Acciaierie d’Italia suitors rise to 15
Italy’s Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMT), Adolfo Urso, has announced there are 15 potential investors for distressed steelmaker Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI), formerly known as Ilva.
ADI’s special administration is progressing with its sales process and is currently evaluating the letters of interest that were submitted by the deadline of 20 September.
While unions are advocating for the company to be sold as a whole, a plan of action involving a split of the business and the sale of its individual assets presents a feasible alternative, Kallanish notes.
According to sources close to the dossier, Vulcan Green Steel, based in Oman, along with Canada’s Stelco and Baku Steel Company, have submitted a letter 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 and others.
Metinvest conducted a visit to Taranto during the summer months, and steelmakers Arvedi and Nippon Steel have been considering investing. However, it remains uncertain if these companies have formally expressed their interest through a letter.
MIMT and ADI’s special commissioners invited expressions of interest in July for the acquisition of the struggling steelmaker’s assets. The aim of the sale is to swiftly and effectively reduce CO2 emissions and enhance steel production in Italy, by bringing about a change in management. The commissioners have asked potential buyers to preserve employment.
At this stage, ADI’s suitors have not been asked to quote a potential price in their offers, Kallanish understands. The special commissioners intend to pursue the sale “preferably” by transferring the assets as a whole.
Natalia Capra France
Emsteel enters talks for Celsa units’ acquisition: reports
Celsa’s divestment of its non-Spanish steelmaking units is gaining momentum. United Arab Emirates’ largest steelmaker, Emsteel, is in talks to acquire the Spanish firm’s plants in Poland, the UK and Norway, according to reports.
Asked by Kallanish about the reported interest from Emsteel, a Celsa spokesperson said: “We can neither confirm nor deny anything until the operation is finalised.” However, the firm confirms the selling process for the units is underway and there are several interested investors.
Meanwhile, the UAE state-owned company says it is aware of recent media reports but its policy is not to comment on “rumours or speculation”. It explains: “We regularly assess organic and inorganic opportunities to grow the business. Any relevant announcements will be made in line with regulatory requirements.”
Celsa expects to strengthen its financial position by selling its Huta Ostrowiec works in Poland, as well as its Norwegian and UK steel plants for around €1 billion ($1.11 billion). Market analysts, however, estimate the value of the assets has fallen significantly amid the current uncertainty in the steel sector. These operations generate 50% of Celsa’s group Ebitda.
Two southern European long products makers were reported to have had bids rejected recently for Celsa’s Polish plant (see Kallanish passim).
Celsa meanwhile remains focused on finding a new local partner in Spain. This was a requirement set by the Spanish government when the main creditors took control from the Rubiralta family last year. Since Celsa is considered a strategic business, the new owners must find a local investor to take a 20% stake in the group, according to the commitment.
The Spanish press has reported that Sidenor, Megasa and Christian Lay have shown interest and meet the requirements. However, Celsa has indicated that its priority remains the possible sale of the foreign units before closing a partnership deal with one of these companies.
Todor Kirkov Bulgaria , Burak Odabasi Turkey
EU customers paying green stainless steel premium: Outokumpu CFO
Demand for Outokumpu’s Circle Green® products, which was launched in 2023, is steadily rising, Marc-Simon Schaar, chief financial officer of Finnish stainless steel producer Outokumpu told Fastmarkets on the sidelines of NYC Climate Week on Monday.
“Profitability and sustainability are not mutually exclusive,” Schaar said, and gave the example of consumer goods manufacturer Fiskars Group as one of the customers buying the Circle Green® product at a premium. Additionally, there is also interest from automotive companies including BMW and Mercedez-Benz, Schaar said.
The company has sold between 10,000-20,000 tonnes of the product since launch, mostly to European customers.
The uptake of the premium product has been slow in the United States as compared to Europe, Schaar said, adding that the impact of carbon emissions from Outokumpu’s regular stainless-steel offering is already low.
Outokumpu’s regular stainless-steel products generate 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide per tonne of steel produced, Schaar said, which is lower than its competitors.
The investment in technology to lower carbon emissions is a “license to operate,” Schaar said on Monday. “If we do not invest, it will come back to us as a cost.”
“Who will pay the green steel premium? It is us; it is our planet,” Schaar said.
The CFO also highlighted that stainless steel producers in Europe and the US are struggling against imported stainless steel from China, which has a much higher carbon footprint.
“There should be a worldwide carbon tariff system,” Schaar said, arguing that it would incentivize producers to invest in decarbonizing the steel supply chain.
