By Freight News| 2017-03-13 13:12:59

Overtaking imports, India’s steel exports jumped by 150 per cent in February over year-ago month and the country shipped out 6.622 million tonnes (mt) of steel in April-February period of the current fiscal, up by 77.6 per cent over the same period last year, a steel ministry report said. "Export of total finished steel was up by 77.6 per cent in April-February 2016-17 at 6.622 mt over same period of last year. Exports in February were up by 150 per cent over February 2016 but declined by 15 per cent over January 2017,” said the report of Joint Plant Committee. Imports of total finished steel in the first 11 months of the current fiscal declined by 38.5 per cent to 6.591 mt over same period of last year and in February only, imports were at 0.491 mt, down by 46 per cent over same month last year. "Given such trends in export-import, India emerged as a net exporter of total finished steel during February 2017 as well as April-February 2016-17,” the report said. According to it, India’s consumption of total finished steel at 76.229 mt saw a growth of 3.4 per cent in April-February period in 2016-17 over same period of last year. Consumption in February, 2017 at 7.334 mt was up by 3 per cent over corresponding month last year and but declined by 0.2 per cent over January, 2017. Production for sale of total finished steel at 91.846 mt, registered a growth of 11.1 per cent during April-February in 2016-17 over same period of last year. Overall finished steel production for sale at 8.838 mt in February, 2017 was up by 13 per cent over year-ago month but declined by 2.3 per cent over January 2017,” the report added. Source: Indo-Asia News Service

By Peter Brennan| 2017-03-09 13:25:12

Europe is a diminishing industrial power and its steel sector has reflected that, declining to just 10% of global production in 2016. Major producers are often heavily indebted, struggling with low EBITDA margins, and suffering from fierce competition in a fragmented market that is now increasingly vulnerable to imports. Yet 2017 could be a significant turning point with a combination of anti-dumping measures, major mergers and a weakened euro combining to go a long way to solving the problems. Most of the major European steel companies are back in profit after a revival in steel prices in 2016. The likes of ArcelorMittal, ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel are expected to see those profits grow as with sources suggesting annual contracts for 2017 were set at levels 70% higher than for 2016. The timing is perfect as 2017 could be the year when major capital intensive mergers and acquisitions finally take place. ArcelorMittal has been focusing on deleveraging, and its improved financial position strengthens its bid for the stricken Italian mill Ilva. In partnership with Italian re-roller Marcegaglia, ArcelorMittal made its final bid for Europe’s largest steel production site this week unveiling a €2.3 billion investment plan to improve the capacity utilization and environmental performance. An analyst note from Jefferies suggested the acquisition would increase the company’s flat steel market share to 40% from 33% currently, while eliminating a competitor that often acted as an anchor to the region’s price level. The second and third biggest actors in the European flat steel sector are engaged in discussions of their own regarding a potential merger. Germany’s ThyssenKrupp and Tata Steel have officially been in discussions since last June, and in the last couple of weeks cleared a number of hurdles. ThyssenKrupp has also offloaded its slab making unit in Brazil finalizing a €1.5 billion sale to Ternium in late February, while Tata Steel has closed the British Steel pension scheme to future accruals having reached agreement with the UK union. ThyssenKrupp’s own pension liabilities and discord from German and Dutch unions remain an issue, but analysts suggest a deal to merge the two businesses could be achieved by September. The industry is eagerly awaiting the release of the January import figures to see if the official figures reflect the widely held speculation that import activity has been more muted. As of January, arrivals of Russian and Brazilian hot rolled coil are subject to registration and can be hit with retroactive duties. The two countries exported 2.5 million mt of HRC to Europe last year, 30% of total EU HRC imports. Further measures could also be applied to material from Ukraine, Serbia and Iran when the provisional duties are announced in April. The total imports figures for Chinese hot dip galvanized coil may also begin to decline in the January numbers, and are likely to drop sharply throughout the year with the last arrivals expected for April. Not only are preliminary duties later in the year an issue, the price stopped being attractive anyway some time ago. As a result many in the market suggest the real impact of anti-dumping measures is yet to be felt with 2017 likely to be an inflection point when import volumes fall, relieving pressure from domestic mills. Do prices have further to go? As of early March, the European coil markets seem on the surface to be rather dull. Prices are largely flat with mills insistent on higher offers and buyers equally insistent that their stocks are high enough to avoid major purchasing. But in reality March discussions are the phony war, with negotiations for the second half of the year the key battle. Many buy side sources say current spot prices levels are not justified as raw material costs have weakened and steel demand is unremarkable. However, mills argue that the correlation between spot EU HRC and production costs such as coking coal has broken down. Anti-dumping duties have regionalized markets and the reality is that European mills have long lead times and are in no rush to cut prices. End users are keen to avoid a repeat of the price shock they received in the discussion for Q1 contracts, and many will say the same raw material cost argument mills used at the end of last year, similarly holds now that those costs have eased. But the reality appears that for the first year in a long time, 2017 is a seller’s market. Further structural changes could make this a more common occurrence. Source: http://blogs.platts.com

