This Morning in Metals: Jingye Group pitches French government on British Steel deal

This morning in metals news, China’s Jingye Group has reportedly written to the French government in an effort to keep its takeover of the insolvent British Steel afloat, Liberty Steel faces challenges at its South Carolina mill and iron ore prices continue to surge.
Improve metal purchase timing and mitigate price risk — trial MetalMiner’s monthly metal buying outlook

Jingye aims to save British Steel takeover bid

China’s Jingye Group has put forth a takeover bid of British Steel — the U.K.’s second-largest steelmaker — after the latter was forced into liquidation in May 2019.
As MetalMiner’s Stuart Burns recently noted, objections from France regarding the fate of British Steel’s Hayange facility under a Chinese-owned firm threatened to derail the deal.
As such, the Chinese group has written a letter to the French government in an attempt to convince of the deal’s merits, the Financial Times reported.

Liberty weighs challenges in South Carolina

The Post and Courier outlined the challenges Liberty Steel faces at its Georgetown operation in South Carolina, including efforts to revitalize the facility’s melt shop.
According to the report, Liberty shut down the plant’s melt shop in September, claiming it needed $25 million in investment, but has yet to reopen it.

Iron ore rises

As Burns noted earlier this week, iron ore prices have shown upward momentum of late, despite sluggish steel demand and the coronavirus outbreak.
Looking for metal price forecasting and data analysis in one easy-to-use platform? Inquire about MetalMiner Insights today!
Reuters reported iron ore on the Dalian Commodity Exchange made gains for a ninth straight day, with this week marking its best since September.