Category: Latest Updates

China’s Hebei Jingye Group has formally condemned the UK government’s nationalization of British Steel, calling the move an “unlawful expropriation” of its assets and warning that it will pursue full compensation through international arbitration.
In a statement released on Sunday July 19 that circulated widely on Chinese social media and was picked up by major domestic media outlets, Chinese firm Hebei Jingye said the UK government had reneged on earlier commitments to jointly invest in the steelmaker before moving to a compulsory takeover and, ultimately, full nationalization.

The statement follows the UK government’s completion of British Steel’s nationalization on July 16, after legislation proposed in May 2026 came into force. It also follows China’s Ministry of Commerce publicly criticizing the move on July 17, when it accused the UK government of harming the legitimate rights and interests of Jingye as the plant’s Chinese owner.

“Not a single missed wage payment,” Jingye says
In the statement, Jingye laid out its version of its five-year ownership of British Steel, saying it had rescued the company from the brink of insolvency when it acquired the business in 2020, returned it to profitability within a year, and continued to invest in upgrading equipment and technology through the pandemic, Brexit, the Russia-Ukraine war and a period of high inflation. The company said it paid taxes in full, supported thousands of local jobs, and did not miss a single wage payment or make a compulsory redundancy over that period.

Jingye said the UK government’s compensation offer for the seized assets was close to negligible relative to its investment and cited UK National Audit Office figures showing government spending on British Steel’s operations had already reached £377 million ($508 million) by the end of January 2026, with costs projected to exceed £600 million by the end of June and potentially surpass £1.5 billion by 2028.

The company said it had launched consultation procedures under the applicable China-UK bilateral investment treaty and reserved the right to pursue international arbitration, adding that it would also seek to hold UK officials and British Steel’s management accountable for what it called a hastily executed takeover carried out “without adequate preparation or a viable operating plan.”

Trader reaction
Market sources contacted by Fastmarkets pointed to the scale of Jingye’s investment in the business, including plans that were never realized.

“Jingye put in a lot of money and technology and was even planning to build sintering plants overseas to supply raw materials to British Steel. It’s disappointing to see things end this way after that level of commitment,” one China-based source said.

Another trader source noted that British Steel’s financial performance had remained weak for much of Jingye’s ownership. British Steel had continued to post annual losses through much of the period Jingye controlled it, the source said, even as the company invested in the plant.

“It feels like Jingye ended up holding the bag for a business that was always going to be a tough turnaround,” the source added.

Jingye’s statement has not yet specified a timeline for initiating arbitration proceedings or the scale of compensation it intends to seek.

Poland’s domestic long steel prices showed mixed trends in the week to Friday July 17, with wire rod prices narrowing downward while rebar prices widened slightly amid weak demand, subdued trading activity and a prevailing wait-and-see attitude among market participants.
Sources reported thin liquidity and limited transactions throughout the week, with the summer slowdown continuing to dampen market activity.

“Demand for long steel in Poland is very weak,” a trader source told Fastmarkets.

In the rebar market, tradable levels were reported at 2,680-2,750 zloty ($709-728) per tonne CPT.

Offers were heard at 2,800-2,850 zloty per tonne CPT, but no transactions were reported at the upper end of the range.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, cpt Poland widened to 2,680-2,800 zloty per tonne on Friday from 2,700-2,790 zloty per tonne the previous week.

In the wire rod segment, market participants reported tradable levels at 3,000-3,100 zloty per tonne delivered.

Offers were heard at 3,010-3,100 zloty per tonne delivered.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel wire rod (drawing quality), domestic, delivered Poland narrowed downward to 3,000-3,100 zloty per tonne on Friday from 3,000-3,200 zloty per tonne the previous week.

Domestic prices for steel hot-rolled coil edged up in Italy on Friday July 17 amid higher levels for material for delivery in September, but remained stable in Northern Europe with market participants largely inactive, source told Fastmarkets.
In Italy, one producer said they had sold HRC at €700 ($802) per tonne ex-works for shipment in September, adding that “this seems to be the market level now, especially considering the confusion with the Turkish HRC quota and high risk of final prices for Turkish material.”

Meanwhile, a buyer said offers for September-delivery material were at €740 per tonne delivered (€725 per tonne ex-works), while indicating that workable prices were at least €720-730 per tonne delivered (€705-715 per tonne ex-works) for the same period.

The offer price was not included in the index calculation due to limited trading at that level.

When asked whether any material was still available for earlier delivery, the buyer said that none of the new rolling was being offered for shipment before September.