By PTI Feeds| 2017-03-08 11:37:37

Creating demand for 300 million tonnes of steel -- the output target India is looking at by 2031, will be a big challenge, Indian government said on Mar. 7th 2017. India’s per capita steel consumption at 61 kg is much lower than the global average of 208 kg. The draft steel policy aims at increasing supply of domestic coking coal to cut dependence on imports by half, while raising steel production to 300 MT by 2030-31. However, concerns have been voiced over low demand. "While the ministry targets to escalate production to 300 million tonnes, the demand creation for this volume and marketing it is the biggest challenge,” Minister of State for steel Vishnu Deo Sai was quoted as saying in a statement. The Indian steel industry, which contributes 2 per cent to the GDP, has huge a potential but there is a need for diversification and innovation to generate demand in the sector, Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh said. "The Indian steel industry has to become highly competitive and it has to benchmark the parameters for becoming a world-class steel producer,” he said. Singh was speaking at the second regional conference on ‘Make in India-Make in Steel’ and ‘Doubling per capita Steel Consumption’ in Ludhiana, Punjab. The northern region accounts for 40 per cent steel consumption, he said, adding that the industry needs to compete and fight with other industries supplying substitution materials for steel. Singh said that Food Corporation of India (FCI) has plans to construct 100 lakh tonne steel silos by 2020 and northern states can contribute largely to it. He praised the secondary steel industry in northern states which use scrap intensive steel making thus reducing coking coal dependence and is also cost effective. "Steel industry’s landscape has undergone wide changes and more plants using melt and manufacture technologies should come up,” he said. Steel Secretary Aruna Sharma said the government is aiming to substantially increase the steel consumption. Central budget has given boost to steel consumption in various infrastructure sectors specially railways, defence and highways. SAIL Chairman P K Singh said, “steel consumption in India will increase as a result of ‘Make in India-Make in Steel’ initiative. Both urban and rural consumption is bound to increase due to various government initiatives.” Source: http://www.india.com

By MarketWatch| 2017-03-06 11:50:15

BEIJING -- China's economic planning agency pledged to continue its push to cut overcapacity in some industrial sectors, aiming at reducing steel production capacity by around 50 million metric tons and coal by at least 150 million tons this year. Last year, the government cut steel overcapacity by 45 million tons and coal by 250 million tons. The government also aims to realize 9% growth in fixed-asset investment this year, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a report delivered at the National People's Congress. Beijing had set a 10.5% growth target for fixed-asset investment in 2016, but the actual growth came in much slower at 8.1% amid a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. The NDRC said it expected retail sales to increase by about 10% in 2017, compared with a target of 11% in 2016. Last year, China's retail sales rose 10.4% from a year earlier. Source: MarketWatch.com

