Turkey: July steel exports value hits record high on EU demand
The value of Turkey’s steel exports rose 24% year on year to a record high of $1.4 billion in July due to EU demand, Mediterranean Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Metals Exporters’ Union Chairman Fuat Tosyali said Aug. 28 without citing tonnages.
“Especially Mediterranean-based Turkish steel producers increased their exports significantly, by 171% on the year, to $259 million in July,” said Tosyali, who is also CEO of major steelmaker Tosyali Holding.
Steel exports to some EU countries, particularly Italy and Spain, increased substantially in July despite EU quotas, he said, adding that Turkey’s higher steel production also supported exports. The chairman expects the market to be more buoyant in Q4.
Tosyali Holding’s 4 million metric tons per year quantum electric arc furnace-based flat steel mill started production in January, while some other large producers also recently increased steel capacities.
Turkey’s January-July crude steel production rose 14.9% on the year to 21.7 MMt, according to World Steel Association data.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Turkish HRC at $570/mt ex-works Aug. 23, down 20% since the start of 2024.
European HRC prices remain steady amid lackluster demand
Prices for domestic European hot-rolled coil remained steady on Aug. 28 amid lackluster demand and no signs of a price recovery.
“Offers are the same,” a service center source said. “I don’t see it getting any better.”
Market participants continued to express uncertainty around the outlook of the market. While some downturn in demand is normally expected in the summer months, sources remained worried that there have been no signs of a rebound in activity or demand, despite people returning from holidays.
“We reached a point that is not a typical summer,” a second service center source said. “That is what I hear from [all market participants.]”
Sources also remained unsure about mills’ reaction to current market conditions. Some are of the opinion that the solution at hand is to reduce capacities to restore equilibrium to the market, while others believe there is still room for prices to decrease as domestic mills compete with import prices that are becoming increasingly competitive.
Platts assessed Northwest European HRC at Eur595/mt ex-works Ruhr Aug. 28, stable on the day.
Offers were reported at Eur595-600/mt ex-works Ruhr, and at Eur625/mt DAP NWE.
Tradable values were reported at Eur590/mt ex-works Ruhr, and at Eur595-605/mt ex-works NWE.
Meanwhile, Platts assessed domestic HRC prices in Southern Europe at Eur595/mt ex-works Italy Aug. 28, also stable on the day.
Tradable values were reported at Eur595/mt ex-works Italy.
Consumer interest for imported material remained at a crossroads, with many not prepared to take on the risk of safeguard measures and the subsequent duties involved, market sources said. However, some mills in Asia have started offering to pay up the safeguard duties, making such imports much more competitive.
“Nowadays nobody knows what is going to happen with [Asian] countries import quota,” a distributor source said.
Platts assessed imported HRC in NWE stable on the day at Eur559/mt CIF Antwerp.
Offers for China-origin material were reported at Eur560/mt CFR Antwerp, including antidumping duties. Offers for Vietnam-origin material were reported at Eur550/mt CFR Antwerp.
Meanwhile, Platts assessed imported HRC in South Europe stable on the day at Eur565/mt CIF Italy.
European prices for downstream flat steel slide on insufficient demand
Mills were hoping for restocking, but it was only likely to happen in the second half of September and would probably be limited, sources said.
“Most buyers have sufficient stock and, in fact, are trying to reduce their inventories,” a trading source in Europe said. “My impression is that, due to low activity in the construction market and the threat of a downturn in the automotive sector, nothing spectacular will happen. Besides, high interest rates don’t stimulate investments.”
Mills in Northern Europe could still offer CRC and HDG for October delivery, which indicated weak order books.
Firm offers were rare, and mills were conducting business on a “case-by-case” basis.
Buyers’ estimates of tradable prices for CRC were reported at €690-700 ($767-778) per tonne ex-works.
Offers were reported at €700-720 per tonne ex-works in Germany and the Benelux area.
Fastmarkets’ assessment for steel cold-rolled coil domestic, exw Northern Europe was €690-700 per tonne on Wednesday, down by €5-10 per tonne from €695-710 per tonne on August 21.
