’s blast furnaces in the United Kingdom have an installed capacity of 5 million mt per year, but in the last few years it produced 3.2 million mt only. The new electric arc furnace will have a capacity of 3 million mt per year with a carbon emission intensity of around 0.4 mtCO2 per metric tons of crude steel and it will use local scrap.
The EAF technology utilizes an electric current to melt scrap steel and produce steel, whereas traditional blast furnaces rely on coke, a carbon-intensive fuel made from coal, to produce steel, so it is more carbon intensive and needs more workers.
In order to achieve this transformation, Tata Steel asked GBP 500 million in support from the UK government and the company will put GBP 750 million more.
A Tata Steel spokesperson said: “We have been engaging regularly and constructively with our trade union colleagues and their advisors for some time about the best way forward to create a sustainable green steel future for Tata Steel in the UK. When we have any formal announcement to make about our proposals for the future, we will always share it with our employees first.”
The Platts UK hot-rolled coil assessment stood at GBP690/mt DDP West Midlands Jan. 18, up GBP40/mt on-month but far below the 2023 high of GBP795/mt recorded April 6, as market demand has been scarce in the second half of 2023.
Author Annalisa Villa, annalisa.villa@
