By Priscilla Antunes/Valarie Jackso| 2017-04-28 14:24:27

Brazil's ministry of foreign trade has started an antidumping investigation against imports of austenitic stainless steel tubes from Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, it said Thursday in a statement.The investigation is looking at imports between October 2015 and September 2016 of welded tubes of austenitic stainless steel (grades 304 and 316) of circular section, with an outside diameter of 6mm (1/4 inch) or more but less than 2,032 mm (80 inches), with a thickness of 0.40 mm or more and less than or equal to 12.70 mm, usually classified under HS codes 7306.40.00 and 7306.90.20.The complaint was filed January 31 by tubes and pipes producers Aperam Inox Tubos Brasil and Marcegaglia do Brasil. Aperam is the country's sole producer of austenitic stainless steel.Chinese exporters of welded tubes under HS code 7306.40.00 already face definitive dumping duties ranging from $359.66/mt to $911.71/mt, applied in July 29, 2013.Source: http://www.platts.com

By Xinhua| 2017-04-26 10:01:18

BEIJING — A senior figure in the Chinese steel industry has called for further cuts to steel capacity, saying the sector remains saturated, despite increased profits and production of steel mills in the first quarter."The whole industry needs to press ahead with cutting capacity and de-leveraging," said Gu Jianguo, executive vice chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA).He warned against steel price volatility and falling exports in an article published Monday on the CISA website.Gu's remarks came after unexpectedly strong performance in the steel sector this year.Thanks to recovery in the broader economy, CISA's members posted combined profits of 23.3 billion yuan ($3.4 billion) during the January-March period, in contrast with a 8.75 billion yuan of losses a year ago.China's total crude steel output in the same time rose 4.6 percent year-on-year, with daily production in March hitting a record high.Encouraged by the the unexpected good news, unfounded optimism is blooming in the oversupplied sector, which Gu describes as "near-sighted."Highlighting lingering problems, Gu said "more observation is necessary" to forecast the full-year economic outlook, and steel demand and consumption.Plant managers should be clear-headed, Gu said, asking them not to "blindly increase production."Officials in a high-level meeting last month agreed steel capacity has not changed fundamentally and the recent price rally could result in vulnerabilities. Capacity cuts are still necessary this year.Steel production capacity should be cut by around 50 million metric tons and coal by at least 150 million tons this year, a key part of supply-side structural reform.Gu called on steel plants to cooperate with government to eliminate inferior steel products, shut down "zombie enterprises" and curb new capacity.Source: ChinaDaily.com

By Commodity News| 2017-04-24 09:18:59

The recent increase in prices of iron ore and coking coal has made steel manufacturing costlier by at least Rs 8,000 a tonne for producers without captive mines.This is likely to put pressure on their margins, being unable to pass on the extra cost to consumers in a market situation where domestic demand is subdued.Of the 122 million tonnes installed capacity of steel in the country, about 70 per cent come from industries without captive mines, dependent on iron ore bought from merchant miners.The price of iron ore lumps (62.5 per cent iron) has gone up from Rs 1,744 a tonne in September 2016 to Rs 3,000 a tonne this month, a rise of 72 per cent. The FOB price of coking coal has doubled in two weeks this month, from $150 a tonne to $300 a tonne. Its September 2016 price was $220 a tonne.The spiralling ore price has had an impact of Rs 2,000 a tonne of steel for those buying it from the market. The rise in coking coal price has pushed up the input cost by Rs 6,000 a tonne.Interestingly, the domestic ore price is showing a rising trend while the international price has fallen by 20 per cent in the past two months, from $93.75 a tonne in February to $74.65 a tonne in April. “The cause of this pricing anomaly is the lack of a mechanism to ensure long-term linkage facilities for domestic steel industries, encompassing the merchant miners at a price derived for dedicated e-auction of ore sector-wise, as is the case with fuel supply auctions for coal,” said a steel producer whose plant needs ore from the market.Citing the example of Odisha, which supplies about 60 per cent of the ore requirement of steel plants in the country, he said in the e-auction of iron ore by the state’s Odisha Mining Corporation, the floor price is fixed at the same level as the sale price of the earlier auction. As a result, irrespective of the global trend, the auction price keeps increasing, later referred to by merchant miners to benchmark their ore rate.Following complaints from steel plants, the Union steel ministry has set up a committee under the guidance of Niti Aayog to derive a pricing mechanism for ore in the country. Its report is awaited. Pending the proposed pricing mechanism, steel industries want the ore produced by merchant miners to be sold through open market auction, to ensure a market-driven price and discouragement of ore export. Beside raw material security by earmarking sufficient ore blocks for captive use in the mine auction process.They complaint the Odisha government has put for auction only two ore blocks in FY18, one for iron and steel plants and another for merchant mining.Source: Business Standard