European suppliers said that they usually produce less CRC and focus on HDG output instead, which has a higher added value.
“In the CRC market, imports are dominating, and we cannot match the import price [for CRC],” a mill source said.
CRC offers from Japan and South Korea were heard at €635-650 per tonne CFR to Europe.
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel hot-dipped galvanized coil domestic, exw Northern Europe was €710-720 per tonne on Wednesday, widening downward by €5 per tonne from €715-720 per tonne on August 21.
For HDG, offers from integrated suppliers in Northern Europe were heard at €715-720 per tonne ex-works, with transactions reported at the low end of the range.
“HDG sales are going slowly, mainly because of a weak automotive sector,” a second mill source said.
Buyers’ estimations of achievable prices were lower, at €700-710 per tonne ex-works.
Offers for 0.5 mm HDG with Z140 coating from Vietnam were heard at €730 per tonne CFR to Antwerp.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
HRC prices stabilize in Europe, direction unclear
Trading in the spot European HRC market was slow on Wednesday, with only sporadic bookings heard.
“Demand [for HRC] is very poor. Because of [continuing] holidays in France and because of the ‘cold’ market,” a buyer in Northern Europe said.
Buyers in Northern Europe estimated tradeable values for October-delivery HRC at €580-590 ($648-659) per tonne ex-works.
Firm offers were still rare, since suppliers preferred conduct business on a “case by case” basis, according to sources.
“Some suppliers still talk about price increases in September. But it doesn’t seem likely – the market is too weak for that,” a second buyer said.
Several sources reported offers for October-delivery HRC from a Benelux-based supplier at €600-620 per tonne ex-works, depending on the tonnage.
Another supplier in the region was said to be offering HRC with the same lead time at €570 per tonne ex-works.
Sources said that they only expected limited restocking in September.
“In fact, destocking is still taking place; in the downstream market, SCCs (steel service centers) are competing for volumes,” a source at a SSC in Germany said.
Sources added that a mill-owned SSC was selling hot-rolled sheet at aggressive prices, with transactions reported at €650 per tonne delivered and even €630 per tonne delivered in Germany.
As a result, Fastmarkets calculated its daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, at €597 per tonne on Wednesday, down by €0.50 per tonne from the previous calculation of €597.50 per tonne on Tuesday.
The Northern Europe index is down by €10.00 per tonne week on week and by €31.67 per tonne month on month.
Fastmarkets’ corresponding daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, was calculated at €595.00 per tonne on Wednesday, unchanged from a day earlier.
The index is down by €5.00 per tonne week on week, and by €25.00 per tonne month on month.
The Italian market was said to be “restarting slowly” after the traditional summer break.
A major local integrated supplier has yet to announce new offers for October-delivery HRC.
But two sources reported that one local mill was testing the market with an offer of €610-620 per tonne CPT (€600-610 per tonne ex-works).
Buyer sources in Italy estimated the current workable price to be around €580-600 per tonne ex-works.
One Europe mill was heard offering HRC to Italy at €590 per tonne delivered.
Import offers from Asia to Europe remained scarce amid safeguards-related risk and pending anti-dumping investigation against several origins, sources said.
Sources reported an offer from India for late October-shipment coil at $620 per tonne CFR.
An offer from South Korea was heard at €590 per tonne CFR – a price deemed unworkable by Italian buyers, since it is in line with what EU mills could offer.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
Sarralle’s new long products plant goes into operation
Spain-based technology supplier Sarralle’s new long products meltshop has begun full operation, Kallanish learns from the company. The facility has an annual production capacity of 720,000 tonnes.
“This is our last greenfield reference project around the world as a key player in the international steel industry,” Sarralle says.
The new meltshop has been designed with a 100-tonne electric arc furnace that will use 90% direct reduced iron charge. The greenfield project’s equipment also includes a 100t ladle furnace, a five-strand caster, material handling technology and a fume extraction system with a capacity of 1.5 million Nm3/h.
