Blastr sources Lhoist lime to reduce carbon emissions
Blastr Green Steel has partnered with Lhoist for the supply of low-carbon lime for its future steel plant in Inkoo, Finland, Kallanish learns from the start-up venture.
Blastr and Lhoist aim to reach an agreement on the future supply of Lhoist’s mineral products, to reduce Scope 3 emissions of the Inkoo plant by up to 50kg CO2 per tonne of steel, it says.
The supply encompasses Lhoist’s proprietary “Level|Green” low-carbon lime and dolime. The latter – calcium magnesium oxide (CaO.MgO) – is also called burnt dolomite or dolomitic lime. Dolime is obtained by calcining dolomitic limestone. Soft-burned dolomite and hard-burned dolomite differ in terms of their calcining techniques, Lhoist explains.
The partnership will include technical support for selecting lime and dolime products and implementing them into the steel production process. “Access to large quantities of high-quality lime and dolime is essential for Blastr to produce high-quality strip steel products for our end-customers,” says Antti Kaikkonen, country manager at Blastr Finland.
Christian Koehl Germany
UK stockholder ASD acquires Atlantic Steel assets
Stockholder ASD Limited has acquired the assets of Birkenhead-based plate service centre Atlantic Steel Processing.
Atlantic went into administration earlier this year and initiated an asset sale after weak demand led to cash flow difficulties.
The move marks “a new growth chapter” for ASD under the umbrella of Hierros Añon, one of the largest mill-independent steel distributors in Europe, ASD says. With a site at the Port of Liverpool, ASD will enhance its presence in the UK’s northwest and enable cost-effective distribution to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland markets, it adds.
Additionally, ASD will introduce a new product line to its portfolio – de-coiled hot rolled sheets and reversing mill plate. With expanded capability to stock and de-coil 2,500mm wide coils in gauges from 5mm to 20mm, ASD becomes the only distributor in northern Europe with such an extensive capability, the firm notes.
ASD’s new owner, Spanish group Hierros Añon, also agreed last year to buy Klöckner & Co’s France, UK, Netherlands and Belgium units (see Kallanish passim).
Adam Smith Poland
Almost all potential buyers abandon Ascometal purchase
According to sources familiar with the matter, there is currently only one offer on the table, from British fund Greybull, for the French plants located in Hagondange, Custines, Saint-Etienne, and the Leffrinckoucke-based les Dunes unit in the north.
Acciaierie Vente, Sidenor, and France’s Europlasma were among the steel companies that had initially submitted offers to acquire the units but have since withdrawn. Marcegaglia acquired Ascometal’s Fos-sur-Mer site in the south of France in May and has intentions to convert it into a coil production plant (see Kallanish 3 June). If the Greybull offer fails to meet the requirements, the tribunal may opt for a liquidation process, Kallanish notes.
Greybull plans to make investments and foster collaboration between the plants, specifically Hagondange and les Dunes. With the goal of diversifying production and expanding sales, the fund plans to install a new ingot line in Hagondange and revamp the rolling mill in Les Dune. This will help reduce the sites’ reliance on the automotive sector, reveal the Ascometal trade unions. Greybull plans to finance the investments through debt, Kallanish understands.
In March, Ascometal, part of Swiss Steel was declared insolvent and went into receivership after the proposed sale of its units to Italian long steel producer Acciaierie Venete was terminated (see Kallanish 28 March).
Greybull acquired what is today known as British Steel from Tata Steel in 2016 but the steelmaker then went into administration in 2019 before it was bought by Jingye Group. Greybull was also reported interested in buying the Ascoval plant and Hayange rail mill from Liberty in 2021, although they were ultimately acquired by Saarstahl.
Greybull did not comment before press deadline.
Natalia Capra France
Safeguard to cost EU HRC buyers €50 more
One producer halted sales last week, and there are rumours circulating about ArcelorMittal’s prices for hot rolled coil being at €670/t base delivered and hot-dip galvanized coil at €780/t base delivered. Other HRC mills in northern Europe are considering price increases, in line with re-rollers and coil derivative producers. According to sources, European domestic prices are holding steady at an average of €620-630/t base ex-works or delivered.
EU third-quarter safeguard quotas for a number of Asian origins are expected to be filled quickly. A limited number of import contracts have been signed at an average price of €600-610/t ($642-653) cfr.
Contract price increases for coil, tube, and sheet are now expected following the renewal of safeguard quotas starting from 1 July. Buyers of HRC are currently calculating the duty that needs to be paid. Some Italian buyers have the option to cancel their customs clearing authorisations for a portion of their purchases. As a result, a number of re-rollers and service centres are contemplating the idea of leaving some of their purchases at ports in order to reduce import duty payments.
Based on feedback from buyers interviewed by Kallanish, the average duty to be paid will amount to approximately 8%, which is equivalent to €50/t. Choosing not to clear material through customs can be a difficult decision. Several sources are projected to experience a shortage in HRC supply for the upcoming quarter, which could reflect in multiple EU countries.
