Turkish rebar export prices inch down amid weak European demand
Platts assessed Turkish exported rebar at $575/mt FOB, down by $2.50/mt July 16 as Turkish mills returned from the Democracy and National Unity public holiday July 15 to weak demand from the buy side.
Throughout the day, multiple sources indicated a range of workable levels and reported varying mill offers.
Tradable values were indicated ranging from $570-$575/mt FOB while mill offers were heard at $575-$585/mt FOB, with most reported at a range of $580-$590/mt FOB. A bid was reported at $570/mt FOB.
“It’s a bit early to comment,” a Turkish-based trader said, adding that for any activity to take place “usually takes one to two weeks after the vacation or a faster scrap market.”
The trader saw near-term sentiment as bearish amid slow trading.
A Turkish mill source reported that mills were able to offer at $575/mt FOB, indicating that achieving $570/mt FOB would be possible, but other mill sources did not repeat this level.
Another mill source from Marmara reported a bid level at $570/mt FOB, while offer levels were minimum at $580/mt FOB, adding that no rebar deals have been heard in recent days.
“From last week nothing has changed,” another trader said, adding that rebar tradables were at $580/mt FOB.
“It seems that the mills are currently observing the market and their product sales.” an EU-based trader source said, adding that the August cargoes have not been completed for Turkish mills, indicating that there may still be ongoing negotiations and transactions.
In related markets, scrap import prices to Turkey remained stable July 16. Platts assessed Turkish imports of premium heavy melting scrap at $390/mt CFR Turkey on the day. Platts assessed the daily outright spread between Turkish export rebar and import scrap at $185/mt July 16, narrowing by $2.50/mt.
Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Semra Ugur
HRC prices hold across Europe; Australia-origin cargo booked to Italy
Offers of HRC in Northern Europe were reported at €640-670 ($698-731) per tonne ex-works or delivered for August-September delivery, but buyers’ price ideas were heard no higher than €620-630 per tonne ex-works.
Some bids were even reported at €600 per tonne ex-works, but mills in the region were reluctant to accept such low prices.
In general, trading in the region remained dull, and the spot market continued to be “heavily oversupplied,” sources said.
“The automotive industry is taking less volumes [of HRC], so extra tonnages go to the spot market,” a buyer in Germany said.
The effects of new EU import safeguard measures were yet to be felt in the market, and sources said it would take them “six to nine months to clear [import] tonnages which are currently in the pipeline.”
“Nobody is missing [HRC] volumes in Europe — on the contrary, mills are fighting for every single tonne, so a price increase is only wishful thinking of mills,” a buyer in the Benelux area said.
Negotiations with the automotive industry for contracts for the second half of 2024 were still under way, sources said, with no progress reported so far.
“Mills and buyers are just dragging time,” a consumer source in Germany said.
For the first half of 2024, HRC contracts with original equipment manufacturers in the automotive industry have reportedly been signed at €750-800 per tonne.
Buyers have reportedly been seeking discounts of €100 per tonne for the second half of the year, while producers are aiming for a rollover, sources said.
“No rollover is possible [for contract prices in the second half of 2024], the gap with spot [prices] will be too wide,” a second source in Germany said. “But, equally, a €100 per tonne discount is very unlikely.”
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €631.25 ($688.26) per tonne on Tuesday, flat from Monday July 15.
The index was down by €1.88 per tonne week on week and by €3.75 per tonne month on month.
Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy at €620.00 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €5.00 per tonne from €625.00 per tonne on Monday.
The index was down by €8.33 per tonne week on week and by €11.88 per tonne month on month.
An integrated mill in Italy was heard offering August-September delivery coil at €640-650 per tonne delivered in the country, which nets back to €630-640 per tonne ex-works.
Bids for such material were heard at €600-610 per tonne delivered, but European mills deemed such prices as “unworkable.”
Transactions were heard done from a re-roller in Italy at €620 per tonne ex-works for small lots of coil.
A cargo of HRC from Australia was booked to Italy at €580 per tonne CFR recently, sources said.
“[Australia] is an unusual origin for Italy to book from, but with key major suppliers [Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Egypt] basically out of the game due to new [EU import] safeguards, it was only a matter of time for new suppliers to emerge,” a buyer in Italy said.
No new offers were reported from Asia.
Sources reported HRC offers from India and Saudi Arabia at €595-605 per tonne CFR to Italy.
German court ruling on ‘Greenwashing’ could challenge steel industry transparency
A recent German court decision against greenwashing could spell trouble for the steel industry, says stainless steel trader Gerber Group.
The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) recently set a restriction for the use of the “climate neutral” label in product promotion. The term is permittable only if the climate neutrality is clearly explained to the consumer.
The judgement was made in the context of fruit gum and liquorice from a particular brand, which advertised its products as “produced climate-neutrally”. According to the court, the slogan is misleading as the production process of the sweets is by no means free from CO2. The alleged climate-neutrality is actually achieved by offsetting through nature project investment.
When approached by Kallanish, a spokesperson for the court said that steel or its related industries were not under consideration in this context, and that no similar cases are pending for those industries.
However, Gerber finds that this could, and should be happening, and provokingly asks: “Is this the end for green steel intransparency?” In a commentary piece on its website, the group warns that the BGH judgement is likely to seriously shake up the “green steel” concept and pose challenges for many manufacturers.
It attacks steelmakers for constantly coming up with new, colourful labels – blue, green, responsible – “with the sole purpose of creating a lack of transparency regarding CO2 emissions.” It adds: “They try to distract from the fact that there is no real CO2 reduction – at least not in technical terms.”
Gerber predicts that the BGH ruling for the food industry will also be echoed in B2B industries and create better transparency there. It will “make clearer who has taken real measures to reduce CO2 emissions from steel and who is just trying to get away with indulgence payments,” Gerber writes.
Christian Koehl Germany
ArcelorMittal to supply XCarb to Knauf Interfer
ArcelorMittal will supply German distribution group Knauf Interfer with CO2-reduced input material, Kallanish learns from the steelmaker.
At ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products, CO2 savings are achieved with the “XCarb recycled and renewably produced” label and also through the sale of “XCarb Green Steel Certificates” in line with customer requirements, the steelmaker says.
In partnership with ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products, Knauf Interfer will soon be using the “XCarb recycled and renewably produced” product in series production for several customer projects.
Knauf Interfer, in turn, can pass these CO2 savings on to its customers. In this way, the two partners want to safeguard the supply chain. Knauf is thus forming a central interface between steel manufacturers and customers, both through its steel service centres and through its own forming blanks and cold rolling activities, ArcelorMittal explains.
Knauf Interfer processes the steel into slit strip, sheets, formed blanks or cold-rolled precision steel for applications in segments such as drives, engines or seats.
Christian Koehl Germany