Category: Latest Updates

British Steel CEO Gerald Reichmann has left the company, as exclusive talks continue between the Official Receiver and preferred bidder OYAK over the sale of the UK-based steel producer, S&P Global Platts learned from a Grimsby Telegraph news report.

Ataer Holding, owned by OYAK, the biggest complementary pension fund in Turkey, has confirmed “that this does not in any way change their interest” in British Steel, according to the report. Platts couldn’t reach OYAK for comment over the weekend.

The Official Receiver’s spokesperson said about Gerald Reichmann’s resignation: “The Official Receiver is assisting the preferred bidder for British Steel to complete their due diligence and confirm its sale. The departure of the chief executive does not impact upon this process.”

As part of its regional growth ambitions in the steel industry, OYAK signed an exclusivity agreement to buy British Steel in mid-August, as Platts has reported.

According to an OYAK statement previously sent to S&P Global Platts, the handover is expected to take place at the end of 2019. “Ataer Holding owned by OYAK, with its strategic vision for British Steel, differentiated from other bidders and received exclusivity to conduct detailed financial, legal and operational review for a period of 2 months. During the exclusivity period, close negotiations to be held with customers, suppliers, employees and trade unions is significant for the future success of British Steel. After the successful completion of detailed inspection process at the end of October 2019, the handover is expected to be [held] within 2019,” 

British Steel, which went into compulsory liquidation on May 22, has about 3 million mt/year of production capacity in the UK, France and the Netherlands.

Turkish military pension fund OYAK is Ataer Holding’s parent company, which is the largest shareholder in Erdemir, the nation’s biggest steel producer.

In addition to iron and steel, OYAK has interests in sectors including cement, automotive, agriculture and energy.

— Cenk Can

Prices for European rebar weakened over the past week amid lower monthly EU scrap settlements and hesitant buying activity from end-users.

Platts TSI Northwest Europe Rebar assessment was Eur480.50/mt ex-works Friday, down Eur1.50/mt week on week from Eur482/mt ex-works on September 6.

The assessment has fallen Eur11.50/mt over the past two weeks.

A transaction was heard at around Eur495/mt delivered in the Benelux, while offers were heard at Eur495-Eur500/mt delivered Benelux. Tradable values were also heard at Eur495-Eur500/mt delivered, according to a distributor.

“Buyers are now waiting as they expect further price falls, and demand is weak as some construction projects may be stopped because of new government rules [on nitrogen emissions],” a seller in the Netherlands said.

A deal for 10,000 mt was also heard at a price of Eur485/mt delivered Germany, according to a selling source.

“We are moving down [our] prices, but buyers are waiting to see where the scrap price settles – not all scrap deals have been completed yet,” a Northern European mill source said Thursday. “There was some buying activity last week, but now it’s all gone. We’re currently offering at Eur500/mt delivered, but we don’t know where the price will pan out, it could go below Eur500/mt for sure.”

S&P Global Platts assessed Northern European domestic shredded scrap at Eur225-Eur230/mt delivered for September, down sharply from Eur250-Eur255/mt delivered in August. In Southern Europe, domestic shredded scrap was assessed at Eur240-Eur245/mt delivered for September, down sharply from Eur265-Eur270/mt delivered in August.

Platts’ Steel Rebar FOB Southern Europe assessment was Eur400-Eur410/mt FOB on Friday, compared with Eur420-Eur430/mt FOB a week earlier.

An Italian mill offer was heard at Eur405/mt FOB, and another offer was heard Eur400/mt FOB Greece, according to a trading source. A tradable value was heard at Eur410/mt FOB Italy, according to a mill source.

“There are no real bids or serious intentions to buy, and I doubt an Italian mill can sell at Eur405/mt FOB. The conversion margin for scrap to rebar can be up to Eur200/mt depending on the mill, so it would be very difficult,” an Italian mill source said, adding that the near-exhaustion of Turkey’s annual rebar allotment in the EU import quotas is unlikely to provide support to domestic European prices in the near-term.

“At the moment, nobody cares about safeguard quotas. The stocks of Romanian and Bulgarian importers of Turkish rebar are full now,” he said.

Only 9.7%, or 29,287.94 mt, remains of Turkey’s annual quota. The latest allocation to the quota was made Thursday, with a further 2,565.69 mt awaiting allocation as of Friday.

European buyers now have to provide a 25% financial guarantee on any orders as the quota has fallen below 10%. If a buyer’s cargo cannot be allocated to the quota because the quota has been exhausted, then the buyer will have to pay a 25% duty on the imported rebar.

Other producer sources were attempting to maintain higher price levels despite the negative sentiment in the market.