Re-rollers and sheet producers are striving to boost values despite sluggish consumption downstream. They have so far managed to recover approximately €30/t on tubes, equating to 2.5 points of discount. However, with the significant increase in HRC costs, this is insufficient to boost margins. Several Italian tube-makers are implementing production cuts. Some companies are planning to implement stoppages of three to four weeks, in addition to the production cuts scheduled for July.
Price increases for HRC have been expected since the European Commission proposed in late May to extend the EU safeguard measure on steel by a further two years. This was confirmed last week (see Kallanish passim). It has also introduced a 15% cap per origin over the “other country” HRC tariff-rate quota.
Natalia Capra France
European HRC prices inch up despite low demand
“Demand is very low,” a service center source said. “There is difficulty to sell material.”
“[Demand is] still very low,” said a distributor. “Without improvement expected.”
Heading into summer, trading activity has been muted in the European HRC market, with mills planning maintenance work.
Another point of contention has been the renewal of the EU steel safeguard measures, which have seen unfavorable reactions from stakeholders.
The EU steel safeguard measures will start on July 1, with a new restriction cap of 15% on six countries that used to ship their HRC under the residual tariff-rate quota. As HRC imports from Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and Egypt will likely be reduced as a result, Europe-based buyers will have to substitute the material with either European coil or alternative non-EU suppliers without country-specific quotas.
“Instead of disincentivizing imports, it has just made them cost more,” another service center source said. “The duties are making the European system less competitive.”
On the supply-side, market sources believe that the quota will likely lift prices, but others remain convinced that with demand levels so weak, there will be virtually no change.
Market sources on the demand-side have also pointed out that while the quota cap for cold-rolled coil is acceptable, the respective cap for HRC is unattainable and will be filled rapidly.
Platts assessed Northwest European HRC at Eur635/mt on July 1, up Eur10 on the day, and domestic HRC prices in Southern Europe at Eur630/mt ex-works Italy, up Eur10 on the day.
European HRC prices remain largely stable in slow market
For the next few months, the European coil market is expected to remain stable for the summer holidays, with no significant improvement in demand. There is anticipation of bearish pressure on prices as mills plan maintenance works.
This, combined with weak market fundamentals in both demand and supply, will result in a muted market for the rest of the summer, despite potential price fluctuations caused by the new EU safeguard measures, market sources said.
“There are no firm bids,” a service center source said. “[There is also] no need for material from customers.”
“Market has been quiet since some weeks,” another service center source said.
Platts assessed Northwest European HRC at Eur629/mt on July 2, down Eur6 on the day. Meanwhile, Platts assessed domestic HRC prices in South Europe at Eur630/mt ex-works Italy, stable on the day.
Steel HRC prices flat in Europe; trading slows further ahead of summer break
But market sources pointed out that such prices were not widely available on the spot market and were instead “special deals with long-standing customers.”
In general, trades were reported at €620-630 per tonne ex-works in Northern Europe for HRC with four-to-five weeks of lead time.
Restocking activity was limited, market sources said, because distributors and steel-service centers generally had “sufficient stocks considering the subdued end-user demand.”
Some suppliers have withdrawn from the market in late June-early July, having closed their order books for July/August, and were expected to come back with higher offer prices for September-delivery HRC, several sources told Fastmarkets.
“There is a traditional hope for a September price rebound, so we have heard some talk about a €20-30 per tonne price rise for September-delivery coil. But it’s not clear whether there will be sufficient demand to support even such a minor rise,” a buyer source in Germany said.
“I think now everyone will wait to see how many tonnes of imported HRC are going to be customs-cleared for the third quarter, and what the duty rate will be,” he added.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at €628.75 ($675.62) per tonne on Tuesday, stable day-on-day.
The index was down by €1.25 per tonne week on week and by €5.21 per tonne month on month.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its corresponding daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Italy, at €620.00 per tonne on Tuesday, also flat on-day.
The index was down by €5.00 per tonne week on week and by €10.00 per tonne month on month.
Italy’s market was also slowing down ahead of the summer break, market sources said.
In the second half of June, one local supplier was reported to have made “aggressive” sales for July/August-delivery HRC in order to fill its order book, then withdrew from the market in the week ended June 28.
The latest deals were heard done at €630 per tonne delivered, equivalent to €615-620 per tonne ex-works, while for September delivery new offers have yet to be issued.
Market sources expected local mills to push for price rises before closing for summer maintenance work.
“Maybe if [a local integrated mill] takes a longer [than usual] summer closure, it will have a chance to achieve a price rise for September-delivery coil,” a buyer in Italy said. “But in general it’s too early for September price trend forecasts – the market is too unpredictable.”
Import HRC offers to Europe were scarce, but most suppliers were reported to be hoping for rollover prices of HRC and lead times for late in the third quarter or early in the fourth.
“There are not many overseas suppliers in the market – everyone is checking the safeguarding situation,” a second buyer in Italy said.
Offers of Turkey-origin HRC for August shipment were heard at $580 per tonne FOB, which would mean about €615-620 per tonne CFR, including anti-dumping duty.