“Mills are not in a rush to sell; they are in a very safe position,” the buyer source said, adding that the market was very close to the summer vacation time, so new negotiations would take place from September, when there would be a “significant rebound in the activity.“

Fastmarkets’ daily steel HRC index domestic, exw Italy was €705 per tonne on Friday, up by €4 per tonne day on day from €701 per tonne.

The index was up by €12.19 per tonne week on week and up by €21.25 per tonne month on month.

On the import side, the latest HRC activity included a deal from Vietnam to Southern Europe heard at $730-735 per tonne CFR during the week, which was not widely confirmed by market sources.

Egypt sold material to Southern Europe at $700 per tonne CFR, with costs related to the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) split between the buyer and the seller, according to sources.

In the Northern European local HRC market, a buyer reported offers for material scheduled for delivery in September at €740 per tonne ex-works, adding that the “last round of booking was at €710 [per tonne ex-works], but nothing more [was] available at this level.”

Other market participants were mostly quiet on Friday, so the higher offer price was not considered in the index due to a lack of corroboration.

Additionally, due to a lack of input on Friday, prices collected in previous days were carried over to Friday’s index, in line with Fastmarkets’ methodology.

The latest deals were heard at €685-725 per tonne ex-works for September delivery on Wednesday July 15, when a buyer also reported an indication for workable levels at €705-725 per tonne ex-works.

Fastmarkets’ daily steel HRC index domestic, exw Northern Europe was calculated at €710.00 per tonne on Friday, unchanged day on day.

The index was up by €5 per tonne week on week and up by €22 per tonne month on month.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Germany-based steel producer Thyssenkrupp Steel told Fastmarkets that it had reduced hot metal production at its Duisburg site due to raw materials supply disruptions, caused by the low water levels on the Rhine River.

The steelmaker’s hot strip mill in the Bruckhausen area has installed capacity for HRC of around 3 million tonnes per year but said on Thursday that deliveries to its customers were not affected as a result of this situation.

Local prices for steel heavy plate increased slightly in Northern Europe in the week to Thursday July 16, but edged down in Italy as mills rushed to secure orders ahead of the summer holiday period, market sources told Fastmarkets on Thursday.
Italy

Recent transactions for steel plate in Italy were heard at €700-730 ($803-837) per tonne ex-works, down from €710-735 per tonne ex-works a week earlier.

The lowest level, €700 per tonne ex-works, was linked to higher-tonnage orders. One trader argued that this was below current market levels, saying that “after hard negotiations and for normal order volumes, with relatively prompt payment terms, it is still possible to agree a final price of about €710-712 per tonne ex-works with an Italian mill.”

But an Italian producer said that, given lower slab offers, some competitors had already “confirmed plate at minimum levels close to €700 base [per tonne] ex-works.”

The same source said their company was offering base plate at €720-730 per tonne ex-works, but that workable levels for larger tonnages were “definitely closer to €700 per tonne ex-works.” September delivery was said to be the prevailing lead time.

Offers for plate were heard at €715-750 per tonne ex-works during the week, widening from €720-740 per tonne ex-works on July 9. The highest offer, at €750 per tonne ex-works, came from a producer who claimed prices were increasing, though other market participants did not support that view.

A second trader said August buying was effectively finished and that “appetite for orders is not as strong as it was a few days ago.”

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate 8-40mm, exw Southern Europe was €700-730 per tonne on Thursday, down from €710-735 per tonne a week earlier.

Meanwhile, offers for imported steel slab into Italy remained broadly stable, with Asia-origin material quoted at $570-590 per tonne CIF during the week, unchanged from July 9.

A buyer source said workable levels were around $570 per tonne CIF, citing offers from various suppliers in Asia and potentially Turkey.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel slab, import, cif Italy, was $570-590 per tonne on July 16, unchanged week on week.

Northern Europe

In Germany, plate producers were heard offering material at €800-830 per tonne ex-works during the week.

Sources said mills had little incentive to offer below €800 per tonne ex-works because they had secured some sizeable project orders, though spot-market activity remained limited.

Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel domestic plate 8-40mm, exw Northern Europe, was €800-830 per tonne on Thursday, narrowing upward from €780-830 per tonne a week earlier.

Domestic heavy plate prices declined in Italy in the week to 17 July as re-rollers made last attempts to fill their order books.

