Polish rebar producers seek higher prices
Fastmarkets’ weekly price assessment for steel reinforcing bar (rebar), domestic, exw Poland, was 2,630-2,680 zloty ($640-652) per tonne on Friday, widening upward by 30 zloty per tonne from 2,630-2,650 per tonne on September 25.
A trading source told Fastmarkets that an integrated mill in Poland was selling rebar in the domestic market at 2,650 zloty per tonne CPT, during the assessment week, which would be equivalent to about 2,630 zloty per tonne ex-works.
A second trading source said that local producers were trading rebar at 2,650-2,680 zloty per tonne CPT, which would net back to about 2,630-2,650 zloty per tonne ex-works.
A third market source confirmed the same domestic price levels in Poland.
Sources reported that mills in Poland were trying to push offers to 2,680-2700 zloty per tonne ex-works, but buyers were largely holding back, still assessing the market situation.
In general, the local rebar market in Poland was still quiet and lacking clear direction after the summer lull, sources told Fastmarkets.
Market sources expected to see more clarity on price direction during the week starting September 4. Notably, sources told Fastmarkets that scrap contracts would be settled next week, which will be decisive for finished steel prices, since scrap is a key raw material used in rebar production.
Market participants shared mixed expectations for the post-summer developments, although they all agreed that mills would continue trying to increase prices to cover costs.
One industry source suggested that the rebar prices would go down to 2,550 zloty per tonne CPT within the next few weeks despite mills’ attempts to cut output, since end-user demand was still on the low side.
Other sources, however, were a bit more optimistic, claiming that end-user demand for rebar was set to improve in September due to an expected recovery in the residential construction sub-sector in Poland.
In July, the Polish government launched a support program for the nation’s first homebuyers, offering housing loans with a fixed 2% interest rate over 10 years, with the difference to the actual interest rate covered by the state.
The program, which is available to young people for their first house or apartment purchase, is supposed to stimulate residential construction, according to sources.
Published by: Julia Bolotova, Darina Kahramanova
Dillinger, SMS step up digitalisation of processes
Platemaker Dillinger Hüttenwerke and plantbuilder SMS group have announced a cooperative agreement to optimise blast furnace operation by modelling and digitalising logistics processes, Kallanish learns.
The cooperation covers raw material tracking based on SMS group’s BFXpert software, which include three digital models that accurately track the bulk materials along the burdening-to-blast furnace process chain, SMS says.
According to the plantbuilder, digital mapping of material conveyance through the material feed models enables predictive problem analysis and monitoring of digital values. As a result, Dillinger is able to manage the hoppers with low staffing levels and produce 10,000 tonnes of hot metal every day. Similarly, load peaks can be reduced by utilising load-optimised belt feeding, and the transport of spherical goods on conveyors is enhanced by preventing unwanted discharges from inclined conveyors.
The hopper model delivers a real-time calculation of the material distribution, the partners explain. Dillinger’s technology officer, Peter Maagh, highlights the system’s ability to adapt quickly to changes in feedstock qualities. “Their implementation has led to more efficient logistical planning with regard to the input and circulated material, as well as improved maintenance practices,” he says.
Christian Koehl Germany
Italian longs buyers await guidance in quiet market
The Italian long steel market remains quiet as some mills resumed activity last week and others are restarting production this week. Both mill and distribution sources expect the quiet to persist even as demand returns properly next week. Buyers remain on the fence looking at national and international raw material and finished products trends for guidance, Kallanish notes.
No price increases for merchant bar, sections, wire rod and rebar are expected in the coming weeks and the market indicates current and future price stability considering the subdued consumption seen in the past months. While Italy, France and Spain have been quiet due to the seasonal August break, other markets which are traditionally dynamic in August have also been quiet this year with many executives still on holiday. Italian sellers report very limited export sales in August across all long products.
Prices for merchant bar are flat at €340-360/tonne ($368-390) base ex-works. Including size extras, domestic values are at €760-780/t ex-works, while the first category of sections is hovering at €830-850/t ex-works including size extras. Drawing quality wire rod is also reported flat at €570-580/t delivered and rebar prices are flat at €600-630/t including size extras with demand low, Kallanish notes.
