Category: Latest Updates

The Lisbon Court of Appeal (TRL) has confirmed the end of the class action lawsuit against Portuguese long steel producer SN Seixal for alleged contamination, Kallanish reports. The company is part of the Megasa group.

The court ruled that the steelmaker’s activity fulfils the environmental legislation and that it has not been proven that its production harms the health of the population, so it should not be suspended.

The civil class action against SN Seixal was filed in February 2019 by the local citizen association Terra da Morte Lenta, requesting an urgent assessment of the impacts of air and noise pollution produced by the steelmaker. The group also called on Brussels to define and implement the technical means of monitoring air and noise pollution. Terra da Morte Lenta complained that the national environmental agency renewed SN’s environmental licence without carrying out epidemiological studies or lung carcinoma and lung disease screening tests in the community.

The TRL now considers that there was bad faith litigation, condemning the association to pay €5,100 ($5,034).

Todor Kirkov Bulgaria

The European Commission has opened a €3 billion ($2.96 billion) funding call for innovative clean technology projects to decarbonise industry and accelerate its energy independence from Russian fossil fuels, Kallanish reports.

The third investment round will offer €1 billion for large-scale projects promoting green hydrogen production and hydrogen industrial application, as well as electrification methods to replace fossil fuels in industry. Another €0.7 billion will be available for projects, including those in manufacturing of final equipment for electrolysers and fuel cells.

General innovative decarbonisation projects to decarbonise energy-intensive industries have €1 billion funding available for grab. These projects could include renewable energy, energy storage, carbon capture and use, and alternative fuels for transport including maritime and aviation. That means hydrogen and ammonia-related projects may also be included in this funding criteria.

The EC said on 3 November the projects will be assessed by independent unnamed evaluators. They will look into their innovation level; potential greenhouse gas emission reduction; operational, financial and technical maturity; scaling up potential; and cost efficiency.

The call covers projects located in EU member countries, Iceland and Norway. Applications must be submitted by 16 March 2023. If “promising projects” that aren’t mature enough for this round, could benefit from project development assistance by the European Investment Bank, the EC says.

Successful applicants will be notified in Q2 2023, with a view to be awarded the grants and sign the projects in Q4 2023.

The previous two EU Innovation Fund calls offered €1 billion and €1.8 billion respectively to up to 17 projects.

Gabriela Farhangi UK

European steelmaker ArcelorMittal will temporarily shut one of its two 2 million mt/year blast furnaces in Fos-sur-Mer, France, it told S&P Global Commodity Insights on Nov. 4.

“In a strongly deteriorated macro-economic context, coupled with a major impact of soaring energy prices and an increase in steel imports into Europe, the Fos-sur-Mer site is facing a slowdown in demand for steel,” the company said

It forecast steel orders to be lower for the rest of 2022 and the beginning of 2023.

Partial activity measures will be put in place starting from the beginning of December to adapt the working hours of some staff up to a maximum one day per week.

“As soon as market conditions allow, we will relaunch a two-blast furnace operation at Fos,” ArcelorMittal Mediterranee CEO Bruno Ribo said.

Platts, part of S&P Global, assessed domestic HRC prices in Northern Europe at Eur650/mt ex-works Ruhr Nov. 3, down 29.5% since the start of 2022.

Currently, only three of the five BFs located in France are working, following the shutdown of a 1.5 million mt/year blast furnace No. 3 at the Dunkirk plant on Sept. 19.

Record-low nuclear power generation has lifted French power prices from a discount to Europe’s premium market over recent months and into 2023. Year-ahead power settled Nov. 3 at Eur485/MWh ($481/MWh) compared to Eur302.50/MWh in Italy, EEX data showed.

French power prices have at least tripled over the past year with Dec. 2022 contracts currently trading around Eur800/MWh compared to Eur274.67/MWh.

— Annalisa Villa

Chicago, Illinois-based US service centre chain Ryerson has acquired California-based fabricator and processor Excelsior, Kallanish understands.

According to a notice published by Ryerson, the company has added the metals fabricator located in Fresno, California, to its expanding network due to its advanced, specialised metals processing and fabricating operations.

“Excelsior has built a strong reputation for advanced processing and customer service. This acquisition strengthens the Ryerson network of value-added service centres, allowing us to provide better experiences and an extended suite of metal processing solutions for customers in the western United States,” says Ryerson’s west region president Steve Bosway.

This latest acquisition by Ryerson follows the company’s previous acquisition of the Midwestern value-added processor Howard Precision Metals earlier this fall.