“We haven’t dropped offers as much [as the Italians], as we are trying to resist the negative movement. Scrap is going down because of Turkey and their inability to sell rebar, whereas there is still demand – relatively – in Europe,” a Spanish mill source said.

— Viral Shah

Neunkirchen – EMW Stahl-Service-Center und SCHÄFER Lochbleche präsentieren sich im Rahmen der 14. Blechexpo in Stuttgart. Vom 5. bis 8. November findet die internationale Fachmesse für Blechbearbeitung gemeinsam mit der Schweisstec für Fachbesucher statt. Am ihrem Stand bieten die beiden Geschäftsbereiche der SCHÄFER WERKE Gruppe eine Auswahl ihres Produkt- und Leistungsspektrums für Besucher. Als weltweit einzige Messe zu den Technologien Blechbearbeitung und Fügetechnik steht die Veranstaltung ganz im Zeichen der Digitalisierung und der Industrie 4.0.

Seit Anfang des Jahres ist der Neubau des Logistikzentrums des EMW Stahl-Service-Centers am Stammsitz in Neunkirchen abgeschlossen und in Betrieb. Dadurch konnte die Auftragsabwicklung optimiert und die Gesamtkapazität der wachsenden Nachfrage angepasst werden. Mit der Einführung des Kundenportals „Yoursteel” Ende 2018 bietet die EMW die Möglichkeit, alle wichtigen Informationen zu Aufträgen und Beständen jederzeit online abzufragen oder verschiedene Dokumente wie Prüfberichte, Lieferscheine uvm. zu downloaden. „Mit der Inbetriebnahme der Plattform „Yoursteel” bieten wir unseren Kunden einen noch effizienteren Service und  sind bestens für die Anforderungen der Industrie 4.0 gewappnet”, sagt Michael Mockenhaupt, Geschäftsführer EMW Stahl-Service-Center.

Fokus Kundennähe bei EMW und SCHÄFER

Zur Optimierung seiner kundenorientierten Dienste und Angebote hat EMW Stahl-Service-Center mit Hauptsitz in Neunkirchen zu Anfang des Jahres einen neuen Standort eröffnet. Vom Werk im sächsischen Treuen aus werden nicht nur Kunden aus dem Großraum Sachsen und Thüringen bedient, sondern auch internationale Kunden aus Polen, der Tschechischen Republik, Ungarn, der Slowakei und anderen zentraleuropäischen Ländern.

Seit Mitte des Jahres ist SCHÄFER Lochbleche mit erweitertem Lagerlochblechportfolio, neuen Lochbildern und Edelstählen am Markt. Ziel ist es, mit den neuen Produkten auf aktuelle Marktbedürfnisse einzugehen und die digitalen Services noch mehr in den Fokus zu rücken. Das gesamte Lagersortiment ist seit 2018 in einem Online-Shop erhältlich. Dieser führt User mit wenigen Klicks und zahlreichen Filter- und Auswahleinstellungen zum gewünschten Produkt. Der Online-Shop ist unter lochblech-shop.de zu finden.

„Die umfassende Digitalisierung betrifft sowohl die Produktionsabläufe als auch die kundenorientierten Prozesse. Dabei stellen wir die Kundenzufriedenheit mit unserer Multichannel-Strategie in den Mittelpunkt. Wer den direkten Austausch bevorzugt, den beraten wir sehr gerne persönlich. Wer sich online wohler fühlt, dem bieten wir umfangreiche digitale Services”, sagt Alexander Tumasjan, Vertriebsleiter SCHÄFER Lochbleche.

Über SCHÄFER Lochbleche:

Unter dem Motto „Lochbleche nach Maß – individuell und schnell” bietet das Unternehmen SCHÄFER Lochbleche ein breites und kurzfristig verfügbares Sortiment qualitativ hochwertiger Lochbleche für alle Branchen und Einsatzbereiche. Mit hochpräzisen Werkzeugen kann das Unternehmen nahezu alle Wünsche der Auftraggeber hinsichtlich Material, Lochbild, Maß, Anarbeitung und Anlieferung erfüllen. SCHÄFER Lochbleche ist Teil der international erfolgreichen SCHÄFER WERKE.Die inhabergeführte SCHÄFER WERKE Gruppe mit Hauptsitz in Neunkirchen im Siegerland ist mit diversifizierten Geschäftsbereichen weltweit tätig: EMW Stahl-Service-Center, Lochbleche, Standard- und Sonderbehälter aus Edelstahl, Einrichtung für Rechenzentrum, Werkstatt und Betrieb sowie Datenmanagementsysteme für Ladungsträger. Diese Geschäftsbereiche arbeiten auf der gemeinsamen Grundlage hochwertigen Stahlfeinblechs, dessen Verarbeitung zu den traditionellen Kernkompetenzen des Unternehmens gehört.  