End-users are said to have some work despite the general wait-and-see attitude and low visibility. Long product demand is said to be at pre-pandemic levels. Some distributors talk about a consumption similar to that of 2017.
Natalia Capra France
Swedish steel production dips in first half
Crude steel production of Swedish mills in the first six months of the year totalled 2.305 million tonnes, 4.5% less than in the first half of 2022, according to national steel association Jernkontoret.
While the monthly production gap widened somewhat in June with 365,000 tonnes and a y-on-y spread of 5.4%, the gap was slightly less pronounced in July with minus 3.4% and 314,000 tonnes.
Still, Jernkonteret emphasises the declining trend of steel production compared with 2022. “July is a month when production often drops,” says Mathias Ternell, trade policy director at Jernkontoret. However, the overall trend of a lower rate of crude steel production “has continued during the summer, confirmed by the fact that July 2023 production is lower than in July 2022,” he says.
The production statistics are based on data from eleven steel producers in Sweden, Kallanish learns from the association. In the full year 2022, crude steel production was already 5.9% lower than in 2021, totalling 4.4m tonnes.
Deliveries of steel finished products in 2022 amounted to 3.2 million tonnes. The majority of the deliveries were exported. About two-thirds of the total crude steel production in Sweden is ore-based, and more than half of the production is high-grade alloy steels, while most plain steel grades are imported, Jernkontoret notes.
Christian Koehl Germany
Celsa awards Tarragona logistics to Bergé
Spanish longs supplier Celsa has awarded a contract for services and stocking in the port of Tarragona to logistics company Bergé, Kallanish learns from the operator.
“According to the agreement, we will transport and load almost 300,000 tons of steel per year from the Celsa plant in Castellbisbal, mainly destined for export in the Mediterranean,” Bergé says. “We will also provide stocking and port stowage services for loading mainly steel profiles to ships ranging between 3,000-7,000t.”
The port of Tarragona involves an area of 50,000m2 with multipurpose operational fields, including warehouses with a capacity of 150,000t.
Bergé already supplies logistics services for Group’s companies Global Steel Wire in Santander and Nervacero in Vizcaya.
Todor Kirkov Bulgaria
Acciaierie d’Italia to provide steel for the Floating Offshore Wind project
Acciaierie d’Italia, the second largest Italian flat steel producer, will be part of the project “Floating Offshore Wind Community,” a project created by the European House think-tank Ambrosetti in partnership with renewable energy player Renantis, BlueFloat Energy and shipbuilder Fincantieri.
Acciaierie d’Italia will provide steel and other materials for the construction of floating platforms for offshore wind farms, taking advantage of ongoing decarbonization projects and its strategic, central position in the Mediterranean Sea, while receiving renewable energy in return.
The project was presented Sept. 1 and follows a memorandum of understanding signed in January, in which Acciaierie d’Italia entered into the partnership, which aims to develop renewable energy projects.
“The decarbonization of Italy and Europe must leverage the fundamental principle of technological neutrality: it is necessary to exploit the synergistic and complementary contribution of all available technologies,” Valerio De Molli, Managing Partner & CEO of The European House – Ambrosetti, said.
“In this process, floating offshore wind can be the key to accelerating the green transition, thanks to its energy potential and limited environmental and social impacts, as well as the positive effects on the Italian industrial supply chain,” De Molli said.
According to the Global Wind Energy Council, Italy has the third biggest potential for the floating wind market in the world, due to the morphological characteristics and formation of its seabed.
According to the Marine Offshore Renewable Energy Lab and the University Polytechnic of Turin, the Italian potential for floating offshore wind is equal to 207.3 GW in terms of power, and 540.8 TWh/year in terms of generation.
Acciaierie d’Italia’s Taranto steelworks is currently providing structural steel plates for onshore wind farms, with the company planning investment to upgrade the production line to produce high-strength, thick plates for floating offshore platforms.
