ADI gears up for blast furnace restart
Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI) is restarting blast furnace no.1 on 15 October. The firm’s special commissioners and Italy’s Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMT) Adolfo Urso will be in attendance at the ceremony organised at the Taranto steelworks, Kallanish learns from the company.
“The start-up of the blast furnace represents an important step in the restart plan of Acciaierie d’Italia and confirms the commitment of the special commissioners, the Italian government, and the company to proceed with the restoration of production activity at the steel plant,” the firm says in a note.
Two sources with knowledge of the situation have indicated that the Taranto facility has experienced significant delays in delivering hot rolled coil. This has resulted in production being disrupted at certain re-rollers and service centres, including Liberty Magona in Piombino (see Kallanish 11 October). Taranto is currently operating only BF No.4, while BF No.5 has been inactive for a number of years, and BFs 1 and 2 idled production a few months ago.
ADI aims to reach between 1.9-2.2 million tonnes of steel output in 2024. Sources, however, believe the steelmaker’s production will fall short of that. In the first quarter of 2025, BF No.2 is scheduled to be restarted. By Q1 2026, the firm plans to run BFs 1, 2 and 4. The plant is eyeing production of 4.5-5mt in 2025.
Meanwhile, ADI’s special administration is currently evaluating the letters of interest received by the 20 September to acquire the steelmaker. Vulcan Green Steel, based in Oman, along with Canada’s Stelco and Baku Steel Company have submitted letters of interest for the acquisition of all assets belonging to ADI.
In the meantime, several firms are evaluating the possibility of acquiring specific assets from the former Ilva in the north of Italy. Marcegaglia has expressed interest in acquiring the tube mills and the Novi Ligure facility, a re-rolling plant situated between Genoa and Alessandria. Other interested parties include Italian service centres such as Eusider, Sideralba as well as Amenduni Steel, Carbones, Jiangsu Steamship, Profilmec, Continental Dry Bulk and others.
Metinvest conducted a visit to Taranto during the summer months, and steelmakers Arvedi and Nippon Steel have been considering investing. However, none of these companies formally expressed their interest through a letter, Kallanish understands.
Natalia Capra France
Spanish HRC prices move up, demand remains sluggish
ArcelorMittal’s recent increase in coil prices in Europe is creating uncertainty in the Spanish flat steel market. Distributors and re-rollers doubt the price recovery will sustain, expressing concern that end users will find it difficult to absorb the new, higher values.
“Most market players remain highly sceptical about an improvement in hot rolled coil consumption in the short term, and this increase has come as something of a surprise,” one seller tells Kallanish. “The increase is reasonable from the point of view of the mills because of their higher costs. However, new prices are difficult to bear for consumers, whose purchasing power is not improving.”
According to sources, some Spanish steel producers have already started to adjust their production in the face of falling orders in recent months. Stainless steelmaker Acerinox, for example, has implemented a temporary lay-off plan (see separate article).
“We see no improvement in demand so far this quarter or for the year as a whole. Spanish market confidence is at the low end, as doubts persist in most industrial sectors and investments seem to be slowing down,” one supplier observes.
Spanish mills are currently selling S235JR grade HRC at some €590-600/tonne ($644.3-655.2) ex-works base, up €60/t from last week’s average level in Europe of €530-540/t base ex-works.
Todor Kirkov Bulgaria
Spanish rebar prices increase
Rebar prices have begun to recover in Spain after losing more than €15/tonne ($16.38/t) at the end of September. The rebound is thought to be a consequence of ArcelorMittal’s long steel price hike across Europe last week. The adjustment, however, has not been applied unanimously in Spain, sources tell Kallanish.
“Some Spanish mills have followed ArcelorMittal’s increase, while others did not. The market seems divided. Traders hope the rise will last longer, so they recover from the losses suffered in recent months, although the general feeling is that high prices will affect demand, which is quite good now,” one seller comments.
According to another market participant, the Spanish market is currently well supplied. “Everyone took advantage of the low material prices in previous weeks, buying excessive volumes,” he explains. Traders confirm the latest purchases by some small distributors exceeded 1,000-2,000 tonnes, while some even ordered 3,000t from steel mills. “The market became tense. So many orders have been placed that the mills cannot keep up with the usual delivery times. They are 2 to 3 weeks behind schedule,” one source observes.
16mm rebar is currently offered in Spain at €333-338/t base. An additional €262/t for size extras and loading expenses sees transaction values at €595-600/t ex-works. Some mills, however, have increased their selling prices to above €615/t.
Todor Kirkov Bulgaria
EU HRC prices stable as buyers cautious of higher offers
Domestic European hot-rolled coil prices remained stable Oct. 11, as buyers remained hesitant to accept higher offer levels, even as import prices increased along with domestic offers by European mills.