Activity started to slow down as the market entered the traditionally quiet second half of the summer, and the impact of the new, tougher steel import quotas was limited in the plate market, sources said. As a result, EU mills did not attempt to achieve price increases, except for a marginal price recovery in Germany.

“The demand is too low, even with lower import volumes, to support price increases for this commodity. We will see if re-rollers will be able to sell more volumes in Southern Europe due to lower import volumes,” a distributor said.

Deals for s235jr-grade plate in Italy were reported at EUR700-720/t ex-works. The aggressive pricing policy of some re-rollers and lower import slab prices have created a generally negative sentiment in the market.

Import slab offers have been heard from Asia at $560-570/t CIF Italy, and re-rollers expect to be able to achieve additional discounts of around $20/t.

In addition, some sources suggested that Russian exporters could return with their semi-finished steel products, with deliveries starting in October due to the start of the new quota period, giving an advantage to plate producers using the cheaper material as feedstock.

In Germany, domestic s235jr plate prices have been heard at EUR800-830/t ex-works.

A producer from the Czech Republic has been offering s355jr plate at EUR810/t delivered Germany.

Author: Maria Tanatar

opisnet.com

German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp has reduced steel output at its Duisburg plant after low water levels on the river Rhine disrupted raw material supplies, a company spokesperson confirmed to McCloskey on 15 July.

The extent of the cuts were not disclosed though the disruption has not affected steel product deliveries, according to both the steelmaker and German buyers.

“The persistent and worsening low-water situation on the Rhine is now affecting the supply of raw materials to Thyssenkrupp Steel’s Duisburg site,” the spokesperson said. “The current development is leading to constraints in our raw material supply. We have therefore already adjusted our hot metal production accordingly. Customer supply is currently not at risk.”

The steelmaker has taken its own push-barge fleet out of service and switched to externally chartered vessels, which can continue operating because of their lower draft under the current water-level conditions.

Market sources said the low water levels are creating logistical constraints because not all vessels can operate, while those that remain in service cannot always sail at full capacity. Raw material deliveries are more exposed to river transport disruptions, whereas most finished steel products are transported by road or rail.

Although steel deliveries have not been affected, the disruption has further supported bullish sentiment in the European flat steel market.

Domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices in Northwest Europe have already increased by around EUR20/t over the past week, due to the impact of the EU’s new import quota system, which has significantly reduced access to overseas material.

McCloskey assessed domestic HRC prices at EUR710/t ex-works Northwest Europe on 10 July.

“This is a typical narrative from the mills to support price increases, like the issues with the railway companies reported in June. These narratives have some truth in them,” a German distributor said.

In June, German steelmakers reported severe raw material supply disruptions caused by a combination of persistent rail freight congestion and strict loading restrictions on the Rhine.

Author: Benjamin Steven

opisnet.com

The recent price increase announcements by northwestern European coil mills will not result in more favourable pricing of cut and slit products, market observers believe.

ArcelorMittal has informed its northwestern European customers about a price hike of €20/tonne ($23/t), taking prices to €740/t ($848/t) delivered, from €720/t previously.

Notably, the quoted delivered price considers not only transport, but also the customary standard extra charges on top of the base price, which would calculate back to a base price of around €700/t.

Some sources heard earlier indications of €50/t hikes, as have been implemented in Italy, “but that would not have worked, so they reduced it to plus €20/t,” one player says.

While that lower increase could prove realistic to support pricing for coil products in northwestern Europe, the move is unlikely to be followed by processed products, some say.

“Prices for slit and cut sheet are remaining weak, and will not rise correspondingly,” a manager of a German service centre tells Kallanish. “The demand just is not strong enough to fuel price hikes,” he says.

One buyer of strip and sheet products gives the intake price for this material at €760-780/t delivered, including a cutting/slitting fee of €60-80/t. That would suggest a price of unprocessed coil of around €700/t delivered.

The buyer adds that “service centres undercut the offers of the mills”.

The EU’s new safeguard mechanism, designed to tackle the negative effects of global excess capacity on the bloc’s steel market, is expected to support domestic flat steel prices in the second half of the year, according to market sources.

The mechanism is far more restrictive than the safeguard system first introduced in 2018, slashing import volumes by 47% and imposing a 50% duty on any material exceeding quota allowances. Sources say the tougher limits represent a major shift and are already reshaping buyer behavior.

“Imports are dead in my opinion,” one Italy-based service center said. “We will see some big increases in European prices in the coming weeks,” he said, noting that imports could become viable again if the price gap between Europe and Asia widens further.