By Jethro Mullen| 2017-03-02 13:16:08

President Trump talked up his plans to help American coal and steel workers in his address to Congress. "Dying industries will come roaring back to life," he declared on Tuesday night. As he was speaking, a top official thousands of miles away in Beijing was detailing China's plans to cut half a million jobs in heavy industries this year. That's on top of 726,000 jobs that were axed in the coal and steel industries last year, said Yin Weimin, the country's minister for human resources. It's all part of a plan announced a year ago to shed 1.8 million coal and steel jobs over a period of years as China tries to reduce excess capacity in industries dominated by bloated and inefficient state-owned enterprises. The government is spending billions of dollars to help redeploy workers who are affected, Yin said. In stark contrast, Trump reckons America needs more steel and coal. In his address, he touted a directive that new American pipelines must be made with American steel and the removal of a regulation that he claimed threatened "the future and livelihoods of our great coal miners." But the big job cuts in China highlight the challenges that the coal and steel industries face worldwide. China has been accused of selling unwanted steel on global markets for less than it costs to produce and export, throttling rivals from other countries. The U.S. and the European Union have repeatedly complained about the issue, slapping heavy tariffs on Chinese steel products. Despite the huge numbers of layoffs cited by the government, analysts say it's unclear how deep the cuts really go. Chinese firms are shedding jobs but they appear "reluctant to shutter idle coal mines and steel mills and write them off," analysts at Capital Economics wrote in a report published Wednesday. "China is still a long way from resolving its surplus capacity woes," wrote Chang Liu and Julian Evans-Pritchard. China is trying to shift its slowing economy away from a traditional reliance on manufacturing and state-directed investment in infrastructure. A key challenge is overhauling inefficient state-owned companies, many of which are heavily in debt and hoover up a disproportionate share of financing from banks. That deprives private businesses of the funds they need to grow. "Policymakers continue to drag their feet on reform due to fears that deep capacity cuts would cause a rise in layoffs and an immediate economic downturn," the Capital Economics report said. "But unless officials act soon, the economy's sustainable growth rate could more than halve in the years ahead." Trump, meanwhile, wants to go in the other direction, telling U.S. coal miners on the campaign trail they will be "working your asses off" under his presidency. But analysts and even a top coal industry executive have warned him he's promising the impossible. "The coal jobs aren't coming back," said James Van Nostrand, director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at West Virginia University College of Law. He said in January that "market forces" rather than regulation are pummeling the industry. -- Serenitie Wang contributed to this article. Source: http://money.cnn.com

By Josephine Mason and Foo Yun Chee| 2017-03-01 09:04:43

China expressed concerns on Tuesday over what it said was increasing protectionism after European Union regulators imposed new duties on steel imports from the world's biggest producer. The European Commission is seeking to protect EU steelmakers while avoiding tensions with Beijing, which it sees as a possible ally against protectionism and climate change. It imposed definitive anti-dumping duties of between 65.1 percent and 73.7 percent on imports of heavy plate non-alloy or other alloy steel from China on Tuesday, confirming provisional tariffs set in October. This prompted a statement from China's Commerce Ministry calling on Europe to treat Chinese companies "fairly and impartially", adding it was ready to strengthen communication with the EU to tackle issues in the industry. The companies named in the Commission's ruling included Nanjing Iron & Steel Co Ltd, Minmetals Yingkou Medium Plate Co Ltd, Wuyang Iron and Steel Co Ltd [WYIAS.UL] and Wuyang New Heavy & Wide Steel Plate Co Ltd. The EU executive said it acted after an investigation found Chinese companies to be heavily dumping their products on the EU market by selling them at well below half of the price on the producers' home market. "The Commission has responded forcefully and quickly to unfair competition, while at the same time ensuring that the rights of all interested parties have been protected," the Commission said in a statement. Eurofer, which represents the European steel sector, said the Commission had found clear evidence of dumping. "Tens of thousands of steel jobs have been lost in Europe over the past few years, and dumping, particularly demonstrably from China, has been one of the causes," it said in a statement. The EU has strengthened its policy against what it considers unfair competition for its steel industry, and said its new approach had allowed it to decide on trade sanctions more quickly than in the past. It said on Tuesday it has 41 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures in place, 18 of which are on products from China. Also on Tuesday, Europe's second highest court backed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties imposed by the EU nearly four years ago on imports of Chinese solar panels. (Additional reporting and writing by Barbara Lewis in London; Editing by Jason Neely, Greg Mahlich and Alexander Smith) Source: Reuters

