Category: Latest Updates

German defense manufacturer Rheinmetall has confirmed that deliveries of the Lynx KF41 infantry fighting vehicles planned for Ukraine will begin early this year.

In a statement released on January 12, 2026, the company announced that the first batch is ready for delivery under the contract finalized in December 2025.

 

The initial batch, financed by the German government, consists of five Lynx KF41 vehicles. Rheinmetall noted that the contract value is in the ‘double-digit million euro’ range and emphasized that deliveries will begin following comprehensive testing and evaluation procedures.

 

According to company officials, this first shipment represents only the initial phase for Ukraine. The limited initial delivery is expected to pave the way for larger follow-up orders and potentially long-term local production partnerships. As a result, the Lynx platform is anticipated to play a central role in the modernization of Ukraine’s mechanized forces.

 

The KF41 configuration destined for Ukraine has been specifically tailored to meet the country’s operational requirements. The vehicles are equipped with a LANCE 2 turret, a 30 mm automatic cannon, optional anti-tank guided missiles, stabilized firing capability, advanced day-and-night sensors, and modern digital battlefield network integration. These features make the Lynx KF41 an effective platform for operations in diverse weather conditions, high-threat environments, and long-range missions.

 

 

India’s export structure to the European Union is undergoing a quiet yet steady transformation.

According to the latest data from the Ministry of Commerce, traditional markets are maintaining their positions, while new and strong growth areas are emerging within the EU.

Spain, Germany, Belgium and Poland are increasingly standing out as reliable and steadily more important destinations for Indian goods. This trend indicates that India is adopting a more balanced and diversified export strategy across Europe.

 

Record increase in Spain with growth above 56 percent

 

Spain has emerged as a rising market among EU countries, delivering a notable boost to India’s export performance. During the April to November period of the current fiscal year, India’s exports to Spain increased by more than 56 percent, rising from USD 3 billion in the same period last year to USD 4.7 billion.

This strong increase lifted Spain’s share in India’s total exports by 0.5 percentage points to 2.4 percent. As a result, Spain became the EU country that recorded the largest market share increase over the same period.

 

Germany maintains its position as a reliable market

 

Germany, India’s largest export destination in Europe, continues to stand out for stable demand rather than rapid growth. Exports to Germany increased by 9.3 percent year on year during the April to November period, reaching USD 7.5 billion from USD 6.8 billion.

Officials stated that Germany maintained a 2.6 percent share in India’s total exports and achieved a 0.2 percentage point increase in market share. This outlook underlines that Germany remains a reliable and stable market for Indian products.

 

Serbia has launched a six-month import quota scheme on selected steel products under a regulation that entered into force on January 1.

 

Serbia has introduced a temporary quota regime on imports of cement and certain steel products in order to maintain market stability in strategic sectors. Covering the period from January 1 to June 30, 2026, the measure limits imports of Portland cement and selected iron and steel products through tariff quotas for a six-month period. Once the quota thresholds are exceeded, an additional 50% customs duty will be applied to the relevant products.

 

The regulation covers five product groups, including Portland cement, hot-rolled steel, cold-rolled steel, ribbed concrete reinforcing steel, hot-rolled wire rod, and ribbed reinforcing bars. The total quota volume exceeds 420,000 tonnes, with cement accounting for the largest share at 250,350 tonnes. Quotas will be allocated to countries and customs territories based on their respective shares of total imports over the past five years.

 

Phased implementation over two quarters

 

The largest allocations are expected to be granted to the European Union, Türkiye, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and other countries in the region. The quota scheme will be implemented in two quarterly phases: January 1–March 31 and April 1–June 30, 2026. Any unused quota volumes may be carried forward to the following quarter.

Quota distribution will follow a “first come, first served” principle. The Customs Administration will be responsible for implementation and monitoring, while utilization data will be reported on a monthly basis to the Ministry of Internal and Foreign Trade.

Author: SteelRadar Editorial Team

 

 

European domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil were largely unchanged on Monday January 12 with trading being quiet. Market sources from both Northern and Southern Europe reported subdued demand, but offered different reasons.

