Steel Markets News

Sub-continent ship recycling markets (including Turkey) remained in a precarious position this week, with the recent decline in steel plate prices mixed in with the crushing depreciation of currencies that has led to a serious dearth in the global demand for tonnage, reports GMS.As a result, there have still not been any noteworthy sales at these new lower levels to justify some of the alarming news emanating from sub-continent markets, and it does seem that much of what we are…

Indian sub-continent markets remain positioned on a largely firm footing, as a surprising shortage of tonnage keeps demand stuck high and prices propped up.The conclusion of Eid holidays has yet to see an increase in supply, despite the fact that the ongoing monsoon / summer holiday months could also be contributing to the overall sluggishness in the supply of units intended for recycling.After this week’s stock market turmoil and the Chinese crackdown on various sectors (including tech and education), there wasn’t an immediate & corresponding knock on-effect on the shipping & steel markets.

Regulatory reform is one of President Trump’s priority agenda items. Upon taking office, the President issued a number of Executive Orders focusing attention and demanding action on the myriad of regulations impacting American businesses.Last May, the reform spotlight fell on maritime regulations when the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), published a Request for Information (RFI) on how the government should “prudently manage regulatory costs imposed on the maritime sector.” OMB…

Tanker demolition is on the rise as 3.5 million DWT has been scrapped so far in 2018, according to Vessels Value. Each factor played a part as the decision to remove a ship from service varies depending on the financial situation of the owner. Some may be motivated as the $/t offered price offsets enough of their remaining mortgage on a ship to allow them to move out of a low cashflow market, while others may remove a ship after it completes a long-term storage contract. Higher…

Steel exports to the USA accounted for just over 2.5 per cent of Rautaruukki's turnover in 2001. The Group supplied a total of some 4.7 million tonnes of steel last year, and just over 80,000 tonnes of this went to the USA. The US decision to impose tariffs on steel imports will not therefore have a major direct impact on Rautaruukki's business operations. Rautaruukki has alternative plans for sales to compensate for the exports to the USA. It is thought that the impact of the US decision to impose import tariffs, which was widely anticipated by the steel markets, has already been passed on to steel prices, which are low, at the end of 2001 and the start of this year. For that reason the US decision is not expected to have any major impact on product prices in Europe.

With global steel demand running at an unprecedented level, rapidly rising prices have been a constant headache for ship repairers, as well as ship builders, in recent months. And despite sharply higher steel output, there is little sign of any softening as the New Year dawns. According to the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI), crude steel production for the 62 countries reporting their figures was 945m tonnes by the end of November, up 9% on the corresponding period one year earlier. Analysts were expecting total production to break through the billion tonne mark easily by the end of the year for the first time ever. IISI figures show that China accounted for the largest increase in output.