“Domestic EU producers have increased their offers, driven by increasingly positive expectations that prices in the Chinese market will rise,” a Germany-based distributor said.
“European mills are trying to increase prices,” an Italian trader said, noting uncertainty over whether buyers will purchase at these higher prices.
“Many buyers [are] hesitant to accept these new price levels due to ongoing weak demand from the automotive and construction sectors,” the source said.
As a result, a significant price increase by a large European mill during the week ended Oct. 11 faced strong resistance from buyers, according to the source. Buyers remain cautious with sufficient inventory stock levels and market uncertainty over the future price direction.
Platts assessed Northwest European HRC at Eur550/mt ex-works Ruhr Oct. 11, stable on the day.
Offers were reported at Eur565-590/mt ex-works Ruhr. Tradable values were reported at Eur550-560/mt ex-works Ruhr.
Meanwhile, Platts assessed domestic HRC in Southern Europe at Eur545/mt ex-works Italy, stable on the day.
Offers were heard at Eur590/mt for s235JR 2.5-8mm HRC ex-works Italy Oct. 11.
Import market activity improved following reports of price increases at comparable levels to domestic European mill offer prices, according to an Italy-based mill source.
“[Asian import prices are] reflecting a slight increase from previous weeks, as the import price aligns itself with domestic European mill offerings,” a Germany-based distributor said.
The higher price was attributed to a price rise by a large European mill, with other suppliers following suit.
Platts assessed imported HRC in Northwest Europe at Eur535/mt CIF Antwerp, stable on the day.
Meanwhile, Platts assessed imported HRC in Southern Europe at Eur535/mt CIF Italy, stable on the day.
Primetals signs contract to construct new DRI steel plant in Germany
Primetals Technologies has signed contracts with German steel producer Dillinger and its subsidiary Rogesa for the construction of a new complex in the country, the company said in a statement Oct. 11.
The new complex will replace the current blast furnace-based production in Dillinger and will feature a direct-reduced iron plant, to be constructed in partnership with DRI technology provider Midrex Technologies, and an electric arc furnace plant comprising two twin ladle furnaces, the company said.
The plant will produce both hot DRI and cold DRI with an annual capacity of 2 million metric tons per year and would help Dillinger and Rogesa meet their goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 4.8 million metric tons per year within six years, it said.
“The transition to green steel production will not happen overnight, we will see a step-by-step process towards carbon neutrality,” said Andreas Viehböck, head of Upstream Technologies at Primetals Technologies.
“With this investment, Dillinger and ROGESA are set to reach their mid- to long term goals in terms of decarbonization.”
The plant will be operated with a mix of natural gas and hydrogen, allowing for a carbon footprint reduction of more than 50% compared to BF-based steelmaking, Primetals added.
“The decision by Dillinger and Rogesa for Midrex Flex technology allows them to transition to hydrogen-based ironmaking at the pace that matches the availability of sufficient gas supply while reducing their current CO2 emissions significantly,” Midrex President and CEO KC Woody, said.
“DRI-based steelmaking provides a pathway to a sustainable future, both economically and environmentally, and our technology solutions offer the flexibility and performance to turn promise into success.”
Platts assessed Northwest European hot-rolled coil carbon-accounted steel at $604.69/mt ex-works Ruhr Oct. 10, down $6.46/mt on the day, S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed.
European HRC prices edge higher, but still below mill target levels
The index was up by €8.75 per tonne week on week, but down by €27.92 per tonne month on month.
In Northern Europe, offer prices for November-December-delivery coil were reported at €560-590 per tonne ex-works on Friday.
And for larger tonnages, discounts of €10-15 per tonne were possible, sources said.
Achievable values were estimated by most buyers at €540-550 per tonne ex-works.
One low-tonnage transaction for Italy-origin HRC was reported to Germany at €580 per tonne delivered.
Apparent demand has started showing signs of improvement since last week and supplier sources said inquiries from buyers had increased through the week to Friday.
“Buyers have realised that the lowest prices are gone and have started looking for [HRC]. Trading has not exploded and volumes [of HRC] are still quite limited, but it looks like we’re past the lowest point,” a mill source told Fastmarkets.
Sources were also not ruling out a potential shortage of HRC in the first quarter of next year, due to lower import bookings.
“New import [HRC] bookings are very low. Too many risks are involved [for instance, anti-dumping investigation and reviewed safeguards], plus prices for overseas coil are totally uncompetitive, so we might be missing some [import] volumes next year,” a buyer source in Germany said.
“In this quarter [October-December 2024], we are still clearing import tonnages that are in the pipeline, but new bookings [of imported HRC] are very scarce,” the source added.
November-shipment coil from Asia was on offer to Europe at around €550-560 per tonne CFR to Antwerp, while HRC from Turkey was offered at €580-590 per tonne CFR, including anti-dumping duty.