Suppliers from Northern Europe offered HRC for delivery in March-April at €650-670 ($758-782) per tonne ex-works. Some special volumes from February delivery were said to be available at lower prices, but tonnages were limited.

Meanwhile, workable prices were said to be €630-635 per tonne ex-works with no bookings heard during the day.

A trading source said that service centers building stocks higher than normal at the end of 2025, expecting price rises to be caused by the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), was the reason for quiet demand after the winter holidays.

Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was €635.63 ($739.19) per tonne on January 12, up by just €0.63 per tonne from €635.00 per tonne on January 9.

The index was up by €5.63 per tonne week on week and by €13.96 per tonne month on month.

The Italian market was also said to be quiet, with no major deals heard during the day.

A local market source suggested low consumption and a struggling economy, as well as Europe’s low competitiveness in export markets, as reasons for the low demand.

The latest buyers’ estimates of tradable prices were heard at €620-630 per tonne ex-works, while offers of February- and March-delivery HRC were heard around €630-650 per tonne ex-works, depending on supplier.

Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Italy, was calculated at €627.50 per tonne on Monday, down by €2.50 per tonne day on day.

The index was up by €4.38 per tonne week on week and by €16.25 per tonne month on month.

The import HRC market in Europe was at a stalemate with buyers facing a lack of clarity over the new import mechanism following the introduction of CBAM on January 1.

“I do not think anyone knows how much we are going to pay, and what are actual versus default values,” one buyer said.

Indian HRC was available within the range of €490-510 per tonne CFR, while Turkish material was offered at €510 per tonne CFR.

 

Domestic prices in Poland for steel rebar and wire rod remained flat in the week to Friday January 9 due to low levels of activity with market participants still coming back to the market following the year-end holidays, Fastmarkets heard.

According to trade sources, the market had not fully restarted after the break, with more movement expected in the next few days.

For drawing quality wire rod, estimates of workable prices were heard at 2,600-2,650 zloty ($721-735) per tonne CPT during the assessment period.

Meanwhile, the latest offers were heard around 2,650 zloty per tonne CPT before Christmas.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland, was 2,600-2,650 zloty per tonne on Friday, unchanged since late November.

Rebar prices were also unchanged in the week to Friday, with the market still thin after the holidays and due to low demand during the winter months, according to trade sources.

One market source reported selling 100 tonnes of rebar at 2,430 zloty per tonne CPT during the assessment period, while also reporting offers heard around 2,420 zloty per tonne CPT.

But due to low liquidity in the market following the holidays, and with most market participants remaining on the sidelines during the assessment week, Fastmarkets’ assessment was unchanged.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Poland, was 2,400-2,450 zloty per tonne on Friday, unchanged for a month.

Quarterly tariff-rate quota (TRQ) allocations on a variety of steel product imports into the EU over January-March 2026 have already been exhausted by some suppliers, less than just two weeks into the new reporting period, Fastmarkets learned on Monday January 12.

Flat steel
India has entirely exhausted its allocation for hot-rolled coil for the first quarter of 2026, just nine days after it was renewed. HRC quotas for Turkey and Taiwan were nearly full by January 9, according to European Commission customs data.

Market sources noted, however, that there were plenty of “old tonnages” that buyers did not have an opportunity to clear through customs in October-December 2025 due to high demand, so these volumes had to be transferred for clearance in January.

“We could not customs-clear all [of the HRC that] we booked from Turkey duty-free for the fourth quarter of 2025,” a buyer in southern Europe said.

Quotas allocated to traditional suppliers – Egypt, Vietnam and Japan – were intact (see table) because these three countries have also been subject to an anti-dumping (AD) duty in the EU. Definitive duties against these three suppliers were imposed at the end of September.

For downstream flat steel, a market traditionally more reliant on imports ,the situation was more dramatic.

In cold-rolled coil (CRC), Turkey had nearly fully exhausted its allocation by January 9, while Taiwan’s quota was fully used. And Vietnam had used nearly 80% of its allocation for January-March.

For hot-dipped galvanized coil (HDG), quota utilization was also high (see table).