EU HRC prices stable as market activity remains muted
Northwest European steelmakers have been targeting prices of Eur700/mt ex-works Ruhr, and some Central European mills Eur710/mt delivered Germany, but buyers have been reluctant to accept such prices.
Market participants have estimated tradable values at Eur620-680/mt ex-works Ruhr, with the majority of data heard at around Eur670/mt ex-works Ruhr.
“Demand is weak,” a distributor said. “Prices of Eur650/mt ex-works are not flying. Prices of Eur620-630/mt ex-works would not guarantee deals either.”
Platts assessed domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northwest Europe at Eur670/mt ex-works Ruhr Sept. 4, unchanged day on day.
Platts assessed domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in South Europe up Eur5/mt day on day to Eur645/mt ex-works Italy Sept. 4. Tradable values have been reported at Eur640-650/mt ex-works Italy.
European Commission to hold workshops ahead of CBAM rollout
The Commission is organising six online webinars, covering general features of the CBAM as well as the specifics of each sector (iron & steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers, electricity and hydrogen).
Interested stakeholders are invited to register and participate in the webinars, and will have the possibility to ask questions which will be answered live. All webinars will be recorded and uploaded on the Customs & Tax EU Learning Portal.
The registration links will become available on this page.
customs-taxation.learning.europa.eu
| Topic | Date and registration |
| Cement | 15 September 2023, 10:00-11:30 (CET time) |
| Aluminium | 21 September 2023, 14:00-15:30 (CET time) |
| Fertilisers | 26 September 2023, 11:30-13:00 (CET time) |
| Electricity | 28 September 2023, 09:30-11:00 (CET time) |
| Hydrogen | 3 October 2023, 15:30-17:00 (CET time) |
| Iron and steel | 5 October 2023, 16:00-17:30 (CET time) |
A seventh webinar for National Competent Authorities will also be organised. The date will be communicated at a later stage.
E-learning courses
A first nano-learning module gives a short top level introduction to CBAM for EU importers and customs declarants and third country operators. It presents the purpose and aims of CBAM, and implications for importers and declarants, the main criteria for CBAM pricing, the six sectors targeted by CBAM and the roles and responsibilities within the CBAM administration system, as well as planning priorities including key milestones and explains the calculation methods and reporting requirements.
Further training modules covering sector-specific content will soon become available on the Customs & Tax EU Learning Portal.
Proposed changes to Section 232 exclusions a ‘mixed bag’ for US steelmakers
A proposed new rule issued by the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security this week, aimed at improving the exclusion process for Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs, appears to be a “mixed bag” for the domestic industry, according to American Iron and Steel Institute CEO Kevin Dempsey.
There is one proposal the domestic industry, and specifically the AISI, has recommended in earlier comments to Commerce on how to improve the exclusion process, however overall, the department is trying to improve a system that is fundamentally flawed, Dempsey said in an interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights Aug. 30. The AISI was still working through details of the proposal and will be filing comments to Commerce on the planned changes, he said.
Proposed changes
The proposed rule issued Aug. 28 include four primary changes “intended to create a more transparent, fair and efficient process,” the BIS said. These include changes to the existing “general approved exclusions process,” the introduction of a “general denied exclusions” process, the introduction of new certification requirements to show that a requester has tried to source the product from the US or from countries that are already excluded from the tariffs, and similar certification on objections to ensure domestic companies that raise an objection to a request can supply a comparable quality and quantity of steel or aluminum and make it “immediately available.”
After the US introduced tariffs of 25% on steel imports and 10% on aluminum imports in March 2018, Commerce established a process for US companies to file product-specific exclusion requests for cases where there are no domestic availability or overriding national security concerns regarding the specific product.
The latest proposed changes stem from a January 2022 order that President Joe Biden instructed Commerce to seek public comments on the exclusion process.
Steel Manufacturers Association President Philip Bell said in a statement to S&P Global that while the SMA “appreciates the Bureau’s attempt to address the many fundamental concerns that the domestic steel industry has voiced regarding its management of the Section 232 exclusions process, the proposed changes will do little to address an overly broad exclusions process that favors foreign steel producers over the domestic industry.”