Über EMW Stahl-Service-Center:

Als eines der größten werksunabhängigen Stahl-Service-Center Europas liefert die EMW Coils, Spaltband, Zuschnitte und Ronden an die verarbeitende Industrie. Bei der EMW lagern auf 42.000 Quadratmetern Fläche ständig über 180.000 Tonnen Feinblech. Nahezu alle marktgängigen Qualitäten liegen daher abrufbereit: Standard- und Sondergüten, vornehmlich feuer- und elektrolytisch verzinkt, kaltgewalzt, warmgewalzt und feueraluminiert. Auf fünf Spalt- und drei Multiblanking-Anlagen verarbeitet die EMW Bleche im Dickenbereich von 0,4 bis 6 Millimeter mit Coilgewichten bis 32 Tonnen. Ein umfassendes Paket an Automobilgüten, hochfesten Stählen und Emailliergüten sowie eine leistungsstarke Organisation für die Transportlogistik gehören zu den besonderen Spezialitäten des Unternehmens. Für Qualitätsgarantie, und Prozesssicherheit und Umweltschutz sorgen bei der EMW die Zertifizierungen nach DIN ISO 9001:2015, ISO/TS 16949:2016, ISO 50001:2011 und ISO 14001:2015. Die EMW ist ein Geschäftsbereich der international erfolgreichen Unternehmensgruppe SCHÄFER WERKE mit Sitz in Neunkirchen. Das Unternehmen unterhält seit 2019 einen zusätzlichen Standort im sächsischen Treuen.

Quelle und Vorschaubild: SCHÄFER Lochbleche und EMW Stahl-Service-Center. Autor: von Angelika Albrecht

Indonesian hot-rolled and cold-rolled stainless sheet and strip will be included in the European safeguard system from the beginning of October, Kallanish learns from the latest approved proposal for amendments to the safeguard measures.

During recent months, Indonesian stainless imports have been at the centre of many discussions in the steel sector. The country was originally included in the list of the developing countries of the WTO, being therefore exempted from the impact of the safeguard system.

Nevertheless, the volumes of stainless HR and CR steel imported from Indonesia jumped significantly during the first half of this year. This has prompted Eurofer and many other market participants to request a revision of the measures.

According to Eurofer data, Indonesia exported over 70,000 tonnes of HR stainless sheets and strip into the EU over the January-June 2019 period. This was almost double what it exported in the whole of 2018 and it became the second largest supplier after China. During the same period CR stainless sheet imports from the country surpassed 40,000t, against the volume of 35,000t exported during the entire 2018.

Earlier this summer Marcegaglia explained in an official letter to the European Commission that stopping Indonesian imports of stainless steel would significantly harm the local processing sector. The surge in these imports was offsetting the reduction in imports from China and the USA, as well as the lower availability of domestic European supplies.

Following the approval of the amendments, Indonesian imports will need to be registered using the quotas assigned for ‘other countries’ in the safeguard system. These amount to only 25,000t for HR and 128,000t for CR in the July 2019 to June 2020 period.

ArcelorMittal Distribution Solutions Polska stormed into first place in the Polish Union of Steel Distributors (PUDS) ranking of top-performing Polish steel distributors in 2018, Kallanish notes. This was the first time since 2010 that ArcelorMittal’s distribution arm participated in the ranking.

The firm sold 1.24 million tonnes of steel in 2018, almost double the volume of its nearest rival, Konsorcjum Stali. It also came top in revenue terms, clocking PLN 3.64 billion ($927.9 million), but it did not provide profit figures.

Konsorcjum Stali dropped down one place to second despite an 8% on-year increase in shipments to 689,000t. It was also second in revenue and net profit terms, recording PLN 1.82 billion and PLN 42.4m respectively, up 20% and flat on-year.

Down one place to third in tonnage terms was Bowim despite a 12% rise to 508,000t. It was also down one place to fourth in revenue with PLN 1.36 billion, up 21%, but up one place to sixth in net profit with PLN 11.4m, down -39%.

Stalprofil remained in fourth in tonnage terms with 391,000t, up 23%. It dropped one place to fifth in revenue terms despite a 28% surge to PLN 1.3 billion, but rose two places to third in net profit with PLN 34.4m, up 41%.

Grupa Pruszynski fell one place to fifth in tonnage terms with 295,000t, up 40%, and fell one place to third in revenue with PLN 1.69 billion, up 32%. However, as last year, it topped the net profit table with PLN 73.3m, up 8%.

Notably, Balex Metal and Serwistal came fourth and fifth respectively in terms of net profit with PLN 23.4m and PLN 15.4m.