Tight quotas and the rollout of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on January 1 have made imports of new steel “extremely difficult” or even “ close to impossible,” trade sources said.

The sources indicated that, on seeking customs-clearance of new imports in January 2026, customs agents requested down-payments to account for CBAM costs.

CBAM implementation was expected to increase import prices on flat steel by perhaps €35-600 ($41-702) per tonne, depending on the country of origin, assuming default emission values are used to calculate the CBAM charge.

“Imports [have] become unmanageable. There is no shortage of coil in the market so far, but domestic mills are definitely a more reliable option,” a buyer in Germany said.

Turmoil with new imports supported a bullish trend in the domestic market, despite stable end-user demand, Fastmarkets understands.

Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index, domestic, exw Northern Europe, was €635.00 per tonne on Friday, up by €0.75 per tonne from €634.25 per tonne on January 8.

The index was up by €7.50 per tonne week on week and by €12.19 per tonne month on month.

Suppliers in Northern Europe offered HRC scheduled for shipment in February-March at €630-650 per tonne ex-works, while tonnages scheduled for delivery in March-April were available at €650-670 per tonne ex-works, with some mills even giving price idea for the second quarter at €700 per tonne ex-works, market sources said.

Long steel
In the long steel sector, quota uptake was markedly lagging behind that of flat steel products, with CBAM being named as a key obstacle.

Significant quota utilization was seen only in Turkish rebar and wire rod, where 60.5% and 68.4% of the quotas were taken up respectively.

This was followed by Algeria, with 29.4% of rebar quota and 39.9% of wire rod quota taken up.

“In my opinion, quota [take-up] is weak because normally Algerian, Egyptian and Turkish origins are taken up on the first day of the quarter,” one trader said. “What we are seeing now is that there are plenty of tonnages left for all countries and products, because many people are staying away from imports due to CBAM because they do not understand the cost calculations.

“ Domestic flat steel prices in Europe have increased significantly over the past several months,” he added, “while the long steel sector was slow to react, so demand shifted to local suppliers.”

Fastmarkets’ price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, has averaged €607.50 to date in January, versus the average of €603.50 per tonne in December 2025.

The corresponding weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (mesh quality), domestic, delivered Northern Europe, has been €595 per tonne to date in January, versus an average of €591 per tonne in December 2025.

 

At CES 2026, Hyundai and Boston Dynamics revealed a development that could profoundly reshape the future of steel logistics and distribution.

The fully electric Atlas humanoid robot — equipped with advanced AI from Google DeepMind and deployed within Hyundai’s broader industrial strategy — has transitioned from research prototype to enterprise-ready solution. For the steel sector, particularly in distribution and service centers, this marks a shift that is no longer hypothetical. It is tangible, strategic, and imminent.

For years, the idea of humanoid robots operating in environments as harsh and complex as steel warehouses or processing lines felt like science fiction. Early-generation machines were noisy, fragile, and dependent on hydraulic systems ill-suited for real industrial applications. That era is now over. The new Atlas, built on an electric platform, boasts the physical resilience, agility, and intelligence required to perform heavy, repetitive, and dangerous tasks—without the need to redesign the workspace. It can climb stairs, maneuver around obstacles, handle up to 50 kilograms, and work autonomously for extended periods thanks to self-swapping battery systems. It is sealed against dust and moisture with an IP67 rating, meaning it can survive and operate in the gritty, unpredictable conditions of steel service centers.

What makes this innovation especially relevant to the steel distribution sector is its adaptability. Traditional automation systems have long struggled in warehouse environments where every order is different, and where handling steel — be it bar, coil, plate, or fittings — requires precision, strength, and flexibility. Atlas addresses this variability head-on. It can assemble complex, mixed-load pallets, handle heavy slitting line tooling, transport quality control samples, or even support press brake operations and welding preparation. These are tasks that have traditionally demanded human judgment, endurance, and constant supervision. Atlas now offers an intelligent, robotic alternative that learns and adapts in real time, integrated directly into warehouse management and production systems.