One Italy-based producer said the new environment had already set a higher price floor. “I see a new target price up by a minimum of Eur50/mt. If buyers are not ready, producers will simply wait. Imports are out of any discussion at the moment.”

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, last assessed domestic hot-rolled coil in Southern Europe at Eur695/mt ex-works Italy July 15, up Eur145 since the new measures were proposed on Oct. 7, 2025. Imported HRC in the region was assessed at Eur580/mt CIF Southern Europe, up Eur95 across the same period.

Import availability has tightened further for cold‑rolled coil and hot‑dipped galvanized steel, as Europe’s downstream capacity remains constrained by fewer cold‑rolling and galvanizing lines, in contrast to the overcapacity seen in HRC. European Commission data shows that three HDG 4B quotas — China, Turkey and “Other countries” — have already been exhausted, a shift that could force traditional importers to source material domestically.

Availability has also been squeezed by the EU’s antidumping investigation into CRC imports from India, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam, adding another layer of pressure to the downstream market.

“Some of my customers have stopped importing for months,” one Germany-based mill source said. “HRC, we have an overcapacity in Europe, but [galvanized] and cold-rolling lines are limited.”

Prices in the first half of the year rose sharply as a result, with many participants expecting further increases as the year progresses. Platts last assessed domestic CRC in Northern Europe at Eur820/mt ex-works Ruhr on July 15, up Eur160 since Oct. 7. Domestic HDG was assessed at Eur820/mt ex-works Ruhr July 15, up Eur145 over the same period.

“Two or three weeks ago, customers would have been reluctant to purchase, but now they aren’t, as they are anticipating price increases,” one Northern Europe-based mill source said.

Turkish exporters left unhappy with changes; seek new markets

The tighter quota structure is also reshaping trade flows outside the bloc, with some exporting nations like Turkey facing sharply reduced access to the EU market, despite having a free trade agreement with the EU that grants additional duty‑free volumes.

Market participants in the region said the revised system still leaves Turkey at risk of losing market share, as lower quota allocations limit its ability to supply the EU. For example, the quota for Turkish HRC was reduced by almost 60% to just 160,573.74 mt per quarter and was exhausted within one day, with entries surpassing the allowance, signaling the impact the new quotas are having.

“I think the regulation is unfair for Turkey, especially the quota for hot‑rolled coil,” one Turkey‑based reroller source said. “We already see prices are moving down and we need to find other markets to export to.”

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, last assessed export HRC in Turkey at $590/mt FOB July 10, stable week over week, but down $35 since the start of June.

High stocks, weak demand to weigh on price increases

Imports into the EU rose sharply in 2025 as buyers stocked material ahead of both the safeguard overhaul and the bloc’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. As a result, inventory levels remained high through the first half of the year, though several sources said these could begin to ease once the summer slowdown passes and restocking patterns normalize.

Since Jan. 1, under the CBAM regulation, many imported iron and steel goods have become subject to a carbon cost, further narrowing the price advantage of overseas supply and reducing the incentive to continue building stocks. Market participants have said the added charges have made imports from many origins less competitive and too risky compared with domestic material.

Despite the regulatory pressure on imports, participants across the supply chain said weak real demand in key end‑use sectors, particularly construction and automotive, is likely to cap domestic price increases in the coming months.

Data from the European Steel Association, or EUROFER, also points to a fragile outlook, with apparent steel consumption still about 10 million metric tons below pre‑pandemic levels and growth expected to slow sharply to just 0.4% in 2026.

In its most recent Economic and Steel Market Outlook published June 25, the association said modest improvements in demand should not be mistaken for a genuine recovery, citing continued weakness in manufacturing and cost pressure on steel‑using sectors.

Participants voice concern over imports of steel derivatives

While the safeguard system targets primary steel products, several participants said it leaves a gap around imports of manufactured, steel-derived goods, which could undermine the effectiveness of the new regulation.

“Products like washers, springs and refrigerators are coming in without any duty,” one Germany-based trader said. “Imports have increased dramatically year on year from Asia. This is a big risk for steel processors in Europe.”

A Benelux-based producer welcomed the quota changes but also highlighted that the system should be expanded to cover steel products further downstream.

It is not the first time participants have called for the extension of regulation. Many called for the scope of CBAM to be expanded to cover downstream goods, prompting lawmakers to consider strengthening the regulation from 2028.

Even with expectations of price increases in the second half of the year, high stocks, weak demand and ongoing regulatory uncertainty mean the path upwards remains far from guaranteed.