By DAVID SCUTT| 2017-03-01 00:00:00

Chinese steel demand is firm, prices are moving higher while the input costs to produce it have fallen, leading to a rapid improvement in margins at many Chinese steelmakers. And, as a result, it’s helped to propel iron ore prices to levels not seen in close to three years. That’s the view of Vivek Dhar, mining and energy commodities analyst at the Commonwealth Bank, who has supplied the following chart that shows the sharp improvement in Chinese steel mill margins as a result of higher steel prices and lower input costs, largely reflecting the unwind of the mammoth rally in coking coal prices seen in the second half of last year.   "The pickup in iron ore prices can be attributed to stronger demand as Chinese steel margins expand, “says Dhar. “This margin expansion over the last few months reflects higher steel prices and lower coking coal costs.” And, as Dhar suggests, as steel prices have lifted to the highest levels seen in over two years, that just happens to have corresponded with a similar lift in iron ore spot prices over the same period. The two charts certainly look familiar. Dhar says that steel demand has been the primary driver of higher steel prices, buoyed by an expectation among mills and traders that government-backed investment in infrastructure will be rolled out by policymakers to shore up economic growth before elections are held in November. However, like his peers at Macquarie Bank, Dhar says that market participants are overly optimistic about the prospects for steel demand in the year ahead, laying the platform for an expected unwind in both steel and iron ore prices in the second half of the year. "We continue to believe that markets are factoring in overly optimistic projections on Chinese steel consumption this year. Oversupply risks are increasing with evidence that China’s steel restocking cycle is nearly over,” he says. "All in all, we expect iron ore prices to fall from current levels over the next six months, but prices may hold up at spot levels for a few weeks.” Source: http://www.businessinsider.com.au

By Leia Toovey| 2017-02-28 14:54:33

Steel prices have started to rally again, after losing steam last week, as traders returned their focus to planned steel production cuts. On Monday, China rebar futures jumped 4%, boosted by both planned steel production cuts and optimism over seasonal demand. According to Reuters, steel producers in the Hebei-Beijing-Tianjin area have been asked to shift their peak-load production to reduce pollution ahead of the start of China’s National People’s Congress on Friday. The cutback in production ahead of the Congress was anticipated, but it also brings back to the forefront the fact that the country is serious when it comes to reducing pollution. Previously, the country announced that it would crack down on industries that were heavy polluters in order to reduce emissions. Also supporting prices was the first decline in steel inventories since November. Steel inventory held by Chinese traders fell to 16.29 million tons as of Feb. 24 from 16.39 million tons in the prior week. On Monday, the most-active rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange climbed as high as 3,648 yuan, its highest price point since February 24, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, steel producers are still dealing with soaring input costs, and on Sunday China Steel Corp. raised steel prices by 6.9% for deliveries in the second quarter. The company cited higher raw material costs as the sole reason behind the price hike. This is not the first price increase due to higher prices. Other steel producers have already raised prices, and more hikes are expected. China Steel Corp. also noted that it has been running its steel furnaces at full capacity so far this year, in order to meet demand for the commodity. Source: http://www.economiccalendar.com

