Steel industry news and business information website.

CORPORATE NEWS

U.S. Steel, ArcelorMittal both propose cutting health ... 
Fri 17th Aug 2018 15:02 GMT
U.S. Steel announced Thursday it would invest $750 million in Gary Works, and ArcelorMittal said earlier in the week it would spend $330 million to expand a plant in Brazil. But the steelmakers are sa [full report]

ArcelorMittal Restarts US$330m Investment Programme in ... 
Thu 16th Aug 2018 13:37 GMT
ArcelorMittal is set to resume the expansion project at ArcelorMittal Vega in Brazil, a flat steel cold rolling, pickling, and galvanising unit located in So Francisco do Sul, in the state of Santa C [full report]

Erdogan fights a losing battle with Trump 
Wed 15th Aug 2018 21:53 GMT
Aluminum will now be 20% and Steel 50%. Our relations with Turkey are not good at will require new leadership and an entirely different mentality, wrote Aykan Erdemir, a senior fellow at the Foun [full report]

Turkey's President Calls For A Boycott Of American Electronic ... 
Wed 15th Aug 2018 14:43 GMT
The move follows President Trump's decision to double tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the country Much of the money came from foreign banks. Aykan Erdemir is a former opposition politic [full report]

Parastatal reform crucial in a new Zimbabwe 
Wed 15th Aug 2018 06:29 GMT
I was partly involved in the privatisation of the coke division of the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Zisco) in the past three years. This project was launched by the minister of Industry two weeks [full report]

Trump Approves Largest-Ever Aid Package to Israel 
Tue 14th Aug 2018 15:59 GMT
The White House also placed aluminum and steel tariffs on Turkey (Credit: US Department of Defense) Aykan Erdemir, who served in the Turkish parliament from 2011 to 2015 and serves as a senior fel [full report]

INDUSTRY NEWS

Russia: Obukhovskoye Mine Group explodes 
Fri 17th Aug 2018 10:56 GMT
Obukhovskoye Mine Group, Rostov region, a part of Ukrainian DTEK, has suspended coalmining following an explosion. According to preliminary information, during the preparation for the explosion works at the long face No. 501, blast-hole charges detonated. There is no information on the collapse of the mine, but 5 miners were injured and one perished as… [see news]

Dalian coke extends rally to record high as China output ... 
Fri 17th Aug 2018 05:30 GMT
Providing further upward momentum for coke was a 4 percent rally in steel prices in afternoon trading amid market talk that Tangshan, Chinas top steelmaking city, is considering moving production cur [see news]

China restarts suspended projects for construction of ... 
Fri 17th Aug 2018 02:36 GMT
Henan, Hunan, Hubei and Zhejiang provinces. In Shandong, electricity shortages are estimated at 3 gigawatts. This has led to weaker constraints in the coal mining sector. In May 2018, the National Ene [see news]

Forged Steel Grinding Media Industry 2018 Top Manufacturers ... 
Thu 16th Aug 2018 18:03 GMT
The main market players are Longteng Special Steel, Oriental Casting and Forging, Sheng Ye Grinding Ball, Shandong Huamin, Jinan Huafu, etc. Download FREE Sample Copy of Forged Steel Grinding Media Ma [see news]

Metinvest secures long-term coal supplies in Ukraine 
Thu 16th Aug 2018 14:46 GMT
Metinvest, the vertically integrated steel and mining group of companies, is pleased to announce that it has secured additional long-term supply of high-grade coking coal by investing in production cooperation and acquiring up to 24.99% of some coking coal assets in Ukraine. This is in line with the Groups strategic priority of improving its self-sufficiency in coking coal to strengthen its vertical integration [see news]

UK Stocks-Factors to watch on Aug 16 
Thu 16th Aug 2018 02:09 GMT
Miner Anglo American Plc expects to obtain licenses to expand its Minas-Rio multibillion-dollar iron ore mine in Brazil by June next year, the company's CEO for Brazil Ruben Fernandes told Reuters - on [see news]

China's Hebei province vows 15 percent cut in smog by ... 
Wed 15th Aug 2018 08:42 GMT
The countrys biggest steel producing region has been taking action to raise for improvements made in June, while Tangshan - Chinas biggest steelmaking city - was fined the same amount after its [see news]

SELECTED STEEL INDUSTRY MAPS

World coke plants

For other steel location maps, visit our steel industry maps page.

STEEL PLANT CAPITAL INVESTMENT COSTS

BOF SLAB PLANT

All cost estimates are in 2016 US dollars.
For further info visit our steel capex page.

Capital costs describe investment for an integrated slab plant with continuous casting, typically with coke, sinter etc. Representative investments include:

• CSA slab mill investment in Sepetiba, Brazil
• CSN investment in Itaguai, Brazil
• CVRD-Baosteel joint venture in Vitoria, Espirito Santo in Brazil
• Sinosteel Corporation's investment in Jharkand, India.

Average cost: $4300m
Average capacity: 4210 kt
Sample size: 12
Average cost/tonne: $1050/t

INTEGRATED HOT STRIP MILL

All cost estimates are in 2016 US dollars.
For further info visit our steel capex page.

Chart describes investments in ore-based integrated steel plants with hot strip production and sometimes other additional downstream rolling capability. Typical examples include:

• Wuhan Iron & Steel investment in Fangchengang Port in China
• ArcelorMittal investment in Karnataka, India
• Tata Steel joint venture with VSC & Vicem for investment in Vung Ang in Vietnam.

Average cost: $7560m
Average capacity: 6660 kt
Sample size: 16
Average cost/tonne: $1200/t

Notes
Analyses above were last updated in January 2016. For further item-specific capital investment data see our steel capex database page.

EMPLOYMENT BENCHMARKS

Chart above shows current employment levels at 114 different steel firms around the world - companies that make flat, long and/or tubular carbon steel products. An average steel producer with a production potential of ~3 mt steel/year typically thus has ~4000 employees. If your steel company employs more than this, please call us - our technical experts can assist with steel plant productivity improvement.

To discuss the interpretation of this chart and/or further information (including employment benchmarks for specialty steel production) please email us at the address shown at the foot of the page.

INDUSTRY SUPPLY & DEMAND FORECASTS FOR YEARS 2017-2018

Table below shows global crude steel production volumes and capacity figures - as assessed by World Steel Association and by the OECD to 2018 - and resulting calculation of steelmaking capacity utilisation. The overall picture for 2018 as compared to 2017 is that of a tiny reduction in the global capacity surplus [which will fall from ~602mt to ~598mt] and a small but significant improvement in world capacity utilisation at the crude steel level.

Graph below shows the relationship between steel prices and global plant loading - and indicates (both for HRC and for rebar) that prices fall ~$27/tonne per 1% drop in capacity utilisation.

In 2017, on the basis that world capacity utilisation remains largely at 2016 levels of approx 67.4% (see table), MCI's consultants expect steel prices to remain at 2016 levels. In 2018, assuming a very small improvement in global plant loading, we forecast just a tiny increase in steel price levels of the order of $5/tonne (hot rolled coil and reinforcing bar). For other products and / or for steel price forecasts through to 2020, please contact us.

OTHER USEFUL METAL INDUSTRY WEBSITES

Why not check out the following websites?

American Metal Market (AMM) at www.amm.com
Steel Guru at www.steelguru.com
SteelOrbis at www.steelorbis.com
Metal Bulletin at www.metalbulletin.com