Slab scarcity to push Brazilian steel prices up: CSN

Spanish Market: Metals
22/02/19

Brazilian steel and iron ore producer Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) expects a 10-15pc increase in flat steel prices in March, as a result of higher slab costs owing to limited availability.

"We cannot buy slab for less than $500/t," executives said. "I think they will get closer to $560/t and not $520/t. With this scenario the increases will be of 10-15pc. This is the scenario we are working with. On 25 March we will have a 10-15pc price rise."

Demand for slab in the domestic Brazilian market has been very strong recently, especially from CSN, a market participant told Argus. The company produces its own slab but also relies on purchases in the merchant market.

Its latest results show fourth-quarter slab production falling by 7pc year on year to 1.02mn t. The company said inventories increased in the last quarter as a result of additional purchases of slab in anticipation of its blast furnace No. 3 stoppage.

CSN's slab production costs increased by 23pc on the year in 2018 to 1,652 reals/t ($438/t) as a result of the appreciation of the dollar against the real, and higher raw material costs. In the latest quarter costs reached R1,806/t, up by 6pc on the year.

Since the fatal dam rupture in Brumadinho on 25 January, which has resulted in mining firm Vale announcing cuts in iron ore and pellet production, prices for iron ore have significantly increased. The Argus ICX 62pc Fe fines index is at $86.75/dmt cfr Qingdao today, up from $74.80/t a month ago.

Reduced supply of iron ore fines and pellets — and subsequently higher prices — is also prompting some slab buyers to buy more in the merchant market, rather than rely so heavily on their own production. Market participants this week made reference to additional enquiries for slab from certain mills both in Brazil and overseas, citing pellet supply concerns.

With some Brazilian slab sellers focusing on the US market, where they are allowed to export under a quota, a market participant said there is not enough supply to fulfil the additional domestic demand.

Tight slab supply fundamentals are also reflected in the CIS market, with the Argus weekly fob Black Sea slab assessment currently at $487.50/t — up from $415/t fob at the start of February.

Government data show that of the 815,500t of semi-finished products — the majority of which is slab — Brazil exported in January, 390,960t were sent to the US and 134,930t to Italy. The rest were exported to other countries in Europe and the Americas, with small quantities going to Asia.

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27/11/24

Australia's BOM forecasts severe cyclone season

Sydney, 27 November (Argus) — Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) expects the country to experience 11 tropical storms over the next few months, threatening the country's mineral-rich Pilbara region and coal infrastructure in Queensland. The number of storms is in line with historical averages, but BOM warns that rising ocean temperatures could increase their severity. The state weather agency believes that four of these storms will make landfall from late December, and that a La Nina event could start later this year, although it may not last very long. La Nina events are associated with high levels of cyclonic activity. BOM's forecasts suggest that five of the storms are likely to form around Western Australia's mineral-rich Pilbara region, which houses more than 40 operating iron ore mines and two lithium mines. Over the last three months, sea surface temperatures around Pilbara have exceeded historical averages by 1.2–2°C, warming more than in any of the country's other cyclone-prone regions. On the other side of the country, four tropical storms could form around Queensland's cattle and coking coal producing regions, although these are likely to be less severe than the Pilbara storms. Temperatures across most of Queensland are forecast to exceed historical averages by 0.4–1.2°C in October-December. Cyclonic weather in Pilbara could disrupt iron shipping and mining activity in the region. Australia's three largest iron export ports sit along the region's coast. In 2019, Cyclone Veronica forced the closure of Pilbara's three major ports and multiple mines operated by mining company Rio Tinto, prompting the firm to cut its production forecasts for the year. Harsh storms in Queensland have previously damaged vital coal transport links in the state, hampering exports. In 2017, Cyclone Debbie damaged rail lines linking coal mines to the ports of Gladstone, Hay Point, Dalrymple Bay, and Abbott Point, which handle most of the state's coking coal exports. More recently, severe weather also halted deliveries to Mackay port . Queensland and Pilbara are also home to major LNG terminals at Dampier and Gladstone ports that sit within cyclone-prone zones. The two terminals together export over 3mn t/month of LNG . By Avinash Govind Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Q&A: Boston Metal Brazil’s sales to start in early 2025

