After weathering a bumpy ride throughout 2022, one of the world’s most traded commodities still isn’t out of the woods just yet. Though steel prices rose across the board over the past few weeks, mills around the world remain shuttered, and demand continues to fluctuate. Zero-COVID and limited energy across places like Europe are just […]
Category: Ferrous Metals
NLMK La Louvière Mill to Stay Shuttered Until Summer
In steel news, Belgium’s NLMK La Louvière is unlikely to resume operations at one of its two hot rolling mills before summer in Belgium. NLMK shuttered the mill after a series of fires in late 2022 knocked it out. “One of the two lines does not work at all,” a source close to the plant […]
Liberty Steel UK Cuts its Steel Production
Liberty Steel UK (LSUK) plans to reduce steelmaking and mothball some of its UK assets as part of restructuring plans. The group instead wants to focus on high-value, alloy-steel production in order to remain competitive. “Despite the injection of £200 million ($244 million) of shareholder capital over the last two years, the production of some […]
Renewables/GOES MMI: Wind Turbine Production Threatened by Steel Price Hikes
The Renewables MMI (Monthly MetalMiner Index) began showing signs of a possible reversal month-over-month, edging up 3.42%. Renewable resources, meanwhile, continue to see significant global investment. MetalMiner noted in its Raw Steels MMI that steel prices found a bottom month-over-month. This impacted the renewable resources index heavily. After all, much of the index consists of […]
Automotive MMI: 2023 Could Bring More Car Parts Shortages
The Automotive MMI (Monthly MetalMiner Index) traded sideways for the second month in a row, rising by just 2.65%. The automotive index was impacted heavily by China rescinding zero-COVID restrictions, which caused a spike in cases. However, Chinese-sourced lead and HDG steel prices rose significantly, pulling the index upward. The overall volatility in metals used […]
Raw Steels MMI: U.S. Steel Prices Find Bottom, Begin Rising
U.S. steel prices hit a bottom at the beginning of December, then began to climb. Hot rolled coil prices rose over 8% from their December low. Meanwhile, plate prices traded down for the first time since September. Overall, the Raw Steels Monthly Metals Index (MMI) rose by 7.98% from December to January. MetalMiner’s free weekly […]
NLMK La Louvière, a Belgian producer of hot-rolled coils (HRC), to recommence production
In steel news, Russian-Belgian strip producer NLMK La Louvière aims to restart rolling operations. A source close to the plant told MetalMiner that the current goal for the restart is the end of January. The announcement comes just weeks after a fire knocked the facility off stream. The December 23 fire was located in the […]
Construction MMI: Chinese Sourced Steel Prices Spike, Supply Pinches Possible
The Construction MMI (Monthly MetalMiner Index) rose considerably by 7.68%, with Chinese steel prices getting a significant boost. In fact, all facets of the index related to China (except for iron ore) increased. The movement came in the wake of zero-COVID restrictions lifting, which resulted in a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. While this was […]
Steel Prices and Global Market: a 2022 Review
Steel prices endured long-term declines throughout 2022. However, with so many geopolitical events and supply chain pinches, it is important to note that the market in general was quite volatile. Steel Prices: Q1 of 2022 Raw steels started the year with a huge bang, rising over 12% between January and February. China’s climate efforts caused […]
European Tariffs Planned for Carbon-Intensive Steel and Aluminum
Global metal manufacturing is already set to change in 2023. Indeed, the European Council and European Parliament recently reached a provisional agreement over the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). This would impose new tariffs on materials from carbon-intensive industries imported into the 27-member bloc. According to members of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health, […]