By Reuters| 2017-04-21 00:00:00

China's crude steel output reached a record 72 million tonnes in March as mills anticipated brisk seasonal demand starting this month. But demand has been slow so far. Andrey RudakovIron ore and steel futures in China bounced back on Thursday from a three-day fall and after a volatile session that saw both commodities slide to their lowest in more than three months.The intraday selloff underlined investor worries over plentiful supply of steel and iron ore and lean demand and the ensuing recovery in prices could be short-lived as the outlook remained shaky.China's crude steel output reached a record 72 million tonnes in March as mills anticipated brisk seasonal demand starting this month. But demand has been slow so far, leaving mills and traders with hefty inventories, traders said."I'm not very sure whether there's enough new demand to match this big production of steel," said a Shanghai-based trader.The most-active rebar on the Shanghai Futures Exchange closed up 1.8 per cent at 2889 yuan ($US420) a tonne.The construction steel product bounced back towards the day's peak of 2928 yuan after falling to 2775 yuan, its weakest since January 9.Iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange climbed 3.1 per cent to end at 488.50 yuan per tonne, near the session's peak of 490 yuan. The contract hit 460.50 yuan earlier, also the lowest since January 9.There is no rush among Chinese mills to buy iron ore, said the Shanghai trader. "Mills have more choices because there's plenty of port stocks," he said.Iron ore piggybacked on the rally in steel prices early this year and steel's consequent retreat has dragged down iron ore as well.The steelmaking raw material is similarly hit by a glut, with stockpiles at China's ports staying near the highest level in more than a decade as arrivals continue.China's iron ore imports reached 95.56 million tonnes in March, the second-highest monthly volume on record.Stockpiles of imported iron ore at China's major ports stood at 130.4 million tonnes on April 14, according to data tracked by SteelHome consultancy.That is not far below the 132.45 million tonnes where it stood on March 24, the highest since SteelHome began tracking it in 2004. That volume would make about 95 million tonnes of steel, enough to build 12,960 replicas of the 324-metre high Eiffel Tower in Paris.Iron ore for delivery to China's Qingdao port climbed 2.2 per cent to $US64.60 a tonne on Wednesday, according to Metal Bulletin, after a two-day drop.Source: Reuters

By prweb.com| 2017-04-21 00:00:00

Charles “Chris” Warren, Owner/President of Warren Builders, LLC, State College, PA, has selected the CAMO® Edge Fastening System from National Nail to ensure a quick, easy installation and safe, fastener-free look for virtually all the decks his company builds. To meet customer demand for a smooth, attractive deck surface, Warren’s crews choose the CAMO Marksman Pro™ system almost exclusively to attach deck boards. Warren installed his own lakefront dock with CAMO and found that it is the best match for composites and pvc deck materials. National Nail recently expanded their CAMO Edge Fastening warranty to cover deck boards in addition to the screws, for added assurance and confidence in installing CAMO with any decking type—wood, composite or pvc.Warren no longer uses redwood, cedar or treated wood because of what he’s seen in his 30 years of experience. “We tell customers on a budget to go with a lower cost composite, anything but wood,” he said, which requires going back to sand and seal. “It’s all about avoiding callbacks and lowering homeowner maintenance.”The company uses composites such as Trex®, TimberTech® and AZEK®, which work well with the CAMO Marksman Pro. “With the new wave of composites and pvcs, no one screws deck boards the old-fashioned way anymore,” he said. “Expectations for aesthetics are very high now—homeowners do not want to see unsightly deck screws on the surface.” And, he adds, the edge-fastened decks do not allow water seepage into exposed openings around face-screws; the boards are more stable because both sides are fastened to the joist; and it is safer for bare feet with no raised screw heads, which can also get hot in the sun.With the Marksman Pro, Warren’s crew can quickly and easily deliver CAMO® Edge Deck Screws into the edge of solid or grooved deck boards for fast installation. They simply load the proprietary deck screws into the hand-held guides that position them to be driven into the edge of the deck boards and provide automatic gapping. Special driver bits are included with the screws to ensure depth of drive.For replacement decks, Warren prefers CAMO Edge Fastening over other systems because in his experience, CAMO is more forgiving and less expensive. “With CAMO, even if the joists are a bit uneven, someone can put their weight on the board and then we edge fasten it,” said Warren. “It uses a real screw so it holds tight and is faster than anything on the market.”In addition to running a building company, Warren devotes time to educating future building professionals. He teaches building construction technology to students in the State College, PA, school district, passing along his knowledge about different products and techniques. He is also the chair of the Pennsylvania Home Builders Association Student Chapter, with 1,000 students. “The students discover tools and systems like CAMO and get addicted to certain brands for their entire careers,” said Warren. “This is a system that truly lends itself to the next generation of construction professionals.” AZEK® and TimberTech® are registered trademarks of CPG International LLC and is unaffiliated with CAMO® or National Nail Corp. Trex® is a registered trademark of Trex Company and is unaffiliated with CAMO® or National Nail Corp.About CAMO: CAMO Edge Fastening™ from National Nail delivers beautiful, fastener-free, Barefoot Approved™ results with virtually any wood, composite or PVC decking. With the CAMO® Marksman Pro®, users can quickly and easily deliver CAMO Edge Deck Screws into the edge of solid or grooved deck boards for fast installations.Source: http://www.prweb.com