26/11/24

Q&A: Boston Metal Brazil’s sales to start in early 2025

Sao Paulo, 26 November (Argus) — Metals technology company Boston Metal expects to start commercialisation in Brazil in early 2025. The company, which has developed molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) technology to improve metals extractions, initially will focus on extracting so-called "high-value" metals from tin slags at its plant in Minas Gerais state. The move is part of the company's effort to offer greener metals to the market and comes at the time when the company is developing MOE technology in the US to produce green steel. Metals reporter Carolina Pulice talked with Boston Metal's Brazil commercial director Gustavo Macedo about MOE technology and the company's plans for the future. The interview has been translated from Portuguese. Can you explain what MOE technology is? MOE technology was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 1980s. It uses the electrolysis process on metals, a process that has been known for a long time. What is different about MOE is that its platform can be used to separate an infinite number of metals. Our company started to use MOE technology in iron ore to make it greener. After it has gone through the electrolysis process, iron is practically pure and releases only oxygen and then [you have] green steel. The great advantage of this process on iron ore is that you can use the metal with any grade, different from the hydrogen route that demands high contents of iron ore. And what will the operation in Brazil be like? Our focus in Brazil is to extract three metals from local tin slags — tantalum, niobium and tin — from our plant in Minas Gerais state. It is a rich region and has plenty of cassiterite, with a lot of mining waste available. At our new plant in Minas Gerais, we will start producing ferro-tin and a ferro-tantalum niobium alloy. We are already operating our pilot and demonstration plants. We plan the first commercialisation at the beginning of 2025. Our main market is likely to be China, where we will export our material to be used in the electronics industry. The move comes at a time when more consumers are demanding greener supply chains. And this is an advantage for us because Minas Gerais state can already secure 100pc renewable electric energy. The global tantalum chain is very complex because more than half of this metal comes from conflict regions in Africa. Can you tell us a bit more about Boston Metal's operations in the US? Our goal there is to develop MOE technology for the production of green steel. Steelmakers would add this process to their operations by replacing their blast furnaces with MOE technology, allowing them to produce pure iron by utilising electricity instead of coking coal. Our headquarters in the US is already at the stage where they are building our first demonstration plant. MOE technology at present demands 4MWh of energy per tonne of steel. Electric arc furnaces that process scrap currently have consumption of 0.5-0.8MWh/t. By Carolina Pulice Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US’ Peabody to buy Anglo’s Australian met coal assets

