US Steel to restart Gary Works blast furnace next week
Integrated steelmaker US Steel will restart the No 6 blast furnace at its Gary Works steel mill in Indiana after the 4 July holiday weekend, nearly two months after it was idled because of Covid-19-related demand shocks.
The 1.36mn short ton (st)/yr blast furnace was idled at the end of April as part of a slew of closures beginning in March that at one point took more than 19mn st/yr of flat-rolled steel capacity offline as automakers and other steel-consuming manufacturers shuttered suddenly in the face of the growing coronavirus pandemic in the US.
The company said it was restarting the blast furnace to meet increased demand. Ferrous scrap market sources have said while scrap supply has risen, demand has remained relatively flat, and many expect prime scrap prices to fall by $20-$30/gross ton (gt) in the July ferrous trade, which should begin next week.
US Steel's decision comes weeks after US Steel restarted its idled 1.5mn st/yr No 1 blast furnace at its Mon Valley works south of Pittsburgh.
Multiple sources said the Mon Valley blast furnace was brought online because of production issues with the mill's smaller, 1.4mn st/yr No 3 blast furnace.
The restart comes as Cleveland-Cliffs is preparing to restart its AK Steel Dearborn steel mill in Detroit and NLMK Indiana begins firing up its electric arc furnace (EAF) after a nearly month-long outage. Market sources said JSW's Mingo Junction mill in Ohio has also been restarted after being taken offline for upgrades.
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Australia’s Whitehaven hits 2023-24 coal guidance
Australia’s Whitehaven hits 2023-24 coal guidance
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India’s MRAI urges zero import duty on Al scrap
India’s MRAI urges zero import duty on Al scrap
Mumbai, 18 July (Argus) — The Material Recycling Association of India (MRAI) has urged the government to remove import duties on aluminium scrap in its budget to be presented on 23 July. "Among the key challenges faced by the Indian aluminium recycling industry is paying [a] 2.5pc import duty on aluminium scrap," MRAI said in a letter to India's finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. "It is a key raw material for aluminium recycling and the government should make it zero until the quality material is available in sufficient quantity in the domestic market." The government has a duty to create a level playing field between primary and secondary aluminium producers, said MRAI president Sanjay Mehta. "If customs duties are applicable on import of scrap, then commensurate export duties on the basis of total cost to country on primary products should also be levied." India does not have sufficient supplies of good quality metal scrap to support its recycling industry and relies heavily on imports. The current import duty system, coupled with the lack of aluminium scrap in India, reduce Indian producers' competitiveness in global markets because most other countries have no import duty on metal scrap. This could decelerate the country's effort to achieve its sustainability goals, added MRAI senior vice-president Dhawal Shah and the managing director of CMR Green Technologies Mohan Agarwal. India imported 1.83mn t of aluminium scrap in 2023 with more than a quarter coming from the US. Europe, the Middle East and north Africa are its other key suppliers. By Deepika Singh Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
China's Sunwoda plans $275mn battery plant in Vietnam
China's Sunwoda plans $275mn battery plant in Vietnam
Singapore, 18 July (Argus) — Major Chinese lithium-ion battery manufacturer Sunwoda plans to build a 2bn yuan ($275mn) battery plant in northern Vietnam's Bac Giang province. The site is expected to produce consumer battery cells, system-in-package and batteries, said Sunwoda. Capacity was undisclosed but the site is expected to generate around $1bn/yr of revenue, according to an official portal by Bac Giang Provincial People's committee. Northern Vietnam houses sites of multiple major technology and semiconductor firms including Apple, Foxconn and Samsung, but unannounced or short-notice power cuts have affected production bases in the region. Power outages in Northern Vietnam during May-June 2023 disrupted production and were estimated to have shaved 0.3pc off the country's GDP, according to a 2023 report by World Bank. But the province has "overcome the power supply difficulties", said the current chairman of the Bac Giang Provincial People's committee chair Le Anh Duong. The power supply lines and stations for manufacturing plants in the province have been strengthened, Duong said, adding that the province is looking at upgrading its electricity transmission system and prioritising the allocation of electricity output to key manufacturing companies. Sunwoda will be on its power supply priority list if Sunwoda goes ahead with the investment, said Duong. Rising market barrier pressure and overseas demand prompted major Chinese battery firms to expand overseas in an attempt to deal with geopolitical curbs. Disclosed overseas investment from China's lithium-ion battery sector totalled Yn565bn as of June, according to Chinese research institution EV Tank earlier this month. By Joseph Ho Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
BHP cuts 2024-25 met coal target with divestment
BHP cuts 2024-25 met coal target with divestment
Shanghai, 17 July (Argus) — Australian resources firm BHP has set a lower coking coal production target for the 2024-2025 financial year that started on 1 July, after its divestment of the Blackwater and Daunia mines. But the miner has also set its sights on increasing output from its remaining assets. The BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), which is 50pc owned by BHP and 50pc owned by Mitsubishi, has set lower production targets of 33mn-38mn t for 2024-25. The targets are reflective of the sale of its Blackwater and Daunia mines to Australian producer Whitehaven Coal that was completed on 2 April, and the impact of elevated strip ratios. The two mines together contributed 10mn t on a 100pc basis to the 2023-24 production before their divestment, the company said on 17 July. BMA met its production guidance of 43mn-45mn t by producing 44.6mn t of coal in the 2023-24 financial year to 30 June. Production fell by 22pc from a year earlier, because of an extended longwall move and geotechnical issues at Broadmeadow in the first half of the fiscal year, the disruption at its 10mn t/yr Saraji mine in Queensland , as well as increased waste removal and stockpile rebuilding after the disruption caused by wet weather and labour shortages in 2023. BHP received an average price of $271.26/t for hard coking coal and $206.84/t for weak coking coal in January-June, compared to an average of $276.22/t and $250.38/t in January-June 2023. It defines hard coking coal as those with a coke strength after reaction (CSR) of 35 and above and weak coking coal as those with a CSR of below 35. BHP expects to be in the lower half of its cost guidance for the 2024 fiscal year. Expectations of lower production volumes led BHP to increase its cost guidance for the 2024 fiscal year to $119-125/t in April from $110-116/t in January and from $95-105/t in June 2023. The firm is expecting production to increase to 43mn-45mn t/yr in the next five years, once stockpile rebuilding reaches a sustainable level and strip ratios normalise. Argus last assessed the premium hard low-volatile metallurgical coal price at $236/t fob Australia on 16 July, down from $326.70/t on 2 January. BHP metallurgical coal sales mn t Coal type Apr-Jun '24 Jan-Mar '24 Apr-Jun '23 FY 2023-24 FY 2022-23 % Coking coal 4.86 5.41 7.45 19.52 24.31 -20 Weak coking coal 0.04 0.93 1.06 2.25 3.1 -27 Thermal coal - 0.02 0.36 0.52 1.16 -55 Total BMA 4.9 6.36 8.88 22.29 28.57 -22 Total BMA (100%) 9.81 12.72 17.75 44.59 57.14 -22 Source: BHP Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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