Liberty Liege attracts attention of several buyers: administrator

Several companies are interested in buying the ex-Liberty Steel galvanizing line plant in Flémalle and tinplate line plant in Tilleur, both in Liege, Belgium, a provisional administrator and legal representative of the production sites’ Lexlitis law firm told S&P Global Commodity Insights on Jan. 25.

“I can confirm that I am in contact with companies interested in an acquisition of all or a part of Liberty Liege activities,” Nicholas Ouchinsky, lawyer and legal representative responsible for the assets sale at Lexlitis, said.

The Liège Enterprise Court in December ruled the two plants must be restructured, with a provisional administrator and a legal representative appointed by the court. Liberty Flémalle has annual capacity of 950,000 mt of galvanized steel and Tilleur can produce up to 200,000 mt of tinned products.

The potential buyers have been invited to make offers for the Liberty Steel assets by Feb. 24.

“After that date I will be able to determinate the possibility of one asset deal or more,” Ouchinsky said.

Market sources have named JSW Steel, ArcelorMittal and NLMK among the possible buyers.

ArcelorMittal and NLMK declined to comment on the matter and JSW Steel did not reply to the request for comment.

Lexlitis is currently in discussions with the authorities of Walloon region in Belgium regarding the possibility of a loan “to make a bridge until the end of the tenders,” Ouchinsky said.

— Maria Tanatar, Ekaterina Bouckley

European hot-rolled coil prices inch up on limited availability

Domestic prices for hot-rolled coil increased in Europe on Jan. 25 due to domestic steelmakers’ full orderbooks.

European mills have sold out first-quarter rolling material and were aiming for higher prices for Q2-production coil.

Platts assessed domestic prices for hot-rolled coil in Northwest Europe up to Eur760/mt ex-works Ruhr on Jan. 25, up Eur5 week on week.

A Germany-based steelmaker settled a deal for Q2-production HRC with a local buyer at Eur760/mt ex-works Ruhr. The same mill was aiming for Eur800/mt ex-works Ruhr.

The majority of market participants estimated achievable prices at Eur750-Eur760/mt ex-works Ruhr, and they also believed that those prices would no longer be available soon, as mills have been insisting on Eur780-Eur800/mt ex-works Ruhr.

“I think Eur750/mt ex-works Ruhr is still realistic for HRC, but I believe that the prices will move close to the offers of Eur780-800/mt ex-works,” a Germany-based trader said.

A Northern Europe-based source reported deals at Eur720/mt ex-works Northern Europe, but the price was not reflected in the assessment because the sales were made outside the Ruhr area in Germany and information about sales was not widely confirmed in the market. Some sources suggested that such prices were only available ex-warehouse in the Benelux area for imported material booked in 2022 at lower prices.

One source also said that a Northern Europe-based steelmaker was offering a limited range of coil products at prices about Eur50-Eur80 below market offers, but that the price was not representative in the current bullish market.

Price assessment for domestic hot-rolled coil in South Europe increased Eur10 day on day to Eur745/mt ex-works Italy on Jan. 25.

The assessment was based on offers reported at Eur740-Eur750/mt ex-works Italy and tradable value reported at Eur750/mt ex-works Italy.

The bullish mood in the market had been driven by a combination of reduced availability, caused by a combination of some apparent demand revival and production cuts in 2022, as well as an anticipated rise in prices in Asia after China’s steelmakers will return from Lunar New Year holidays.

Some Europe-based buyers, however, were concerned that end-user demand might not recover enough to support the price rise. In addition, the buyers were uncertain about the sustainability of the upward trend if more steelmakers decide to restart the furnaces that were idled last year.

“[The] point is that some mills are going to restart idled blast furnaces again, following US Steel Kosice [in Slovakia] and ArcelorMittal Spain, and after certain time mills will end up under pressure to sell capacity,” a Germany-based distributor said. “But in terms of demand, I do not see significant increase, for construction, I guess situation will become worse. At least in Germany a lot for projects are postponed or cancelled due to higher material cost and increasing interest rates.”

The majority of sources, however, believed that demand recovery would be strong enough to support the price rise, and that mills would maintain production under control.

“Spanish mill restarted mainly to solve some logistics problems, and not to add significant volumes in the market” a second Germany-based distributor said. “And Slovakia mill has high production costs, they will support the price recovery. Restart of any other equipment would take time, it would take at least a couple of months.”

Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.

— Maria Tanatar, Benjamin Steven

EU CRC and HDG prices rise on domestic mills’ strong orderbooks

Domestic prices for both cold-rolled and hot-dipped galvanized coil increased in the EU in the week ended Jan. 25, supported by limited availability from European mills.

“Mills are sold out of the first quarter rolling downstream coil, some say that they sold out April,” a Germany-based distributor said. “So, it makes sense that they insist on higher prices.”

