Italian steelmaker Cogne Acciai Speciali sourcing all energy from renewables
Italian steelmaker Cogne Acciai Speciali is now sourcing all of its power needs in Europe from renewable energy, with further plans to build a hydroelectric plant and electrolyzer at its main Italian site in Aosta.
“We are proud to declare that all our products will have zero impact in terms of Scope 2,“ Sales Manager Andy Vuillermin said late last week, adding that, since January, the company has managed to use renewable sources.
The 1-MW electrolyzer will be powered by renewable energy—generated by the nearby hydroelectric plant as well as by a newly constructed rooftop solar plant—to produce 210 normal cubic meters of hydrogen per hour, which will be stored before becoming available to all users. The steelmaker expects to build the electrolyzer and the hydroelectric plant by June 2026.
“We are extremely satisfied with this first step, which will enable us to achieve the goal of producing green hydrogen, a clean and renewable energy resource,” Vuillermin said.
The hydrogen project in Cogne is part of Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan and is being funded by the European Union through NextGenerationEU.
Cogne Acciai Speciali has seven production plants, five of which are in Europe—Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK—and two overseas—China and Mexico. The company is finalizing the acquisition of Mannesmann Stainless Tubes, with five plants dedicated to the production of seamless stainless steel and nickel-based alloy tubes.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Northwest Europe hot-rolled carbon-accounted coil at Eur735/mt ex-works Ruhr July 19, up Eur5 on the day.
The assessment was calculated in line with the sum of Platts daily carbon-accounted steel premium assessment and Platts daily hot-rolled coil price assessment in Northwest Europe.
Turkey’s H1 steel exports to EU rise on back of Red Sea disruptions: EIB
Turkish steel mills managed to raise exports in the first half of 2024, as Asian mills, their top rivals in the European market, faced challenges passing through the Suez Canal due to the conflict in the Red Sea, Egean Ferrous and Non-ferrous Metal Exporters’ Association (EIB) Chairman Yalcin Ertan said.
“Due to the security challenges in the Red Sea route, passes from the Suez Canal fell substantially and the delivery times from China to the EU more than doubled to 65-70 days,” he said in a late July 19 statement, adding that freight rates also doubled since the start of the year.
Turkey’s overall steel exports, particularly flat steel, increased 31% year on year to 8.8 million mt in H1, due to increased competitive power and higher shipments to the EU, he said.
“Although we have begun to regain our market shares in the EU region, economic conditions in the domestic market continued to pressure our margins and profitability,” Ertan said, citing high input costs, inflation and a low exchange rate policy.
Electricity tariff hikes came into effect on July 1, adding around $10/mt in cost increases to steel production, according to Turkish industry sources.
Ertan called for Turkish mills to increase investments to comply with the EU’s Green Deal, saying the Turkish government’s expected regulation in the inward processing regime should not erode mills’ competitive power.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Turkish domestic hot-rolled coil at $575/mt EXW July 19, down 19% decline since the start of 2024.
European HRC prices remain steady amid slow start to the week
Domestic prices for European hot-rolled coil remained steady July 22, as demand continued to stagnate amid a worsening outlook for the rest of the summer.
“Market is very quiet and there have been no changes since the past few months,” a service center source said. “It will become quieter.”
Market sources said that prices are at or close to the bottom, with mills most likely selling at a loss or break-even level. They also noted that mills will either have to raise prices or reduce output.
“None of the mills are earning any money at these levels, especially in Europe,” a service center source said. “Mills have to increase prices or reduce capacities.”
However, the outlook for the coming months remained bleak, with buyers restocking at low levels to avoid building up inventory, sources said.
“It is very calm,” a trader said. “Everyone is waiting.”
Platts assessed Northwest European HRC at Eur625/mt ex-works Ruhr July 22, stable on the day.
Most tradable values were reported at Eur620-630/mt ex-works Ruhr.
