Category: Latest Updates

IndustriAll Europe, the federation of EU labor unions, has called for the European Commission to strengthen European steel safeguard measures to prevent thousands of tonnes of cheap steel being dumped onto the EU open market, the federation said in a letter addressed to the EC and seen by S&P Global Platts.

IndustriALL stressed how COVID-19 is having a massive impact on the steel sector with European steel production being reduced by 50%, resulting in workers being placed on short-time working hours or being subjected to temporary lay-offs. According to the association, there has been a huge cut in new steel orders (down 70-75%) that has led to the idling of steel plants and even the shutdown of production.

“While Europe has been suffering, other countries continue their production and even stockpile their products. Indeed, China managed to increase their production by 3% in January and February 2020. There are real concerns that some countries will use the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to build up their capacities, increase their stockpiles and flood the open EU market,” the federation underscored in its letter.

IndustriAll Europe therefore called on EU policy makers to update the current EU steel safeguard measures to bring them in line with the decline in EU steel demand.

“The existing tariff-rate quotas are no longer relevant, and in particular, we call for a reduction in these quotas by 75% for Q2 and Q3 in 2020. Should this not happen, we struggle to see how the industry in Europe, and its thousands of workers, will be able to get back on their feet. European workers and their families continue to suffer dreadfully during this health crisis, and we need the EU institutions to demonstrate that they are working together, are representing all member states and are standing up for workers in Europe in times of crisis,” the union federation stated.

At the beginning of April European steel federation Eurofer asked the EC to review the current import safeguard quota asking that quota volume be reduced immediately by around 75% and for a period of six months in order to “align them with the devastating situation.”

The tariff level of 25% could be reduced after a review of the situation for the last quarter of 2020 and beyond.

Eurofer also proposed to implement emergency import restrictions outside the context of safeguard measures, as permitted under Article XXI of the GATT 1994 agreement. The safeguard measures do not cover products imported from undeveloped countries.

The latest import data available from Eurofer show that EU imports of hot-rolled coil in February, the latest full month for which data is available, amounted to 533,519 mt, a decrease of 22% from January and 11% lower than February 2019.

However, Russia increased shipments by 2,187 mt to 166,353 mt, which was enough to push Turkey from the top spot in February in volume terms, a position which it has held since November 2019.

Imports from Turkey decreased in February by 108,000 mt to 138,000 mt, while South Korea saw its HRC volumes surge 31% higher in February to 43,389 mt.

The EC Safeguard quota balances, which were refreshed on April 1 and run on a quarterly basis, allow some insight into more recent import activities and show a collective inflow in HRC of 283,000 mt in the two weeks to April 16, with Russia remaining the leading supplier to the bloc.

Price performance for domestic and import material has fallen with import offers heard at increasingly aggressive levels pressuring domestic prices lower.

The Platts TSI index for HRC was assessed Monday at Eur450.50/mt exW Ruhr, a decline of EUR32/mt since March 2.

Over the same period Platts assessed HRC imports basis CIF Antwerp Eur82/mt lower to Eur410/mt Monday.

The IndustriALL Global Union represents 50 million workers in 140 countries in the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors and is a force in global solidarity taking up the fight for better working conditions and trade union rights around the world.

— Annalisa Villa, Len Griffin

Trasteel and Vanomet, two Switzerland based trading firms, acquired 100% ownership in Officine Tecnosider, or OTS, an Italian based producer of hot rolled heavy plates, the two companies said Monday.

Trasteel has been a minority shareholder in OTS with a 30% of stake since the beginning of the creation of the company and together with Vanomet acquired the remaining stake from the founders and previous owners in this transaction.

OTS is located in San Giorgio di Nogaro in the North-East of Italy and it has a production capacity of 370,000 mt/year of heavy plate that are used in a wide range of sectors, from general engineering to construction and shipbuilding.

OTS serves the domestic market as well as clients in central, western and eastern Europe as well as ships to North and South America. The company employs 110 workers.

“We are convinced that the new shareholders shall continue our successful business and that the flexibility and efficiency of our plant shall continue to give us a competitive advantage,” Ivo Conti, CEO and former shareholder of OTS commentated, who will stay at the helm of the company. “Despite a temporary shut down in the wake of Covid 19, OTS has restarted production recently and is planning to move back to near-full capacity utilisation in the second half of the year. In contrast to other mills, OTS can achieve a sound profitability even when operating at less than full capacity.”