None of the offers were considered workable by European buyers due to the small gap to domestic European prices, the longer lead times for imports and all the risks related to trade restrictions in the EU.
In Southern Europe, meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ daily steel HRC index, domestic, exw Italy was calculated at €545.00 per tonne on Friday, up by €5.00 per tonne from €540.00 per tonne the previous day,
The Italian index was up by €10.00 per tonne week on week, but down by €26.25 per tonne month on month.
Sources reported an offer from one local supplier at €580 per tonne delivered (€570 per tonne ex-works).
But buyers estimated the tradable level at no more than €540-550 per tonne ex-works.
“The market is still assessing the recent [push for HRC] price increases. But the lowest prices are gone for sure,” a buyer source said. “However, for steel service centers, stock liquidity remains a priority and in the secondary market there are still very aggressive sales.”
Notably, 4 mm S235 grade HR sheet was still trading around €620-630 per tonne CPT and, from the point of view of steel service centers, an increase of up to €50 per tonne to €670-680 per tonne CPT is “a must” to recover margins, the source added.
Steelmaker SHS Group signs contracts for new DR plant, two EAFs
The direct-reduction (DR) plant and the two electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) will have capacity for 3.5 million tonnes per year of crude steel. The SHS Group will thus convert 70% of its total capacity to CO2-reduced production, the company said.
Commissioning of the new facilities was scheduled for 2028/29, it added.
After commissioning, the DR plant will supply iron pellet to the group production sites in Dillingen and Völklingen. The plant will have capacity for 2 million tpy of DR iron and will be based on a technology that allows it to work with different ratios of natural gas and hydrogen fuel.
The EAFs will produce CO2-reduced steel from the iron pellet produced in the DR plant and steel scrap.
The new facilities will be built as part of the SHS Group’s Power4Steel project, which will help the company to transition to green steel production and reduce its CO2 emissions by 55% by the early 2030s, the steelmaker said. This would correspond to a reduction of 4.8 million tpy of CO2.
The total investment in the DR plant and the two EAFs will reach €4.6 billion ($5 billion), with €2.6 billion of this coming from federal and state funding, SHS Group added. The rest of the sum will be provided by companies within the SHS Group.
Plant construction firms Midrex Technologies, Primetals Technologies and DSD Steel Group were awarded the contract for the construction of the DR plant, which will be at the Dillingen site.
Primetals and DSD were also selected to build one of the EAFs, which will be operated by heavy-plate producer Dillinger.
The second EAF, which will be for rebar and wire rod manufacturer Saarstahl, will be built by SMS Group.
State funding for local green steel projects
In 2023-24, Germany approved significant amounts of funding to finance green steel projects.
For example, ArcelorMittal Bremen and ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt have been granted €1.3 billion as part of the German Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Thyssenkrupp has obtained €2 billion in German state funding for its green steel transformation project.
And Salzgitter, Germany’s second-largest steelmaker, has received nearly €1 billion in government funding for its hydrogen-based steelmaking project.
According to Fastmarkets’ estimates, in the past year, more than €10 billion of public funding in the EU and the UK have been granted to the steel industry to support decarbonization
The demand for hydrogen fuel in Germany was expected to grow.
The transition toward more environmentally friendly production includes the replacement of BF-BOF capacities with electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) and hydrogen-fueled direct-reduced iron (DRI) modules.
This was expected to increase the demand for hydrogen.
Thus, the steel industry was expected to be Germany’s main consumer of imported hydrogen in the next two decades, according to the hydrogen import strategy approved by the country’s Federal Cabinet.
According to this document, the demand for hydrogen and hydrogen derivatives in Germany will amount to 95-130TWh in 2030.
Around 50-70% of this (45-90TWh) will have to be imported. The Federal Cabinet calculations showed that the share provided by imports would continue to increase after 2030.
Published by: Julia Bolotova, Darina Kahramanova
ArcelorMittal closes operations in Born
The company cited a combination of factors contributing to this difficult choice, including:
- Weakening Demand: A decline in demand for steel products within the European Union, driven by factors such as reduced construction activity and decreasing demand from the automotive sector.
- Rising Costs: Increased production costs in Europe compared to other regions, including higher wages, energy expenses, and the need for decarbonization efforts.
- Intense Competition: The influx of cheaper steel imports, particularly from China and India, has put significant pressure on European steel producers.
The closure of the Born facility is expected to have a significant impact on the local economy, as it will result in job losses and a reduction in economic activity. ArcelorMittal has indicated that it will provide support to affected employees through a social plan.
While this closure represents a setback for the European steel industry, ArcelorMittal remains committed to its operations in other parts of the Benelux region. The company will continue to focus on providing high-quality steel products and services to its customers.