Meanwhile, Platts assessed domestic HRC prices in Southern Europe stable on the day at Eur625/mt ex-works Italy July 22.
Tradable values were reported at Eur625-630/mt ex-works Italy.
Prices for European HRC remain stable amid seasonally slow trading
Demand continued to be low, with customers showing no interest in restocking, Fastmarkets heard.
In Northern Europe, mills offered August/September-delivery HRC in the range of €630-650 ($685-707) per tonne ex-works.
But sources estimated the tradeable market level at €620-630 per tonne ex-works.
Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel HRC index domestic, exw Northern Europe at €629.00 per tonne on Monday, up by just €0.42 per tonne from €628.58 per tonne on Friday July 19.
The index was down by €2.25 per tonne week on week and by €1.00 per tonne month on month.
“Mills in Northern Europe are still struggling for orders, but there is simply no demand,” one buyer source told Fastmarkets.
The source added that the period of summer vacations could already be felt in the region and many producers would close for planned maintenance. As a result, many clients would probably wait and see what the market looks like in September.
A second buyer source believed prices would remain largely unchanged by the end of September. Thus, despite rising production costs, suppressed and postponed demand might play a more decisive role in the market in the coming weeks.
But regardless of the soft demand, some producers in Northern Europe were considering higher offer prices for October-delivery HRC, Fastmarkets understands. Offers for such material were heard at €660-670 per tonne ex-works.
In Italy, trading was also seasonally slow on Monday, sources told Fastmarkets.
HRC with lead times of four to five weeks was still being offered by a local supplier at €640-650 per tonne delivered, which corresponds to €630-640 per tonne ex-works.
Market participants estimated the workable market level to be in the range of €620-640 per tonne ex-works, depending on volume.
Some bids were heard at €610 per tonne ex-works.
In Southern Europe, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel HRC index domestic, exw Italy at €621.67 per tonne on Monday, up by €1.25 per tonne from €620.42 on Friday.
The index was down by €3.33 per tonne week on week and by €7.08 per tonne month on month.
Offers of imported HRC from Vietnam were heard at €570 per tonne CFR Italy. But Vietnam has already exceeded its import quota allowance for the third quarter of the year so a safeguard duty should be paid for the volumes that exceed the quota.
Material from Saudi Arabia was offered at €610 per tonne CFR Italy.
Offers of HRC from Turkey were available at €600-610 per tonne CFR, including the anti-dumping duty.
Julia Bolotova in Brussels contributed to this report.
Published by: Darina Kahramanova
German crude steel output recovers from trough
German crude steel production saw some recovery in the first half-year, from the historical low seen last year, Kallanish learns from national steel federation Wirtschaftsvereinigung Stahl.
January-June crude steel output totalled 19.4 million tonnes, up 4.5% on the first half of 2023. The increase was especially pronounced in June, with an output of 3.19mt, up 8.9% on-year. It must be noted, though, that June 2023 marked a similarly steep year-on-year fall, with output down over 8% on June 2022.
The drastic fluctuations come mainly from electric arc furnace mills, which cut back production after power prices had peaked last year. The year-on-year production increase at EAF mills in June was a considerable 20.8% – to 1.01mt – whereas oxygen-route mills hiked output 4.1%, to 2.17mt.
In H1, EAF mills grew output by 8.7%, to 5.89mt, with converter-based mills hiking by 2.7%, to 13.48mt.
“German steel production appears to have passed the nadir,” says Kerstin Maria Rippel, managing director of WV Stahl. She warns, however, that “the sustainability of this trend is by no means guaranteed”, given the weakness in demand from important consumer sectors.
Although power prices have come down from the heights of the last two years, they are still higher than before the Covid pandemic, and, most of all, higher than in most other countries, Rippel notes. The surge in grid fees, especially, is playing a big part in this cost burden, she adds.