“Having been shareholder of OTS for a long time we are now proud that together with our partner Vanomet we have taken full control of OTS and are looking forward to continue working with the OTS management,” said Gianfranco Imperato, CEO of Trasteel.

Ruedi Mathis, Vanomet Founder and Chief Executive, emphasized: “…OTS provides Vanomet with a complementary value creation opportunity and allows us to leverage our excellent relationships to slab suppliers with a state-of-the-art manufacturer of finished steel plates.”

The parties did not disclose details about the purchase price. The transaction is subject to approval by Italian authorities. Once they will have the green light, Trasteel will become the majority owner of the company while Vanomet the minority owner. The companies declined to give the percentage ownership details to S&P Global Platts when requested. PwC Switzerland and PwC Italy/PwC TLS Italy provided M&A and legal support, as well as financial due diligence and tax advice to the buyers.

— Annalisa Villa

Sidma, one of the main Greek steel trading, stockholding and processing players, has confirmed its acquisition of the activities of Bitros Steel, another local trader and processor of steel products, Kallanish learns.

Sidma is now set to incorporate assets and liabilities of Bitros Steel following completion of the deal last week, the stockholder says in an announcement.

Sidma is part of the Viohalco group and is one of the main steel processing and distribution companies in Greece. Being part of the same holding, the company has a strategic partnership with Sidenor, the biggest steelmaker in the country.

Bitros Steel is a major processor and distributor of steel products in Greece, focused mainly in the longs market.

The measures for containing the coronavirus pandemic are causing huge distortions in Germany’s passenger car production, Kallanish hears from automotive association VDA.

The country’s carmakers at their domestic plants built 287,900 cars in March, -37% less than in the corresponding 2019 month. Production during the first quarter came to 1.0 million units, a drop of -20% year-on-year. Exports are suffering similarly, VDA says. Last month, 234,500 new passenger cars were supplied to customers around the world (-32% y-o-y). In the first three months, 771,300 vehicles were exported (-21% y-o-y).

A year-on year decline could already be felt in the first two months, before the effect of the coronavirus kicked in. Domestic plants lost -12% output in February, and -10% in the first two months accumulated, with 730,000 units produced.

The pressure on the European Commission to slash steel safeguard quotas is mounting as European trade union IndustriALL has sent a letter to trade commissioner Phil Hogan to request a reduction.

In the letter seen by Kallanish, IndustriALL shows its concern for the future of the steel industry in Europe. “Steel production in Europe has reduced by -50% and there has been a huge cut in new orders (down -70% to -75%). This has led to the idling of plants and even the shutdown of production. As such, there are real fears that around 50% of steelmaking capacity could be lost,” the association says.

Following on from the requests made by Eurofer earlier at the beginning of April, IndustriALL is also calling for safeguard quotas to be reduced by -75%. “The existing tariff-rate quotas are no longer relevant, and in particular, we call for a reduction in these quotas by -75% for the second and third quarters in 2020. Should this not happen, we struggle to see how the industry in Europe, and its thousands of workers, will be able to get back on their feet,” the letter explains.

Similarly, Italian minister for foreign affairs Luigi Di Maio sent a letter to Hogan last week requesting a review of the quotas to be made before the new ones become available on 1 July.

This new support for the limitation of safeguard quotas could well push the European Commission to take a decision in this instance. A number of associations grouping steel users and distributors oppose the reduction of safeguard quotas. During recent times however the European Commission has mostly supported requests coming from producers and workers rather than steel consumers.

European steel coil prices remained under pressure Friday from imports and minimal buying activity in the spot market, even with announcements of gradual restarts to the automotive sector this week.

One German buyer said any recovery in the market was dependent on how rapidly the automotive industry restarted production.

“Production will come back in shifts, Audi will look to restart in week 18 and BMW and Mercedes in week 19, but it also depends on when their suppliers return,” the source said.

He was optimistic however, that demand would pick up in July-August in anticipation of customers returning to the market.

Another German service center source said most sub-suppliers remain closed, which would have a significant effect on production resuming.

“I guess [automotive producers] will be seeking agreements [on re-opening] with their suppliers,” he said.

The source added that European steel market would not benefit much from the North American and Mexican automotive restarts, saying “they’ll be insisting on minimum 70% local material.”