UK car manufacturing output fell again year-on-year in July, the 14th successive month of decline, according to data released by trade association SMMT monitored by Kallanish.

Car production fell by 10.6% y-o-y overall in the month while the year-to-date tumble was even heavier at -18.9% on-year.

Exports declined -14.6% in the month but still 8 in every 10 cars are being shipped overseas, SMMT says.

Home demand rose 10.2% on-year following a weak July 2018 when “… a raft of factors affected production,” the society adds.

UK commercial vehicle manufacturing output meanwhile declined by -31.2% in July. Production for home and overseas markets fell by -16.8% and -39.8% respectively.

Model changeovers continue to affect overall performance, with total output down by -18.1% y-t-d, SMMT says.

New orders in the German mechanical engineering sector fell in July, but the pace of the decline slowed compared with previous months, Kallanish learns from the sector’s association VDMA.

Orders in July fell -3% short of the previous year’s level in real terms, with German domestic orders down -4%, and orders from abroad down -3%.  “This means that the July results were less disappointing, but that’s just a little breather. The trend continues to point downwards and business and export expectations remain pessimistic in view of the economic and political risks for the second half of the year,” says VDMA’s chief economist Ralph Wiechers.

The intake of orders from the Eurozone countries in July was positive, up 3% on the previous year. By contrast, orders from non-euro countries fell by -5%. In a three-month comparison from May to July 2019, orders were -8% lower in real terms than in the previous year. Both domestic and foreign orders were down -8%, with orders from eurozone countries down -9% and orders from non-eurozone countries down -7%.

Shoreham Port in Kent has handled its first incoming steel shipment for UK’s Barrett Steel, at the latter’s new site at the UK terminal.

In a note monitored by Kallanish, the port authority says that the first vessel for the major steel distributor was unloaded over 2 ½ days at the port last week. The vessel MV Jevenau arrived Sunday carrying 878 bundles of steel sheet piles weighing 3,620 tonnes, with operations beginning the following morning, Shoreham port adds.

Barrett Steel, headquartered in Yorkshire, completed the acquisition of the former John Parker Steel site at the port in August.  In addition to the port facilities, the acquisition also saw the company secure extensive processing equipment on the site including shot blast prime and paint facilities and six Saw-Drill lines.

The move has seen Barrett Steel welcome over 50 new employees to their team who have transferred employment under the acquisition, securing jobs in the area, the distributor says.

“We are excited about this acquisition in Shoreham which is an excellent strategic opportunity for the Barrett Group to expand its presence in the south of England,” says Barrett Steel chief operating officer Andy Warcup.

Italian car output tumbled year-on-year again in July, Kallanish notes. This confirms the downtrend seen in the first half of 2019, says local carmakers’ association Associazione Nazionale Filiera Industria Automobilistica (Anfia).

According to preliminary data, passenger car production fell in July by a significant -19% compared to July 2018. No volumes for the periods have been disclosed by Anfia. Based already published data, Italian car output in July 2018 was 61,500 units.

In the first seven months of 2019 car output also fell by -19% year-on-year, the association says. Over January-July 2018 output for the passenger car sector was 447,000 units, Kallanish notes.

Italian industrial production output in July decreased by -0.7% y-o-y, Anfia adds.Car production in Italy slowed significantly in 2018, by -10% on 2017. The country’s total output of vehicles including heavy transport was 1.06 million units, down by -7% y-o-y.

Overseas plate imports into north-western Europe are not competitive with European offers, according to Germany buyers. Against that, offers from Italy still have good chances north of the Alps, and could become yet more competitive as prices for slab imports into Italy are seen tumbling.

The deterioration of imported slab prices has been spotted north of the Alps, too. “The market is quite transparent, and I expect that they (slab processers) will pull plate prices in Italy down to €500/t ($550) ex-works,” one trader says of grades S235/S275. He dismisses current offers of €520/t as “…wishful thinking by producers,” stating that the current slab price of $430/€390 cif will not allow for charging €520 for the final product.

Nevertheless, price impressions vary quite widely, possibly depending on tonnages. One Ruhr-based stockholder confirms the offer price of €500/t, and gives €560 as the delivered price. Against that, a stockholder on the Benelux border says his latest offers were not under €550, plus in his case €40 for delivery from northern Italian mills.

The divergence of price impressions is oddly in line with market participants’ earlier suggestions to Kallanish that some north-western European integrated mills’ prices were at under €560/t, others at €600/t. Again, it seems that bigger players cite notably lower prices.

Regarding the influence of falling prices in Italy on northern mills, one source notes these mills can hardly afford lower prices, given the cost of input materials. Further down the road, “…they will not be able to bring prices up, but they will strive for stability,” he says.