IREPAS in Duesseldorf : Changing trade flows and market challenges discussed against backdrop of protectionism, trade conflicts and depressed conditions
The 81st meeting of IREPAS (the International Rebar Exporters and Producers Association) was held in Duesseldorf, Germany on September 22-24, 2019 in conjunction with the SteelOrbis Fall’19 Conference. There were 138 producer representatives among the 426 registered delegates from a total of 46 different countries. There were also 78 registrations representing 38 different raw material suppliers. At the opening of the conference, Murat Cebecioglu,... Read More
Short Range Outlook : September 2019
Global long steel market currently depressed amid more difficult circumstances The global long steel products market is depressed at the moment as circumstances are becoming more difficult. It has become a buyer’s market and is difficult to secure orders at reasonable prices. The problem lies more on the demand side rather than with supply, and, therefore, it might take longer for a balance to be reached. Steel prices decline amid sharp drops in... Read More
EU reduces increase in steel import quotas
The European Commission (EC) has announced that it has reduced the planned increase in the steel import quota rate from five percent to three percent in all product categories, as result of the review of the safeguard measures imposed on February 2. The EC indicated that steel imports in 2018 reached a record volume of 33.4 million mt, 5 million mt higher than the average for the 2015-2017 period and 3 million mt higher than for 2017 alone, which... Read More
The program of the 81st meeting in Duesseldorf
Day 1: Sunday, September 22, 2019 19:00 – 22:00 Welcome cocktail at Hilton Duesseldorf Day 2: Monday, September 23, 2019 09:00 – 09:15 Welcome address by Chairman of IREPAS 09:15 – 10:15 SESSION ONE – Global Markets: What are the future challenges and opportunities? - Global economic... Read More
Short Range Outlook : July 2019
Uncertainty still prevails in global longs market , while BOF production faces severe pressure The outlook for the global long steel products market differs for the scrap industry, the steel producing industry and for steel consumers. The market can be described as generally unstable as there is still a lot of uncertainty and even a tweet may turn a lot of things upside down. We are going through a tough period particularly for BOF-based producers,... Read More
Egyptian court suspends safeguard duty on billet and rebar imports
An Egyptian administrative court has suspended the country’s preliminary safeguard duty on billet and rebar imports, according to reports. The Egyptian government imposed a 15 percent safeguard duty on steel billet imports and 25 percent duty on reinforcing bar imports for a period of 180 days starting from April 15. Last month, Egyptian rerollers decided to take legal action to challenge the import duty on billet. Read More
Short Range Outlook : June 2019
Uncertainty in global long steel products market increases dramatically The uncertainty in the global long steel products market has increased dramatically. Nowadays, the most stable region is China, where steelmakers have been increasing their weekly production volumes, whereas the rest of the world is just trying to hang on. Ferrous scrap and iron ore price trends decouple completely Ferrous scrap and iron ore price trends have completely decoupled. Iron... Read More
China to restrict scrap metal imports starting from July
Chinese importers will have to receive licenses and quotas from China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment for certain scrap metal imports, according to Reuters. As of July 1, the ministry will start accepting requests for import licenses, while the import quota volume has not been disclosed. As of the same date, imports of eight scrap grades including copper, aluminum and steel will be restricted. Read More
Short Range Outlook : May 2019
Global long steel market mostly unstable despite supply-demand equilibrium A balance has been maintained between supply and demand in the global long steel products market, but it is still difficult to transact business globally. However, shorter-distance regional business is good. The global market can be described as mostly unstable, with only a few exceptions. Absence of Chinese still provides support for the rest of the world We have to take into... Read More
EU transfers unused quotas to “other countries”
The European Commission has transferred the quotas under “other countries” and “all third countries” which were unused between February 2 and March 31 to the “other countries” quotas for the April 1-June 30 period as of May 2. Accordingly, an additional volume of 19,704 mt has been added to the “other countries” rebar quota, which had been quickly used up in early April when the “other countries” quotas became available to all... Read More