By Rachel Cao| 2017-02-24 08:45:41

Mark Cuban made comments recently about how robotics and automation are the wave of the future and could cause unemployment in America. Many believe most of the unemployment Cuban referred to would primarily affect traditional manufacturing jobs and industries. However, U.S. Steel CEO Mario Longhi said he believes it's realistic and necessary for manufacturing jobs to come back. "It is totally realistic to bring jobs back," Longhi told CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report" on Thursday. "If you look at the regulatory system that we have today, it takes us years sometimes to get some approvals. We have a pipeline of projects just sitting out there to be executed on. In a fair playing field, for every great idea or innovative solution that comes to place, you need a physical device to bring it to fruition so the full value can be captured. It is totally viable, it is needed and can be done." Among those projects Longhi may be referencing could be the Dakota Access and Keystone projects that President Trump said earlier must use pipes made from U.S. steel. Longhi reiterated comments he made earlier to CNBC that U.S. Steel is fully capable of producing for upcoming pipeline projects. "The capability is in there for us to make everything that is needed," Longhi said. "We are going to become energy dependent not too far down the road. Therefore, the capacity to explore, produce, extract and transmit is something that our industry is capable of delivering." The CEO was also one of 24 business leaders who met with President Trump on Thursday to discuss economic policies and the job growth agenda. In response to comments made about automation and robots taking over manufacturing jobs, Longhi said he believes labor is still necessary to fulfill the 3 percent growth Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin mentioned earlier to CNBC. "If you add a good dimension of our economic growth, 3 plus percent a year, that is going to require a significant amount of labor as we go into the new industries," Longhi said. "If we talk about robots, robots have to be made somewhere. So I think evolution is key, and I believe economic growth will create conditions for many, many new jobs to be created." And while Longhi stopped short in suggesting whether or not he was in favor of a border-adjustment tax, he did voice a need for a "fair playing field" in international trade. "My view is that what we need is a fair playing field. I don't consider a trade war when you are going trying to make sure that everybody plays by the same rules," Longhi said. "In many cases, what happens is that we compete against countries that are unfairly twisting what should be a market-force driven environment into their own benefit, and we don't have a chance to compete in that regard." Source: CNBC.com

By https://financialtribune.com| 2017-02-23 00:00:00

Global crude steel production stood at 136.5 million tons in January, indicating a 7% increase year-on-year.Iranian steel mills produced 1.52 million tons of crude steel in January, registering an 11.3% growth compared with last year’s similar month. The solid uptick in output meant Iran was the world’s 13th biggest steelmaker in January, according to a preliminary report released by World Steel Association to its members, including Iranian Mines & Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, and seen by Financial Tribune. Iran was placed between Italy (12th) with 1.82 million tons and Mexico with 1.51 million tons (14th). Iran’s January output edged down slightly compared to December 2016 though. The world’s 67 steelmaking countries–with the recent addition of Vietnam—continued their growth in production, which first began in November after months of shrinking output. Global crude steel production stood at 136.5 million tons in January, indicating a 7% increase year-on-year. The crude steel capacity utilization ratio of the steelmaking countries in January stood at 68.5%--3.4% higher than last year’s similar month. Compared to December 2016, the ratio is 0.9% higher. The WSA statistics indicate nearly all global steel giants started 2017 by posting strong growth. For instance, China’s January 2017 output was up 7.4% to reach 67.2 million tons, which according to the association, owes to the fact that January 2016 saw a marked dip in Chinese steel output. China remained in the top spot with 67.2 million tons, followed by Japan with 9 million tons, India with 8.4 million tons, the United States with 6.8 million tons, Russia with 6.1 million tons, South Korea with 5.8 million tons, Germany with 3.64 million tons, Turkey with 2.9 million tons, Brazil with 2.8 million tons, Ukraine with 2.1 million tons and Taiwan with 1.87 million tons. Iranian steelmakers exported more than 4.4 million tons of crude steel and steel products during the 10 months to January 19, registering a 45% growth compared with last year’s corresponding period. Iran Steel Producers Association has forecast domestic steelmakers to export close to 5.7 million tons by the end of the current fiscal year (March 2017). Iranian steelmakers set a new record last year by exporting more than 4.1 million tons of steel products and 1.8 million tons of crude steel. Iran’s crude steel output stood at 17.89 million tons in 2016, according to WSA data. The country aims to become the world’s sixth largest steel producer as per the 20-Year Vision Plan (2005-25), which envisions an annual production of 55 million tons of crude steel and 20-25 million tons of exports per year by the deadline. Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh said Iranian steel mills have so far materialized 31 million tons of the annual steel production capacity. Source: https://financialtribune.com