By CNBC| 2017-04-20 16:46:01

Chip Somodevilla | Getty ImagesU.S. President Donald Trump in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on April 19, 2017.U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday will sign a directive asking for a speedy probe into whether imports of foreign-made steel are hurting U.S. national security, two administration officials said on Wednesday.Trump is to sign the memorandum related to section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 at a White House event that is expected to include leaders of some U.S. steel companies. The law allows the president to impose restrictions on imports for reasons of national security.There are national security implications, one of the officials said, from imports of steel alloys that are used in products such as the armor plating of ships and require a lot of expertise to create and produce.Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross launched the probe on Wednesday night. Trump's directive will ask Ross to conduct it "with all deliberate speed and deliver the results to the president with his recommendations," a second official said.The move is another step in Trump's "America First" policies in which he has tried to boost U.S. manufacturers and preserve American jobs. It comes as he tries to coax China into taking a more active role in reining in North Korea's nuclear and missile programs.The first official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the directive is not aimed at a specific country but is "product oriented."He said there is concern when a domestic industry is hurt by imports from a foreign entity "that hampers our ability to maintain production and maintain the expertise necessary for these high national security-concerned products, specific alloys and so forth."Source: http://www.cnbc.com

By Josephine Mason/Meng Meng/Kennet| 2017-04-18 10:54:22

FILE PHOTO: A labourer works at a cold-rolling mill on the outskirts of Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei province August 22, 2006. REUTERS/Alfred Cheng Jin/File Photo (Copyright Reuters 2017)BEIJING –  China's steel output rose 1.8 percent in March to a monthly record of 72 million tons, beating the high set by the world's top producer in March 2016 and stoking worries of a growing glut as demand remained flat.March's monthly total easily beat the previous record of 70.65 million tons, national statistics bureau data showed on Monday.In the first quarter, production totaled 201.1 million tons, up 4.6 percent from the same period a year earlier, the data showed.Chinese mills have been ramping up output in a bid to profit from rising commodities prices even as Beijing enacts measures to curtail surplus steelmaking capacity.(Reporting by Josephine Mason and Meng Meng; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)Source: Reuters

By Mark O'Hara| 2017-04-14 11:22:18

U.S. Steel’s outlookLast year, we saw a steep rally in Chinese steel prices. As Chinese steel prices rose in the year, we saw rises in steel prices in other regions as well.Remember that because it’s a low-cost producer and the world’s biggest steel importer, China’s steel prices tend to put a floor under international steel prices. Simply put, as China’s export offers rise, producers elsewhere also gain some pricing power.After the steep rally last year, Chinese steel prices have seen downward pressure after peaking in February 2017. Not surprisingly, iron ore prices have also come under pressure. With Chinese steel prices and iron ore prices coming under pressure, what’s the outlook for US steel prices? Let’s take a look.Steel pricesUS steelmakers raised their selling offers last month. US steel prices have also built on last year’s gains. Spot HRC (hot rolled coil) prices are now in the ballpark of $650 per short ton, their highest level since October 2014. Spot CRC (cold rolled coil) prices are now at a five-year high.Impact on 1Q17 earningsHigher steel prices in 1Q17 should support steelmakers’ earnings, including those of U.S. Steel Corporation (X), AK Steel (AKS), and ArcelorMittal (MT).However, in our view, US steel prices may have peaked, and we could see some downward pressure in the near term. As of now, a crash like the one we saw in 3Q16 looks unlikely. Nonetheless, the markets (XME) seem to be accounting for a slight correction in steel prices in their valuations of steel companies.Source: Markt Realist