Fastmarkets’ monthly price assessment for stainless steel 304 cold-rolled sheet, fob mill US was $165.75 per hundredweight ($3,315 per short ton) on September 10, down by 2.21% from $169.50 per cwt on August 12 and down by 6.62% from $177.50 per cwt on July 10.
Published by: Rijuta Dey Bera
European HRC prices inch lower again; rock bottom not reached yet: sources
Trading remained limited across the European HRC market on Tuesday.
Steel service centers and distributors were not hungry for new volumes because they were struggling with insufficient order intake from end users, sources said.
On top of this, buyers were unconvinced that HRC prices have hit rock bottom and chose to take a wait-and-see stance in the declining market.
Offers for HRC with lead times of four to six weeks were reported at €560-570 ($623-634) per tonne ex-works from integrated mills in the region. One supplier reported an offer at €580 per tonne ex-works.
But transaction prices were lower, at €540-550 per tonne ex-works, sources said.
“Mills are accepting €540-550 [per tonne ex-works] even for small tonnages because they need to fill order books,” a distributor in Germany said.
As a result, Fastmarkets’ steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Northern Europe was €552.71 per tonne on Tuesday, down by €3.29 per tonne from €556.00 per tonne on Monday.
The index was down by €12.29 per tonne week on week and by €49.12 per tonne month on month.
Even though buyers suggested there was still room for a price decline, producers claimed that current selling prices for HRC were already below cost.
“Mills choose volumes over prices and sell [HRC] below costs,” a second distributor said.
Sources suggested that mills might slow down or cut steel production in November-December to balance the market.
“It’s a tricky situation for the mills,” a steel service center source in northern Europe said. “On one hand, they must produce [steel] to secure free carbon credits for the next year, but on the other hand, they are losing money, selling steel at dumped prices in an oversupplied market.”
“Maybe producers will extend usual December maintenance and stoppages,” the source added.
In Southern Europe, meanwhile, Fastmarkets’ daily steel hot-rolled coil index domestic, exw Italy at €552.50 per tonne on Monday, down by €3.75 per tonne from €556.25 per tonne on Monday.
The Italian index was also down by €12.50 per tonne week on week and by €47.50 per tonne month on month.
Sources reported offers for HRC from a domestic mill at €570-575 per tonne delivered on Tuesday, with lead times of end-October to early November, equivalent to €555-560 per tonne ex-works.
European suppliers were heard offering HRC with similar lead times to Italy, at €560-570 per tonne delivered.
Trading in Italy was poor, Fastmarkets heard.
“We will start booking volumes for November in about two weeks,” a domestic steel service center source said.
Meanwhile, import HRC offers from Asia were coming in at €525-535 per tonne CFR to Italy for shipment from end-October to November.
But sources pointed out that buying interest for imports was close to nil due to a small gap with domestic prices and all the trade restrictions in the EU.
Sources estimated tradeable prices for Asian imports at no more than €500 per tonne CFR, but no such offers were reported to be available in the market.
Published by: Julia Bolotova
WV Stahl: German August crude steel production up 0.5% on year
German crude steel production edged up 0.5% year on year to 2.9 million metric tons in August, according to data published Sept. 24 by German steel federation WV Stahl.
However, the volume was down 8.6% month on month, according to the data.
This brought January-August crude steel production from German mills to 25.4 MMt, up 4% year on year.
Of the total August volume, 2.1 million was produced from blast furnaces, down 0.1% year on year, and down 9.1% from July.
This brought the total for the eight-month period to 18 MMt, increasing 2.2% year on year.
According to WV Stahl, German crude steel production from electric arc furnaces in August totaled 734,000 metric tons, up 2.3% year on year but down 7% month on month.
Output from EAFs over January-August also increased 8.6% year on year to 7.4 MMt.
Meanwhile, Germany produced 2 MMt of pig iron in August, up 0.3% year on year, but down 7.4% form the previous month, bringing the eight-month volume to 16.55 MMt, up 2.4% year on year.
Output of hot-rolled steel products in August dropped 3.1% year on year and 9.6% from July to 2.35 MMt, with the January-August volume up 2.6% at 21.7 MMt.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed domestic HRC prices in Northern Europe at Eur555/mt ex-works Ruhr Sept. 23, down 20% since the start of 2024.
worldsteel: global steel production falls 6.5% on year in Aug
Global crude steel production totaled 144.8 million metric tons in August, dropping 6.5% year on year and down 4.9% from July, according to World Steel Association data published Sept. 24.
This brought total production for the first eight months of 2024 to 1.25 billion metric tons, down 1.5% on the year.
China produced 77.9 MMt in August, down 10.4% on the year and 6% from July, making up 53.8% of total global crude steel output.
This brought China’s January-August volume to 691.4 MMt, down 3.3% year on year.