Representatives of the Aluminum Association said they are reviewing the proposed changes.
Domestic industry supports changes
The AISI and domestic steelmakers are supportive of requiring those making exclusion requests to show they have attempted to source the product from countries that have already negotiated alternative arrangements to the tariffs, in addition to attempts to source in the US, Dempsey said.
Countries that have either had the tariffs fully removed or have had them switched to a tariff-free quota system include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, the EU, Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the UK.
“Most steel products are available in the US so you shouldn’t need an exclusion for the vast majority of steel products,” Dempsey said. “But if you add in all these other countries that are exporting steel duty-free to the US, that’s a lot of sources of steel products. You shouldn’t even be requesting an exclusion from the 232 until you’ve actually tried all of these sources where you can buy steel without paying a tariff.”
GAEs vs. GDEs
One of the biggest unknowns with the proposed change is what products would fall under a newly established list of “general denied exclusions,” or GDEs. BIS said this would include products that have consistently been found to have been manufactured in the US and would be identified following an analysis of substantiated objections and exclusion requests that have generally been consistently denied.
While there could be some benefit to the domestic industries under the new GDE process, depending on which products qualify, the move seems more in line with trying to balance the “general approved exclusions” process that the US steel industry has opposed, Dempsey said.
“The general approved exclusions, which they’re trying to make some additional adjustments to, really are a fundamental problem because in that area, they’ve said ‘well, if we find products that a lot of exclusions were granted, we’re going to take the tariff code for those products and say that anything coming in under those tariff codes can be duty free,’” Dempsey said.
The problem for domestic steelmakers is there are generally many steel products that fall under the same tariff code, so while the domestic industry may not object to one niche product with a low volume, using the associated tariff code to apply a blanket exclusion can greatly expand what is allowed to enter duty free past the original request.
“We think the general approved exclusion process was a mistake and should still be changed,” Dempsey said. “It needs to be, frankly, we think, eliminated because it’s allowing exclusions for products that the steel industry can definitely make in the US.”
BIS has proposed creating a “more efficient” GAE process by changing the criteria generally used for determining GAEs by focusing on the substance of objections submitted rather than whether any objection has been submitted or not.
BIS is collecting public feedback on the proposed rule through Oct. 12.
Author Justine Coyne
UK Steel welcomes hot-rolled flat steel anti-dumping, countervailing measures’ extension to 2027
- Anti-dumping, countervailing measures on Chinese HRC imports maintained through April 2027
- Anti-dumping measures on Brazilian, Iranian, Russian imports maintained through October 2027
- Association supports termination of measure on Ukrainian imports
The UK steel sector welcomes the continuation of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures on hot-rolled flat steel imports into the UK until 2027 and supports the termination of the measure on imports from Ukraine, the UK Steel Association told S&P Global Commodity Insights on Aug. 31.
The UK government accepted the Trade Remedies Authority’s final recommendation to keep the anti-dumping and countervailing measures on hot-rolled flat and coil steel from China until April 7, 2027, and to keep the anti-dumping measure on imports from Brazil, Iran and Russia until Oct. 7, 2027. The UK’s export ban on all imports from Russia due to the war in Ukraine also has been extended to hot-rolled flat and coil steel.
“China, Russia, Brazil and Iran all have steel sectors that are multiple times the size of the UK steel industry, with huge amounts of spare capacity and with considerable state intervention in many of these markets,” a UK Steel spokesperson said. “It is no coincidence that the EU, the US, Canada, Thailand, Mexico and Indonesia all have measures in place on some or all of these countries, which would further increase the risk to the UK as a result of trade diversion.”
The UK government also welcomed the TRA’s recommendation that anti-dumping measures on imports from Ukraine should be revoked. The TRA concluded that dumping of products from Ukraine was unlikely to recur due to reduction in Ukraine’s production capacity and limits on the ability to export caused by the war with Russia. The TRA also took into account Ukraine’s requirement to rebuild steel production facilities and domestic demand for steel to rebuild the country’s infrastructure.