What Hyundai is doing is particularly instructive. By coupling the development of humanoid robotics with the construction of their new ultra-low carbon steel mill in Louisiana — a facility designed to produce 2.7 million metric tons of flat steel for their North American auto plants — they are building a vertically integrated, future-proof supply chain. Automation is not an add-on; it is core infrastructure. The robots are not an experiment; they are the connective tissue ensuring uptime, efficiency, and worker safety across a multi-billion euro industrial ecosystem. And they are doing so with a clear timeline: internal deployment begins in 2028, with the goal of producing 30.000 Atlas units annually.

For Europe’s steel service centers, this is more than a technical development — it is a strategic warning. As Hyundai and others bring humanoid robotics into their mainstream logistics and manufacturing operations, the global competitive landscape will shift. Those who invest in preparing their facilities, workflows, and digital infrastructure for human-robot collaboration will gain significant advantages—not just in efficiency, but in worker retention, safety, and scalability.

The question is no longer whether robots like Atlas can function in the steel environment. They can. The real question is whether Europe’s steel distributors are ready to integrate them —before the technology becomes standard, and the window to lead begins to close.

Source: Steel Industry News

 

Rebar mills in northwestern Europe are expected to lift their offers somewhat this month, but not by much, and their acceptance by the market will be mixed.

So far, new offers have not come in. Most German states saw extended holidays and some, as well as Austria, observed the Epiphany holiday on 6 January. Players therefore expect new offers to arrive next week at the earliest, with a €20/tonne ($23) hike seen at the most. “Benders with good orders in construction will pay, but others won’t bother filling their inventories,” an Austrian cut-and-bender manager believes.

“The market remains dull and crazy,” an eastern German manager tells Kallanish, referring to the willingness of many benders to snatch jobs from construction groups at what he calls dumping prices. His company is “well-engaged for the next half year, and it remains to be seen what’s after that”.

The introduction of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and other political circumstances means many players expect rising prices, but demand in the broader market does not really support that, observers say.

In December, mills could not lift their prices by as much as in previous years once they had filled their order books. “We expected some surge, but it did not happen,” the buyer of a German distributor group confirms. He sees the current base price at around €340/tonne ($396), now inching towards €350, partly because scrap prices went up some €10.

A buyer of an Austrian group tells of a deal done still at €330/t in December, “but I would not expect that [low price] now anymore”. Mills’ modest target could be €350/t, which plus the standard size extra of €265 would give €615/t delivered. However, “they might get €10 more for some weeks, and then might have to take €10 back,” says one player, describing the shakiness of the market.

Author: Christian Koehl

CBAM officially launched on January 1, and the products named above, among others, will become more expensive with the cost of the necessary certificates being added to the actual price of the material.

Moreover, there was still a lot of uncertainty over how import activity will be affected by the mechanism, which has pushed market participants to delay buying activity.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Northern Europe, was €700 ($816) per tonne on January 8, compared with €650-730 per tonne on January 2.

The assessment was in line with a deal heard agreed by a German supplier during the assessment week.

In Italy, fresh business was heard within the range of €670-690 per tonne ex-works, and offers heard as high as €700 per tonne ex-works on January 8. Before Christmas, workable prices were hovering in the range of €660-680 per tonne ex-works.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate, 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe, was €670-690 per tonne on January 8, up from €650-680 per tonne on January 2.

“Customers will need more material from European suppliers,” an Italian producer told Fastmarkets, speaking in support of the upward trend.

Import
Import markets for both slab and plate were extremely quiet in the reporting week, with buyers returning gradually after holidays and trying to gauge the situation.

“Europeans are beginning to make inquiries [for slabs] but they will not pay more than $485 per tonne CFR,” one trader said, adding that Asian suppliers were still asking a minimum of $500 per tonne CFR for their material.

“We will see where [the price] settles next week when someone buys,” he added.

“I have not started any offers yet. [I am] looking for the demand first,” a source trading Asian slab to Europe said.

A third source reported offers of Asian material varying within the range of $500-520 per tonne CFR.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel slab, import, cif Italy, was $485-520 per tonne on January 8, versus €500-520 per tonne on January 2.

Market sources said that buyers would be looking for discounts to offset the cost of CBAM certificates.