thyssenkrupp SSCs develops new online platform

thyssenkrupp Materials Processing Europe, the unit of tk’s Materials Services division that covers service centre activities in several countries, has added new in-house developments to its portfolio of digital applications. The company highlights the web-based information platform mpe connect, which it says provides real-time digital access to information.

Technically, mpe connect is modelled on the proprietary SAP and ERP system, but visually it has the advantage of a user-friendly interface, Kallanish learns from the company. All details of open purchase orders or available quantities can be accessed – from order confirmation to delivery and invoicing, tk explains. These and other documents, such as test certificates, are also available for downloading. As with online parcel tracking, process status can be tracked in real time.

The service centres of tk Materials Processing Europe serve fabricators from the automotive, electrical, construction and furniture industries at 13 sites in six countries. The unit will present its new digital solutions at the Blechexpo trade show in Stuttgart next month.

Arvedi confirms large output cut on market weakness

Arvedi, the EAF-based coil supplier based in Cremona in northern Italy, has confirmed to Kallanish that it intends to cut its production by 70% at the company’s main mill during November and December.

Rumours of such big reduction in output began to circulate in September. Arvedi confirms that during the downturn it will implement a number of upgrades at the plant.

“International tensions linked to tariffs, the sharp economic slowdown and the persistent crisis in the car industry which has dragged Germany into recession, are creating a highly critical situation in the market for steel products and above all the market for hot rolled coils,” the company explains. “If to this [… situation] is added massive imports at very low price, in particular from Turkey, the picture is one of difficulties which risk becoming systemic.”

The producer is also issuing a call to both national and European authorities to adopt a strong stance to safeguard the market going forward.

It is understood that the reduction in the Arvedi output will have an impact on the coil market due to the lower availability of finished product. It will also affect the Italian scrap market, where Arvedi is among the largest buyers. A trader calculates that the Italian scrap market would see demand reduced by as much as 70,000-100,000 tonnes during November and December as a result of the temporary stoppage by Arvedi.

Production capacity at the Cremona mill is 3.4 million tonnes/year, Kallanish understands.

Liberty renews talks for British Steel takeover: report

While exclusive talks continued between the Official Receiver and preferred bidder Turkey’s OYAK over the sale of British Steel, Sanjeev Gupta’s Liberty House Group, which is part of his family holding company GFG Alliance, has in recent days held fresh talks about buying the UK’s second-biggest steel producer, according to UK-based Sky News.

The discussions had accelerated ahead of the expiry later this week of an exclusivity period granted by the Official Receiver to Ataer Holding, a subsidiary of Turkey’s Oyak, Sky News said citing sources.

While exclusive talks continued between the Official Receiver and OYAK over the sale of the UK-based steelmaker, Chinese steelmaker Jingye Group also approached the UK government with a fresh offer for British Steel at the beginning of October, as reported.

The Official Receiver told S&P Global Platts Tuesday that they are continuing to engage with the preferred bidder.

“We have seen media reports regarding other interested parties speaking with other parts of government about their interest British Steel, but we are unable to confirm those reports,” he noted.

A company source at OYAK Holding, the biggest complementary pension fund in Turkey, which signed an exclusivity agreement in mid-August to buy British Steel, told Platts late last week that the open-ended negotiations for the takeover are ongoing. 

According to an OYAK statement previously sent to Platts, after the successful completion of a detailed inspection process at the end of October, the handover was expected to be held by year-end. Turkish military pension fund OYAK is Ataer Holding’s parent company, which is the largest shareholder in Erdemir, the nation’s biggest steel producer.

British Steel, which went into compulsory liquidation on May 22, has about 3 million mt/year of production capacity in the UK, France and the Netherlands.

— Cenk Can and Annalisa Villa

EUROFER calls for Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity to be extended

The European Steel Association (EUROFER) has today issued a joint release alongside eighteen other regional and national steel associations calling for the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity to be extended. At the same time, the crisis in the European steel industry – largely a result of the very overcapacity the Global Forum exists to fix – continues to intensify.

“Europe-based steelmakers and those in their partner regions across the whole world are making it clear today that they believe the extension of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity is essential to effectively reduce global production overcapacity in the sector”, said Axel Eggert, Director General of EUROFER.

The Global Forum was established in late 2016, on the instruction of G20 Leaders. It set out to gather information and report on the evolution of steel supply and demand conditions, steel production capacity, and government policies that lead to global overcapacity, such as subsidies. The Forum’s work has already produced results, such as detailed statistics on steel capacity and production around the world and has instigated work to cut excess capacity where it is needed.

“Meanwhile, the impact of this overcapacity is causing ructions around the world. The trade wars being waged, and the resultant rise of protectionist measures affecting products well beyond our sector, has steel overcapacity at its root”, emphasised Mr Eggert.

“Even with the EU Steel Safeguard in place, the EU is having a torrid time. Apparent demand for steel is expected to fall by 3.1% in 2019, even as imports surge in often violently unpredictable ways. We therefore ask the EU Commission to further strengthen the safeguards.”, added Mr Eggert.

Steel imports into the EU rose by 12% in 2018, to the highest recorded level. Today, imports are still well above the 2016 & 2017 levels, which were themselves records at the time. Surges are at least as damaging as sustained high import levels, and the EU saw a 50% drop in total finished steel imports in June 2019, followed by a 50% rise in July when the new safeguard quota period opened.

“Overall global steel overcapacity has fallen only slowly in the past few years, if only because China, in particular, is ramping up production – up 9.1% in the 8 months to August 2019, even as production in Europe has fallen by 2.9%, and in the majority of other regions is also flat or declining. Global overcapacity still stands at some 500 million tonnes and the OECD expects it to rise again in 2020”, stressed Mr Eggert. “This is a deepening crisis which has already seen a number of European steel plants idled or closed, with thousands of steel workers being laid-off over the past year”.

“We call for the Global Forum on Global Excess to have its mandate extended – and for it to continue vigorously for the foreseeable future, either with all members or with the supportive members of the international community”, concluded Mr Eggert.

Italian long steel distributors forecast gloomy November

October has been a difficult month for Italian domestic long products sales so far, Kallanish learns from large service centres and distributors in the country.

An established distributor in Northern Italy has described the month as “… disastrous” with sales for some products such merchant bars extremely low in a difficult market. “In the period July-October merchant bar sales have registered the lowest figures since 2009,” the source comments.

There are fears for all domestic long products in terms of both prices and sales volumes for November and December. The sources interviewed believe more price falls should be expected before the end of the year before some level of stability becomes apparent.

The only product for which another distributor has seen some recovery in sales volumes is welded tube for which discounts have been increasing up to 44 points but sales are ongoing. The product with the worst commercial profile remains merchant bar for which demand is low amidst competition from cheaper Spanish material.