Although a bullish mood dominated the European market, some buyers questioned the sustainability of the trend due to slow demand recovery. In addition, some expected that the steelmakers might restart capacities that were idled last year, which would result in increased availability and hamper the price rise.

Platts assessed domestic prices for cold-rolled coil in Northwest Europe at Eur875/mt ex-works Ruhr on Jan. 25, up Eur25 on the day and up Eur50 on the week.

Market participants estimated achievable prices for CRC at Eur850-Eur900/mt ex-works Ruhr.

Platts assessed domestic hot-dipped galvanized prices in the region up Eur50 on the week to Eur920/mt ex-works Ruhr.

Distributors estimated tradable values at Eur900-Eur970/mt ex-works Ruhr. A steelmaker reported an offer at Eur930/mt ex-works Ruhr.

A German mill was also reported to have increased its official offers to Eur1,100/mt ex-works Ruhr for HDG, but market participants deemed the price as too high, and it was not included into the assessment.

Platts assessed domestic prices for CRC in Southern Europe at Eur830/mt ex-works Italy on Jan. 25, up Eur15 week on week.

Buyers reported tradable values at Eur810-Eur830/mt ex-works Italy and a mill reported tradeable values at Eur870/mt ex-works Italy.

The assessment for domestic prices for HDG in Southern Europe also increased Eur20 on the week to Eur850/mt ex-works Italy, reflecting achievable prices heard at Eur850/mt ex-works and offers reported at Eur880/mt ex-works.

Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.

— Maria Tanatar

Romanian steel pipe group sold by Russian owner to Serbian investment company

Romanian pipe manufacturer Artrom Steel Tubes has been acquired by Belgrade-based investment banking company Hefestos Capital from Russian pipemaking group TMK, Artrom said in a statement emailed to S&P Global Commodity Insights.

The sale of Artrom may have been necessitated by pressure from the Romanian government to disassociate industrial enterprises from the Russian business, according to market sources.

Romania’s Ministry of the Economy and Artrom could not be reached for comment on Jan. 23 — a public holiday in the country.

Artrom Steel Tubes — until recently known as TMK-Artrom — comprises the 450,000 mt/year billet casting mill in Resita in west Romania and the 200,000 mt/year pipe rolling mill in Slatina, in the southwest of the country.

In March, shortly after the EU imposed sanctions on then-TMK owner Dmitry Pumpyansky prompting him to immediately dispose of his TMK shares and resign from the company’s board, Romania’s tax authority blocked TMK-Artrom’s bank accounts, disrupting its sales. This sparked protests by the Slatina and Resita mills’ unions, S&P Global Commodity Insights reported.

President of the company’s board Adrian Popescu said in the emailed statement that Artrom could now resume its development programs delayed by the crises of the last three years — the pandemic and then the war in Ukraine.

The most recent growth project not yet implemented was announced by TMK in 2019 and aimed to boost Artrom’s rolling capacity by 60% to 320,000 mt/year by 2024.

Hefestos Capital was established in 2001 and has expertise in an array of industries including the oil and gas sector, according to its website.

— Ekaterina Bouckley

Germany’s 2022 crude steel output drops 8.4% on year; Dec tumbles 14.6%: WV Stahl

German crude steel production fell 8.4% on the year to about 36.8 million mt in 2022, the country’s steel association Wirtschaftsvereinigung or WV Stahl reported on Jan. 23.

The 2022 total marked the country’s lowest annual production since 2009, excluding the pandemic year of 2020, the group said.

In particular, the group sought to highlight the country’s crude steel output during the second half of the year, which fell 11% on the year to 17.3 million mt.

The monthly production total for December was reported at 2.6 million mt, down 14.6% from a year ago.

Similarly, December production of hot-rolled steel products was at 2.0 million m, down 15.7% on the year, while 2022 production was fell 7.8% to 32.1 million mt.

German steel producers have been forced to curtail production in recent months due to rising energy prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

On Oct. 21, Germany’s parliament voted to adopt a Eur 200 billion ($216 billion) relief package aimed at protecting households and industry from surging gas and electricity prices.

Since the relief package was introduced, mild winter temperatures have seen European gas prices fall to levels not seen since December 2021 amid healthy gas storage levels and demand reductions.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed Dutch TTF front-month gas at Eur36.72/MWh Jan. 20, up 0.6% from the previous session. The TTF benchmark contract averaged Eur132.31/MWh in 2022 and Eur71.73/MWh in the second half of 2021, S&P Global data showed.

Platts assessed Northwest Europe hot-rolled coil at Eur755/mt ($821/mt) ex-works Ruhr on Jan. 20, up Eur15/mt on the day.

— Euan Sadden