The world’s second-largest steel producer India saw production grow 2.6% year on year in August to 12.3 MMt, which was also up 1% month on month, the data showed.
India’s cumulative January-August output rose 6.5% to 98.5 MMt, according to worldsteel.
Japan’s August production was 6.9 MMt, down 3.9% on the year and 3.2% lower than July, with January-August output down 2.9% on the year at 56.7 MMt.
US output in August was 7 MMt, edging up 0.7% year on year and up 3.4% on the month, taking January-August production to 53.8 MMt, down 1.7% year on year.
Russia was estimated to have produced 5.8 MMt in August, falling 11.5% on the year and down 0.7% month on month, bringing its estimated January-August output to 48.5 MMt, down 4.9% on the year.
South Korea produced 5.5 MMt of crude steel in August, down 2.2% year on year and down 0.9% from July, with the eight-month volume down 5.5% on the year at 42.5 MMt.
Europe Jan-Aug output up 2.2%
For the European Union, crude steel production rose 2.2% on the year to 9.1 MMt in August, although this was 17% lower on the month, the data showed.
Europe’s January-August volume was 87.2 MMt, climbing 1.5% on the year.
Germany, the largest steel producer in Europe, saw its crude steel production edge 0.5% higher on the year to 2.9 MMt, although this was down 8.6% on the month.
In January-August, Germany produced 25.4 MMt of crude steel, up 4% year on year, the data showed.
Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed domestic HRC prices in Northern Europe at Eur555/mt ex-works Ruhr Sept. 23, down 20% since the start of 2024.
Of the top 10 producers, Turkey saw the largest gains in August, with output rising 13.8% year on year to 3.1 MMt, according to the data, also representing a 3% increase from July. Eight-month production was up 14.8% on the year at 24.8 MMt.
Brazil produced 3 MMt in August, rising 7.3% year on year, but down 3% from July, while Iran’s monthly output was 1.4 MMt, falling 9.9% on the year and 22.7% lower than the previous month.
Brazil’s estimated production over January-August climbed 3.8% on the year to 22.4 MMt, while Iran’s output for the eight-month period rose 1.9% to 19.8 MMt.
October production of pig iron from 37 countries was 102.3 MMt, falling 6.1% year on year, the data showed, while direct reduced iron produced worldwide from 13 countries amounted to 10.5 MMt, up 3.35% year on year, the data showed.
Pig iron output over the January-August period totaled 854.6 MMt, down 3% year on year, while DRI production for the period rose 5.85% on the year to 82.7 MMt.
Crude steel data covers the 71 countries that report to worldsteel, accounting for about 98% of the world’s crude steel production.
EU HRC prices: when there is no market, there is no bottom
Domestic prices for European hot-rolled coil fell Sept. 24 amid declining demand and muted activity, even as mills kept furnaces running in order to claim carbon credit allowances for next year.
“We are on the limit,” an Austria-based mill source said. “Enquiries are very low in the market, and I expect prices to bottom out soon.”
“Prices became weaker,” a Germany-based service center source said.
The buying activity has been very limited in the market and mills are willing to settle at lower prices, sources said. Opinion remained mixed on the extent of a further fall in prices, with some sources saying there could be a significant decrease in prices unless mills cut production.
“I think we are reaching the bottom but [it] depends on how desperate mills are to sell,” the source said. “When there is no market, there is no bottom.”
Some sources also said that at the beginning of a quarter, service centers sell a lot of newly cleared material at lower prices in order to make room for storage. The safeguard quotas for the October-December quarter will open on Oct. 1, and that is expected to be immediately filled up, sources said.
“At the start of every quarter, service centers sell a lot of material that was already lying at ports at lower prices in order to clear storage space,” an Italy-based service center source said.
Platts assessed Northwest European HRC at Eur540/mt ex-works Ruhr on Sept. 24, down Eur15/mt on the day. Bids were reported at Eur520/mt ex-works Ruhr and tradable values were reported at Eur530-550/mt ex-works Ruhr.
Meanwhile, Platts assessed domestic HRC in Southern Europe at Eur540/mt EXW Italy, down Eur10/mt on the day. Tradable values were reported at Eur535-545/mt EXW Italy.
The interest in imported HRC remains muted because domestic prices are comparable to import offers now, sources said.
“Domestic prices [are] comparable with imports, so it does not make sense to buy from imports,” the Germany-based service center source said.
Platts assessed imported HRC in Northwest Europe stable on the day at Eur525/mt CIF Antwerp, down Eur15/mt on the day.
Meanwhile, Platts assessed imported HRC in Southern Europe at Eur525/mt CIF Italy, down Eur10/mt on the day.