“Since 1996, Excelsior has served customers with the equipment and expertise to exceed their expectations. We are pleased to continue that legacy as the newest member of the Ryerson Family of Companies,” adds Exclesior ceo and founder Ray Roush.

Ryerson plans to announce its earnings results for the third quarter later this week.

Zach Johnson USA

European flat bar producers petitioned the EU Commission (EC) to initiate an antidumping investigation against flat bars imported from Turkey and China, according to a letter sent to the Turkish Steel Producers’ Association from the Turkish Ministry of Commerce,

The HS code of the product in question is 7216.50.91 under Customs Tariff Position, Kallanish notes.

In the event that an anti-dumping investigation is initiated by the EU, it will be evaluated whether the imports of flat bars from these two countries are dumped and whether they cause damage to the European domestic market. If it is determined that there is dumping, an AD duty is likely to be imposed on flat bar imports from these countries.

Burcak Alpman Turkey

French rebar demand is now stagnating after a weak October. November is seasonally a weak month for sales due to the bank and bridge holidays of 1 and 11 November.

Distributors tell Kallanish that sales activity was acceptable in September but noticed slow sales in October, while this and next week are particularly quiet.

Because of uncertainty and the slowing global economy, the construction sector is ordering lower volumes and refusing to commit. Sellers doubt that in this climate buyers will want to restock for end-year fiscal reasons, as construction companies are facing slow private residential sales, particularly in the usually dynamic Paris area.

French rebar contracts continue to slide due to lower consumption. Including size extras, they are at an average of €800-850/tonne ($780-828/t) delivered. The low and high points of the range depend on client and tonnage, sources suggest.

Some lower-priced sales are being reported, particularly in southern France, coming from Spanish producers.

Natalia Capra France

Spanish crude steel production fell 19% year on year to 1.02 million mt in September, taking underlying production to a 16-month low, according to data published by industry group Unesid Nov. 3.

Production over the last 12 months, which accounts for seasonal slowdowns, was 13.5 million mt, the lowest since the 12 months to May 2021, the data showed.

Despite government measures implemented in June to reduce the impact of energy costs, a number of producers will continue production cuts into the fourth quarter.

Among these are ArcelorMIttal Spain, which agreed Sep. 30 to a temporary layoff scheme until year-end that will impact workers in line with production — 25% at the 4.5 million mt/year Asturias plant and 40% at the Sagunto cold-rolling, galvanized steel site, 20% at the Etxebarri steel plate site, 60% at the Lesaka finishings site and 20% at the longs site in Olaberria, according to the UGT FICA Union.

Also, Ferroglobe told S&P Global Commodity Insights Oct. 25 it would extend a temporary layoff plan at its Sabon, Boo and Monzon production factories from November potentially until 2024, having already temporarily shut down the furnaces at all three and reduced activity to a minimum.

“The existing situation and the lack of prospects for improvement of the energy problem has forced the company to take this decision,” the company said.

Platts assessed hot-rolled coil CIF Antwerp at a midpoint Eur625/mt Nov. 2, up Eur5/mt on the day. Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.

In terms of scrap recycling, Spanish volume in September was down 23% year on year to 788,000 mt, with the trailing 12-month total at 10.3 million mt, its lowest since the year to April 2021, Unesid figures showed.

— Gianluca Baratti

German steel and metals distributor Klöckner expects the fourth quarter of 2022 will see a drop in shipments and sales on previous quarters due to destocking and a steel price correction, it said in its earnings outlook.

In Q3 2022 shipments were at 1.15 million mt, down 6.5% from Q2’s 1.23 million mt and 4.1% lower than in Q3 2021.

Q3 sales fell on the quarter to Eur2.5 billion ($2.4 billion), from Eur2.6 billion in Q2, but rose compared with Eur2 billion in Q3 2021.

In the first nine months of 2022, Klöckner sales jumped 36.5% to Eur7.4 billion, mainly due to higher steel and metal prices, while shipments fell 3.7% to 3.63 million mt.

“Despite the challenging economic environment, we have continued to systematically pursue our strategy and achieved key milestones,” CEO Guido Kerkhoff said.

The company said it was continuing to focus on the delivery of reduced-CO2 steel, after it launched in September its new Nexigen brand.

“With the launch of Nexigen, our new brand for CO2-reduced products and services, we are underscoring our ambition as a pioneer of a sustainable steel industry. Having already established our role as digital pioneer for the future of our industry, this further reinforces our position as a reliable partner at our customers’ side,” Kerkhoff said.

