Recently, iron ore prices continue to rise, as of today, Qingdao Port mainstream PB powder spot price at 890 yuan/wet ton, week on week up 35 yuan/wet ton.
According to Mysteel, the rising price of raw material iron ore has brought great pressure to domestic steel mills. In order to control costs, most mills have adopted a low inventory, small quantities of multiple batches of raw material procurement strategy, while long-term steel export prices remain high. At present, the hot coil export quotation of mainstream large steel mills is 660-670 USD/ton (April shipping date), the bargaining space is limited.
From the overseas perspective, after Formosa Ha Tinh announced the CIF price of domestic SAE1006 hot coil for April shipment date of 690 USD/ton, Vietnam Hefa Steel adjusted the price for April delivery to 650 USD/ton CFR last Friday, showing obvious price advantage. Hot coil exports from mainstream Japanese and South Korean mills to Southeast Asia are priced around $680 / t CFR, with few transactions. In addition, due to the force majeure factors of Turkey’s export plate was cancelled by the European buyers, so recently the Indian hot roll is mainly exported to Europe, the price is above $700 / ton FOB.
[International Market Trends]
JFE will further expand the electrical steel capacity of the warehouse
On February 6, JFE Steel announced that it plans to further expand its new energy automotive electrical steel production capacity at its Cangfu plant, with production expected to begin in the first half of the 2024 fiscal year (ending September 2024). The investment, worth about 50 billion yen ($375 million), is expected to triple the Kurashiki plant’s electrical steel capacity. More >>>
Tata Steel UK upgrades its paint line
Tata Steel UK has announced that it is upgrading its Shotton steel mill, with one recently completed and a second set to be completed by June 2023. More >>>
Romania’s Liberty Galati Steel company will restart blast furnace No. 5
The No. 5 blast furnace of Romania’s Liberty Galati Steel company, which has an annual capacity of 2 million tons, has been idle since December 2022 for maintenance and upgrades. The company decided to restart the blast furnace in late March due to the recent recovery of both internal and external demand, and has started collecting sheet metal orders for delivery in April. More >>>
Turkish MMK Metalurji is about to resume production
Turkish steelmaker MMK Metalurji, a subsidiary of Russian steelmaker Magnitogorsk (MMK), plans to start trial production at its rolling mill in southeastern Turkey on Feb. 20, following an earthquake in the region. More >>>
Post time: Feb-21-2023