Sarralle Group operates in the areas of steelmaking, rolling and coil processing, and engineering solutions for different sectors, such as energy and environment.
Todor Kirkov Bulgaria
Italian buyers expect longs decline amid slow restart
The post-summer renewal of Italian steel market activity is proceeding at a glacial pace. Some executives are returning from their August vacation this week; however, the lack of activity has resulted in a significant number of them taking additional days off and awaiting market guidance.
Distribution sources and agents who spoke to Kallanish anticipate an “inevitable” pricing decrease in September for the majority of long and flat products. The summer pause has had an limited impact on the domestic and import markets this month. A trader says the European steel market is currently subdued, resulting in virtually no activity in other countries such as France and Spain.
Despite expectations of a Turkish scrap rebound, the shadow of recent declines is hovering over the European market, where both scrap sellers and buyers expect imminent price reductions.
The Italian distribution sector is not purchasing, as confirmed by one large and one mid-sized local distributor. “We are buying only the essential to address any gaps in our inventory. We have sufficient inventory to satisfy the market’s diminished demand. Automotive components, metalworking, and agriculture are all stagnant,” the large distributor comments. The market appears to be restarting very feebly, he adds. Distributors and a mill source confirm that orders for September are limited.
Prices have remained steady compared to the end of July, as there has been no activity this month. Mills have suggested there will be additional reductions for scrap, and some are offering the mixed new arisings grade at a rate as low as €330/tonne ($368/t) delivered. If this level is achieved, it would represent an additional €20/t decrease from the beginning of August.
In September, buyers anticipate a decline in prices of all long products by approximately €20-30/t. The market is not expected to become dynamic, but a suitable recovery is anticipated to occur next week. The small-volume sales and significant degree of uncertainty currently reported are expected to result in a relatively prolonged wait-and-see attitude.
Natalia Capra France
Hybrit initiative presents final report
Sweden’s Hybrit initiative will present the results of six years of research into fossil-free direct reduced iron-making technology in a final report to the Swedish Energy Agency, Kallanish learns from SSAB, a partner in the project.
Hybrit is a collaboration between SSAB, mining company LKAB and energy company Vattenfall, which have received several patents based on the results. The project is now continuing in the next phase where the process is to be implemented on an industrial scale.
The pilot phase resulted in the development of a new hydrogen-based technology for efficient fossil-free iron and steel production with 0.0 tonnes of CO2 emissions per tonne of steel. It also developed a new fossil-free iron product – sponge iron – that has significantly better properties than iron reduced with fossil gases such as natural gas. It also produced an efficient process practice for melting fossil-free sponge iron into crude steel in an electric arc furnace.
The project is the first in the world to demonstrate that the fossil-free value chain – from iron ore to steel – works on a semi-industrial scale. So far, more than 5,000 tonnes of hydrogen-reduced iron have been produced at the pilot plant in Luleå. Customers such as Volvo, Epiroc, Peab and many more are already using the fossil-free steel in vehicles, heavy machinery, buildings and consumer products.
Christian Koehl Germany
Salzgitter Mannesmann Handel introduces tool for carbon footprint
Salzgitter Mannesmann Handel GmbH, the distribution subsidiary of Salzgitter AG, is introducing a new calculation tool for the product carbon footprint (PCF).
The group describes the tool as a calculation methodology in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and ISO 14067, determining the CO2 footprint along the entire value chain. It enables Salzgitter Mannesmann and its units to provide complete transparency concerning the carbon footprint of the steel products they are offering. Following successful validation by TÜV SÜD, the calculation tool will be made available to the market with immediate effect, Kallanish hears.
“The new PCF software solution calculates the PCF of the steel product, from raw material extraction through to the customer’s factory gate – cradle-to-customer entry gate,” says Tanja Jacobs, business development head at Salzgitter Mannesmann Handel. “The entire range of greenhouse gases are included and converted into CO2 equivalents,” adds Salzgitter Mannesmann Handel managing director Alexander Soboll.
Christian Koehl Germany