According to Platts, a unit of S&P Global Commodity Insights, hot rolled coils prices ex-works Ruhr over Q3 fell from Eur985/mt base ex-works to Eur895/mt base ex-works. Platts assessed hot-rolled coil in Northwest Europe stable day on day at Eur650/mt ex-works Ruhr Nov. 2.

— Annalisa Villa

The UK hot-rolled coil market was bearish the week through Nov. 3, with distributors continuing to refrain from restocking on confused price direction and potential further downtrend.

Platts assessed hot-rolled coil in the UK down GBP10/mt Nov. 3 at GBP700/mt DDP West Midlands.

Offers from European mills were heard at GBP680-690/mt DDP West Midlands, as reported by stockholder sources.

Domestic material was available slightly above the GBP700/mt level, at around GBP710/mt DDP UK.

Third country import material was lower at GBP660-670/mt DDP, though buyers continue to avoid said material due to lead times well into next year – too distant to risk devaluation of material on continuing market uncertainties.

Domestic and European mills were heard as able to offer delivery for late December or early January.

Distributors are still burdened by expensive, often delayed material booked earlier this year in the wake of the February-March pricing rally. Stockholder strategies continue to focus on depleting stocks over new purchasing, though some limited demand revival was speculated for December if not late-November.

“Activity levels are ticking over, and stocks are coming down – admittedly not as fast as we’d like,” said a trader source. “Getting rid of old high-priced stock is the name of the game at the moment, though as prices slide lower-priced stock can quickly become higher-priced, relative to spot trade. That said, I could see some booking coming in toward the end of November, but no one can say for sure.”

Stockholders commonly saw uncertain price direction as limiting any potential for substantial purchasing.

“It’s all very scary to be honest and no one has any confidence to book anything,” one said. “We’ve already taken a hit recently on our stock positions.”

Another stockholder agreed.

“We really need to see some positivity,” he said. “Of course, we all want prices to stabilize and rise but let’s not kid ourselves, there needs to be some substance to that before we commit to heavy buying.”

As such, most sources, including producers, expect activity to remain muted for the rest of the year.

Further downstream, end-user demand indications were mixed. Some said enquiries had improved on week, while others saw a slight lull after increased activity in October. A mill source tied reduced activity to the construction sector, structuring purchasing more on long-term contracts as far as April, rather than on the spot market or via shorter term agreements.

Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.

— Benjamin Steven

Delivery time for domestic hot-rolled coil remained short from European mills — from three to six weeks — as steelmakers struggled to fill order books due to weak demand, market sources said Nov. 3.

A majority of steelmakers have not yet announced prices for the first quarter of next year.

Domestic prices, in the meantime, remained fairly stable, although some steelmakers have been willing to give discounts to secure sales. This supported bearish sentiment in the market and prompted buyers to refrain from making new deals.

Platts assessed hot-rolled coil in Northwest Europe stable day on day at Eur650/mt ex-works Ruhr Nov. 3.

A mill source reported tradable value at Eur650/mt ex-works Ruhr.

A distributor source reported offers at Eur660/mt ex-works Ruhr for January production. The source saw tradable value at Eur650/mt ex-works Ruhr for this year delivery material.

A service center source reported offers at Eur650-660/mt ex-works Northern Europe.

A trader source and a service center reported tradable values at Eur640-650/mt ex-works Ruhr and at Eur650-660/mt ex-works Ruhr, respectively.

“No mill is giving first-quarter delivery prices,” a German service center source said. “Mills still have empty order books. They have been offering new production HRC with delivery within four to six weeks, which means they do not have enough orders for this year. Offers are Eur650-660/mt ex-works Germany, but mills also send notes that they are open to receive firm bids.”

Another Northern European service center confirmed this, saying that there were no offers for next year yet.

“Not that I know of any first-quarter offers,” he said. “Nobody knows what to do. And mills need the work now! Delivery times are three to four weeks.”

Platts assessed domestic HRC in Italy at Eur655/mt ex-works Nov. 3, up Eur5/mt day on day.

The assessment was based on achievable prices estimated by market sources at Eur650-660/mt ex-works Italy.

Demand remained low, with no transactions heard Nov. 3. High stocks of distributors, low demand from end-consumers and a generally uncertain outlook on demand and prices left trading activity slow. Lack of clarity on a pricing strategy from the mills for the start of 2023 has also not supported buyers’ interest in new deals.

Some sources also said European steelmakers have focused on monthly or quarterly contracts with big buyers instead of yearly or half-year contracts due to volatile prices and due to the fact that this year buyers have not booked full volumes specified in the contracts.

Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.

— Maria Tanatar, Benjamin Steven, Anqi Liu