A Benelux-based trading source said that even with the imminent resumption of the automotive industry, the extent to which car sales would increase remained the larger issue.

“The automotive companies are trying to find agreements with their workforces on how to proceed, but the real problem will car sales — customers don’t have the confidence to decide what type of car to buy right now,” he said.

Aggressive Russian imports were heard to be putting pressure on prices, particularly for hot-rolled coil, with one German service source hearing a tradable value at Eur410/mt delivered into Belgium SCC ex-Russia.

Several market participants said they were still turning down imports due to the unattractive lead times of August-September.

“I don’t know what will happen in a few months, so if I’m going to buy, I need to be careful with what quantities I order,” a German buyer said.

A Benelux trader source buying activity was minimal, with there being “no real transactions” at the moment.

“We are making some proposals to customers but no one is buying – the mills are still keeping their prices elevated,” he said. “The reality is we will lose two months of consumption [after these lockdowns].”

The Platts TSI hot-rolled coil index was calculated Friday at Eur451/mt ($490.64/mt) ex-works Ruhr, declining Eur1/mt day on day.

Cold-rolled coil was assessed at Eur537.50/mt ex-works Ruhr, an increase of Eur5/mt day on day.

In Southern Europe, HRC was assessed at Eur430/mt ex-works South Europe, unchanged, and CRC was assessed at Eur497.50/mt, down Eur19.50/mt week on week.

— Amanda Flint

Tube maker and automotive supplier Benteler says it has temporarily suspended operations at locations where it works with customers from the automotive industry. It is thus following the decision by numerous carmakers to temporarily halt production due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This affects almost all plants of the company’s Automotive Division in Europe, North and South America and South Africa, it tells Kallanish. Its Steel/Tube Division has also temporarily stopped or reduced production at some locations due to the pandemic.

As an international group represented in China, the company notes it has been working for weeks on measures to stem the spread of the coronavirus. “We are using this knowledge for all our sites worldwide and have implemented a comprehensive and globally coordinated package of measures at an early stage,” it says.

”In close cooperation with the works councils, authorities and our customers, we have found solutions. These are, for example, mobile working, a reduction in overtime, unpaid leave or temporary part-time work,” the company says, and emphasises that “… the situation is constantly changing.”

Several German carmakers meanwhile have announced that they will gradually resume production at European sites in the course of April (see Kallanish 17 April).

Bowim’s consolidated steel sales grew 1% on-year in 2019 to 513,547 tonnes thanks to the Polish distributor’s efforts to find new customers, it says. Earnings declined only slightly despite weaker economic growth, falling demand and lower margins.

Sales of sheet rose 12% in 2019 to 186,044t, but sales of pipe and profiles were down -9% to 97,261t and rebar deliveries were flat at 95,519t. Sheets took a 37% share in overall revenue versus 33% in 2018, at the expense of pipe, profiles and rebar.

The steel structures and metals industry segments each increased their share in sales by 2 percentage points to 24% and 18% respectively. The construction industry and trade segment saw their shares decline 1pp and 3pp respectively to 19% and 15%.

Of the steel procured by Bowim in 2019, 35% came from import versus 34% in 2018, Kallanish notes.

The firm says its import sourcing could be hampered by the disruptions being caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. “At present we are seeing significant buying, as customers are unsure of the future and are filling inventories,” the distributor says. “Distributors are also unsure about the availability of material in the coming weeks, which is confirmed by the evident searching for material and movement in prices. A deferred fall in orders is highly likely, but only March data will show the scale of the problem facing the steel industry.”

Bowim’s consolidated revenue fell -4% in 2019 to PLN 1.32 billion ($314.9 million), while net profit slumped -72% to PLN 3.2m. Prices of sheet were depressed last year by weaker demand from the EU automotive industry, which increased competition among the EU’s sheet suppliers to find new buyers.

Italian steel trade association Assofermet is urging the government to ease, and therefore speed up, the procedure with which steel companies can access the government’s guaranteed funds. This was a scheme put in place to ensure that Italian industry would be able to survive the current crisis.

In a letter to the government copied to Kallanish, Assofermet says that it is “… inappropriate that banks are analysing the credit status of companies. Funding will not reach companies in time and banks will be literally inundated with requests without being able to deliver for several months”. It adds that credit institutions should become instrumental in passing the funds on. They should be paid for their administration work but not for a “… risk-free” service.