By The Hindu Business Line| 2017-04-12 17:52:36

Price is WTO-compliant and cannot be contested by exporting countriesThe Ministry of Commerce has recommended anti-dumping duty on steel products imported from Japan, China, Korea, Brazil, Indonesia, Russia and Ukraine for five years, insulating the domestic steel industry from predatory priced imports.On Tuesday, the Directorate General of Anti Dumping under the Ministry of Commerce issued a final recommendation to fix the import price of hot rolled coil at $489 a tonne, hot rolled plates and sheets at $561 a tonne and cold rolled coils at $576 a tonne.The anti-dumping duty will be the price difference between the landed cost and the price indicated by the Centre, said the order.The definitive anti-dumping duty recommended by the Ministry is completely WTO-complaint and cannot be contested by the exporting countries.The DGAD concluded that there has been a significant increase in the volume of dumped imports from these nations.Due to the dumping, the domestic industry has suffered material injury, the DGAD said in a notification today.On the issue raised by the Government of Japan on the methodology of calculation of reference price, the Directorate said the calculation is done keeping the concept of lesser duty rule followed by the Indian authority.The move will provide a long lasting relief for the steel industry which has been plagued by cheap imports and fall in domestic demand.The government had initiated investigation against cheap imports on petition filed by SAIL, Essar Steel and JSW Steel.Last April, it recommended a provisional anti-dumping duty which led to revival in domestic steel industry, with production increasing 8.5 per cent to 97 million tonnes in FY-17.Concerned over rising bad debt in the industry, the government had initiated various measures including minimum import price and safeguard duty to protect the domestic industry, but it was contested by exporting countries in the global forum.H Shivramkrishnan, Director (Commercial), Essar Steel, said fast-tracking of the final anti-dumping order within one year of filing of petition conveys a clear positive signal that the government is proactive to the domestic industry concerns.Source: Thehindubusinessline.com

By IANS| 2017-04-12 00:00:00

KOLKATA: Overtaking imports, India's steel exports jumped by 102.1 per cent in 2016-17 to 8.24 million tonnes (mt), as compared to 4.07 mt shipped out in the previous financial year (2015-16), according to a Steel Ministry's report. "Export of total finished steel was up by 102.1 per cent in April-March 2016-17 at 8.24 mt over same period of last year. Export in March 2017 at 1.62 mt was up by 363 per cent over March 2016 and grew by 114 per cent over February 2017," said the report of Joint Plant Committee."Since domestic consumption is not picking up well, steel producers have been given thrust on exports. Such trend is expected in 2017-18 because of brown-field expansion of steel in India. Steel producers, including SAIL, have been drawing up big plans for exports," Institute for Steel Development and Growth's Director General Sushim Banerjee told IANS on Wednesday. India has become a net exporter of steel in 2016-17 as imports fell gradually. According to provisional data, imports of total finished steel stood at 7.42 mt in 2016-17, declining by 36.6 per cent from 11.71 mt of imports in 2015-16. Imports in the last month at 0.8 mt were down by 19.7 per cent over the corresponding month of previous fiscal, but up by 51.8 per cent over February 2017. According to the report, India's consumption of total finished steel at 83.93 mt saw a growth of three per cent in 2016-17 as against 81.52 mt in 2015-16. Consumption in March only at 7.98 mt was up by 2.2 per cent over corresponding month last year but increased by 13.4 percent over February, 2017. "Unless investments come in the infrastructure projects, domestic consumption will not rise sharply. In fact, steel intensity to GDP has come down," Banerjee said. Production for sale of total finished steel at 101.27 mt registered a growth of 11.3 per cent during 2016-17, compared to 90.98 mt in the previous fiscal. In fact, crude steel production grew by 8.5 per cent in 2016-17. Overall finished steel production for sale was at 9.75 mt in March, 2017, up by 17.4 per cent over year-ago month and grew by 14.6 per cent over February 2017, the report added.Source: The Economic Times