New decoiling line for Tata Steel plant in Maastricht
Tata Steel Nederland announces the inauguration of a new decoiling line at its Feijen steel service centre location in Maastricht.
This is the largest investment ever made by Feijen, involving a sum of 20 million euros. With the state-of-the-art processing line, Tata Steel Nederland can deliver faster and higher quality steel to its customers in the machine building and industry sectors.
The new line involves a so-called decoiler and an automated sheet packaging line at the Feijen location in Maastricht. Hot-rolled steel coils from Tata Steel in IJmuiden are processed into steel sheets. In close corporation with the IJmuiden steel mill colleagues, Feijen focusses on customers in Europe as well as in other parts of the world. These customers are active in markets such as agricultural and earthmoving machinery, trailers, cranes, and shipbuilding.
Tata Steel Nederland consists of two business units: Business Unit Tata Steel IJmuiden (TSIJ) and Business Unit Tata Steel Downstream Europe (TSDE). Service Centre Maastricht is part of TSDE and consists of two locations: Multisteel and Feijen. Multisteel processes steel coils in the thinner segment, such as cold-rolled and galvanized steel. Feijen processes hot-rolled steel coils. Both sites predominantly process steel coils from TSIJ. Some major end customers supplied from Maastricht include JCB, John Deere, CNH, and Volvo Construction Equipment.
In line with Tata Steel Nederland’s broader vision of sustainability, Service Centre Maastricht announces today its carbon neutrality for Scope 1 and 2 emissions. This initiative underscores Tata Steel Nederland’s commitment to reducing its environmental footprint and aligns with its long-term strategy of achieving carbon neutrality across its Downstream operations. Scope 1 concerns direct CO2 emissions caused by sources within the organization itself. Scope 2 concerns indirect emissions created by the production of the electricity or heat that an organization buys.
Downstream Europe processes steel from IJmuiden for high-grade applications in specific market segments, such as construction (metal roofs and wall cladding), the mobility sector and the energy sector (batteries). With 19 production sites in ten countries, TSDE supplies to customers located mainly in Europe and partly in the United States. TSDE is divided into five business units: Building Systems, Colors, Distribution, Plating and Tubes.
Read more: tatasteelnederland.com
Rosso Steel invests in Schuler laser blanking line
Czech steel service centre Rosso Steel has ordered a laser blanking line from Schuler, Kallanish hears from the German supplier of sheet processing technology.
The LBL 2.21 type line for body panels will be installed at the Zaječí site and is the first Schuler laser blanking line in the Czech Republic, the company notes. It can handle coil weights of up to 30 tonnes, strip widths from 400-2,150mm and strip thicknesses from 0.6-3mm, at a maximum strip speed of 60m/min. The laser blanking line also has two laser cutting heads, each with a rated output of 4 kW, and operates at a maximum cutting speed of 100m/min.
The system can be used to produce both outer skin blanks and structural parts in high product quality. It is precisely these flexible production conditions that are in demand at Rosso Steel, according to Schuler.
Rosso Steel is one of the largest family-owned companies in the Czech Republic. The two service centres in Zaječí and Mirošov process ultra-high-strength materials up to 1,200 MPa. The company has been operating for over 33 years, purchasing, processing and selling different flat steel products. It supplies up to 180,000 t/year of steel coils, strips and sheets to more than 80 regular customers in Central and Eastern Europe.
Christian Koehl Germany
German stockist prices rise for long products
German stockholding steel distributors’ flat products prices continued on a downward trend in August, while some long products stabilised, and in fact gained.
According to the table of monthly average sale prices by stockholders as compiled by their association, BDS, the price for hot-rolled sheet in August was €824/tonne ($917), down €5.30/t from July. HR sheet prices have been tumbling continuously from the peak reached in February at €884/t.
The downward trend since February has been similar for cold-rolled sheet, which in August came to €905/t – down €9.50 – and coated sheet at €972/t, which saw the steepest on-month drop of all products, down €15.40. Quarto plate fell by €12 to €900/t, after a slight rebound in July.
In the category of long products, price increases were achieved for sections, which rose by €9.30 to €843/t, and for wide flange beams, by as much as €12.20 to €848/t. The increase is not as steep as the €30-50/t hike obtained by mills for sections since August.
Supply shortages at European mills have created a bit of a restocking panic at warehouses, one observer tells Kallanish. Another buyer expressed doubt that he can hand down the price increase to construction companies, which are suffering the most among players in the steel chain. Still, it is likely that stockholders’ sales prices will rise for another month or two, with a delay following mill price hikes.
Rebar prices meanwhile rose by €14.20/t between June and August.
Christian Koehl Germany