No assessment of the applicants’ credit rating should be carried out, the association adds. The absence of clear financial or judicial issues in the case of the applicant and compliance with the requirements established by the decree should suffice to obtain the funding, Assofermet says.

The association is also asking the government to allow the Italian steel industry to resume work by reopening mills and warehouses on 20 April. A further delay in resuming work will inevitably expose the sector to serious economic and financial damage “… without considering the loss of competitiveness and presence on the market towards European competitors who, although with reduced capacity are still operating without ever having ceased trading,” Assofermet claims.

„Nachhaltigkeit hat für uns einen hohen Stellenwert“, erklärt Lutz Bandusch, CEO Bars and Rods bei ArcelorMittal Europe – Long Products. 2019 hat sich der Konzern verpflichtet, seine Emissionen europaweit bis 2030 um 30 Prozent zu senken und die Produktion bis 2050 in Europa komplett klimaneutral zu stellen. Auch bei den Produkten baut der Konzern den Fokus auf Nachhaltigkeit aus und entwickelt neue Stahlgüten, mit denen auch die Kunden die CO2-Bilanz ihrer Produkte optimieren können. „Dabei wir unter anderem auf größere Widerstandsfähigkeit, längere Haltbarkeit und Gewichtsreduktion mit größtmöglicher Recyclingfähigkeit“, ergänzt Jeyachandran Rajasekaran, CEO Tubular Products Europe.

ArcelorMittal verfolgt eine aktive Klimastrategie

Das Engagement für nachhaltige und CO2-reduzierte Stahlgüten gehört zur Klimastrategie des Konzerns. ArcelorMittal bekennt sich zu den Zielen des Pariser Klimaschutzabkommens. Eine Bestandsaufnahme und Darstellung der strategischen Ziele hat der Konzern im Mai 2019 im ersten Climate Action Report der Stahlbranche gegeben. Als aktive Unterstützung des Green Deals der EU hat ArcelorMittal seine eigenen Klimaziele formuliert, zu der die Erprobung neuer Technologien, optimierter Produktionsverfahren sowie die Entwicklung verbesserter und nachhaltiger Produkte gehören. „Wir wollen einen entscheidenden Beitrag zur Erreichung der ambitionierten Klima- und Energieeffizienzziele der EU leisten“, betont Bandusch.

Neue Stahllösungen und optimierte Prozesse für Draht und Stabstahl

Einige der jüngsten Lösungen für der Bereich Draht und Stabstahl (Bars and Rods), die den aktuellen und zukünftigen Anforderungen entspricht, umfasst bainitische und martensitische Schmiedequalitäten (Solam®B und Solam®M), aber auch hochplastische und hochfeste Kaltstauchqualitäten (FreeForm®) gehören dazu.

Auch Bereich Tubular Products von ArcelorMittal Europe erweitert Produktkatalog

ArcelorMittal Tubular Products bietet die breiteste Produktpalette von nahtlosen bis zu spiralförmigen und längsgeschweißten Rohren, die sowohl in kleinen als auch in großen Außendurchmessern sowie in einer Vielzahl von Prozessen und / oder Veredelungen erhältlich sind, einschließlich widerstandsgeschweißten (ERW, HFI) und unter Wasserbogen-geschweißten (HSAW, LSAW) Nähten und Präzisions- und Kaltziehverfahren.
Das Unternehmen hat eine Reihe technischer Lösungen für die Rohrindustrie realisiert. Dabei handelt es sich um die drei neuen Produktfamilien TitanTM, StreamTM und GeogroundTM. Die drei neuen Sparten bieten optimale strukturelle Lösungen zur Unterstützung schwerer Strukturen im Stahlbau bzw. zum Leiten und Fördern von Flüssigkeiten oder Gasen. Die Produkte wurden für den jeweiligen Gebrauch so optimiert, dass sie eine deutlich längere Haltbarkeit aufweisen. Auch ein weiterer Vorteil von Stahl wird deutlich: Stahl lässt sich am Ende der Lebensdauer des Produkts zu 100 Prozent recyceln. Dadurch ergibt sich gegenüber alternativen Werkstoffen ein geringerer ökologischer Fußabdruck für die gesamte Produktpalette.

Foto: ArcelorMittal

Mehr Informationen: ArcelorMittal