MetalMiner’s September spot market GOES M3-grade price index held nearly steady from a month ago dropping by only 1%. However, in a closely watched transaction, buying power just got a lot stronger as the EU recently approved the acquisition of Alstom’s energy business by GE.
Although authorities rightfully focused on potential anti-trust issues, back over on the purchasing side, the combined entity makes GE a formidable power buyer, no pun intended.
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The acquisition has been cleared for go, pending the sale of Alstom’s turbine business to Ansaldo, an Italian turbine manufacturer.
Powerful New Player
From a global sourcing perspective, we’d expect GE to become a price maker in terms of the company gaining significant European GOES buying power from Alstom as well as the ability to leverage opportunities for any/all global GOES contracts going forward.
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The European GOES producers have a reprieve on imports due to the anti-dumping case. Whether or not they can achieve price hikes with a more powerful GE remains to be seen.
Another New GOES Market Player
Meanwhile, Big River Steel confirmed their intent to allocate $600 million in capital for a phase 2 silicon steel-finishing mill for GOES FP and NOES (non-oriented electrical steel) FP at a recent Steel Market Update conference. Allegheny Technologies, Inc. has entered its fourth week of a lockout for steel workers. Thus far, all plants impacted remain operational.
In future follow-up posts we will examine China as a market-based economy and, in particular, China’s role in GOES markets.
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Exact GOES M3-Grade Price?
US grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) fell to $2,597 per metric ton for September.
The GOES MMI® collects and weights 1 global grain-oriented electrical steel price point to provide a unique view into price trends over a 30-day period. For more information on the GOES MMI®, how it’s calculated or how your company can use the index, please drop us a note at: info (at) agmetalminer (dot) com.