Christian Koehl Germany
German bender puts minimum price tag on rebar
As Germany’s construction industry is struggling to come back to life from suspended animation for over a year, rebar distributors are cannibalising each others’ orders. One of them has now come out with the clear announcement of a minimum price that benders would need to charge for processed rebar to cover their costs.
In a letter received by its customers in June, a southern German distribution group says it need a sales price of €700/tonne ($762) to break even. Its wording – “the price level needs to rise to €700/t” – suggests it recently accepted lower prices. It notes the necessary basis for this figure is stability of its purchase prices.
Mill prices have hardly moved since spring. The price paid by the distributor at its doorstep is around €640/t delivered, on a base price of €370/t. According to the buyer for another bender in central Germany, these have not varied by more than “give or take, €5-10” in a couple of months. He dismisses reports of weekly price drops or surges. “There are no moves on the intake end. Sometimes mills will go down by a few euros to motivate a bigger order; next thing they will go back up by a few,” he tells Kallanish.
On the proposed price tag, he says that “I can subscribe absolutely to the mark of €700; anything lower would be a loss, but you hear of it everyday.” Somewhat critically of the author of the letter, he also notes that “if they’d stick to their announcement, we’d all be better off”.
Christian Koehl Germany
European stainless flats market slows
Transaction prices for European stainless flat steel have remained unchanged on-month. However, deal values may decline as mills recently reduced their offer prices for October delivery by approximately €50/tonne ($54), Kallanish notes.
After a period of robust sales and rising prices for coil, tube, and sheet, the market is now experiencing a slowdown. This can be attributed to the return of Acerinox, whose production was impacted by strikes for months. At present, there are reports of weak demand downstream.
However, after a period of tight supply in the first half of the year, the situation is now improving, as the EU’s four stainless flat steelmakers have resumed production after stoppages of varying degrees. European mills have successfully secured orders until September and are facing delays as a result of previous supply shortages in the region.
The average price for domestic stainless steel cold rolled coil is at €2,800/t delivered for September lead time but, for October, tags are down to €2,750/t delivered. Hot rolled coil is at about €150-200/t below this level on average. In Italy, due to aggressive imports, CRC is slightly lower than in the rest of Europe, at €2,750/t delivered on average, while HRC has been pushed down to €2,450/t delivered, also due to large imports.
Prices of Italian stainless cold rolled sheet are currently at elevated levels. Values for September delivery are at €2,900/t ex-works. Demand for tube remains low as supply is outpacing consumption.
According to sources, distributor prices are stagnating due to a slowdown in the downstream sector. According to a market note from Italian steel trade association Assofermet, distributors have experienced months of “struggle” to recover sales prices. The current distribution values do not seem to be sufficient to cover operating costs, especially when compared to the high quotations proposed by producers. Orders from various end-use sectors are slowing, Assofermet concluded.
Natalia Capra France
Vanilla Steel receives 7-figure funding from the EU for AI project
Vanilla Steel, a startup in the European steel market, is proud to announce the successful acquisition of a 7-figure subsidy from the Pro FIT program of the Investitionsbank Berlin. This milestone, supported by co-financing from the European Union, is aimed at the development of the innovative Smart Forecaster project.
The Smart Forecaster project leverages cutting-edge artificial intelligence to accurately predict future prices and demand for both prime and excess steel. This innovative tool is set to revolutionize decision-making processes within the steel industry by offering precise demand forecasts and pricing trends for a wide array of steel types.
“Even in the traditional steel industry, innovation is possible. At Vanilla Steel, we are committed to pushing the boundaries of technology to bring advanced solutions to the market” said Simon Zühlke, Managing Director at Vanilla Steel. “We are immensely grateful for the financial support from the EU, which enables us to embark on this transformative journey”.
Vanilla Steel aggregates spot steel supply from over 500 suppliers and spot steel demand from more than 3,000 buyers across Europe, facilitating efficient and transparent trading.
The Smart Forecaster project represents a significant leap forward in its mission to streamline and modernize the steel trading process.