25/11/24

US’ Peabody to buy Anglo’s Australian met coal assets

Singapore, 25 November (Argus) — US coal producer Peabody Energy has agreed to acquire the bulk of coking coal assets that UK-South African mining firm Anglo American is seeking to divest as it exits the coal sector. Peabody plans to buy Anglo's majority stakes, at up to $3.8bn, in four metallurgical coal mines — Moranbah North, Grosvenor, Aquila and Capcoal — located in Australia's Bowen Basin, with the transaction expected to close by mid-2025 and subject to customary closing conditions, the producer said in a statement. With the acquisition of coal mines, Peabody's combined US-Australia production will rise from 10.6mn short tons/yr at present, to an estimate of 11.3mn st/yr (10.25mn t) by 2026, according to Peabody, strengthening the producer's position in the premium hard coking coal (PHCC) market. Moranbah North, Grosvenor and Aquila are PHCC mines, while Capcoal produces a combination of PHCC, pulverised coal injection (PCI) and other coal grades. At present, Australian low volatile hard coking coal, or tier-2 coking coal, accounts for 55pc of Peabody's 7.4mn st in coking coal sales, but the acquisition of new assets will bring PHCC's share up to 51pc and reduce its tier 2 coal to 24pc. Peabody also produces high volatile A coal in the US, accounting for 12pc of sales this year. In addition to the sale of assets to Peabody, Anglo has agreed to sell the Dawson mine in Central Queensland to Indonesian mining company PT Bukit Makmur Mandiri Utama (BUMA) for $455mn. Earlier this month, Anglo agreed the sale of its 33pc share of the Jellinbah Group coking coal joint venture to partner Australia-based Zashvin at $A1.6bn ($1.04bn). In May, Anglo announced plans to exit its coal, platinum, nickel and diamond businesses shortly after rejecting repeated takeover bids from Australian resources firm BHP. These deals come against a backdrop of a challenging price environment for steel making and subsequent weakness in coking coal prices, implying tight margins for coal producers. After reaching a high of $336.50/t fob Australia, the premium low volatile coking coal fell steadily throughout this year to reach $176.50/t in September, before recovering to remain in the $201-208/t range for most of November. In addition to a less than friendly investment climate for coal projects, Australia's Queensland state and New South Wales (NSW) state governments increased royalties on coal sales in 2023 and 2024 respectively, putting further strain on Australian miners already facing inflationary pressure from wages, equipment and fuel costs. Lower coking coal prices this year have translated to reduced royalty payments, but have yet to stem the tide of consolidations and asset sales as mining companies exit the sector. In August, Australia-based diversified metals producer South32 completed the sale of its Illawarra coking coal operations in NSW to an entity owned by Singapore-based Golden Energy and Resources (Gear) and Australia's M Resources for $1.65bn. In the US, rising mining costs and weak seaborne prices for most of this year led to the closure of smaller high-cost operations and mergers such as that of Arch Resources and Consol Energy to form Core Natural Resources , expected to close by the first quarter of 2025. In July, trading firm Glencore completed its acquisition of a majority stake in Elk Valley Resources, the coking coal division of Canadian mining firm Teck Resources, growing the former's thermal and coking coal production to 130mn t/yr. By Siew Hua Seah Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

US alleges Nippon dumped HRC at higher rates

21/11/24

US alleges Nippon dumped HRC at higher rates

Houston, 21 November (Argus) — The US government alleged that Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel dumped hot-rolled (HR) flat steel products at higher rates than previously determined. The US Department of Commerce's International Trade Administration (ITA) determined that during the period from October 2022 through September 2023, Nippon sold HR steel flat products with a weighted-average dumping margin of 29.03pc, up from the 1.39pc dumping margin the ITA determined for the prior period of October 2021 through September 2022. Tokyo Steel Manufacturing, which was also investigated, was determined to have not sold HR flat steel below market value, unchanged from a prior review. US imports during the period from October 2022 through September 2023 of the investigated items from Japan were 202,000 metric tonnes (t), down from the 293,600t imported in the same period the prior year, according to customs data. The original investigation into imports of Japanese flat-steel products was concluded in 2016. The ITA is now reviewing the time period of October 2023 through September 2024 and expects to issue the final results of these reviews no later than 31 October 2025. The US imported 235,700t of the investigated products from Japan during that time, customs data showed. By Rye Druzchetta Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Recent deep-sea and short-sea cfr Turkey scrap deals

21/11/24

Recent deep-sea and short-sea cfr Turkey scrap deals

London, 21 November (Argus) — A summary of the most recent deep-sea and short-sea cfr Turkey ferrous scrap deals seen by Argus. Ferrous scrap short-sea trades (average composition price, cif Marmara) Date Volume, t Price, $ Shipment Buyer Seller Composition Index relevant 19-Nov 5,000 345 November Izmir Greece HMS 1/2 80:20, shred Y 19-Nov 2,000 342 November Izmir Malta HMS 1/2 80:20, shred Y 12-Nov 3,000 348 November Izmir Romania HMS 1/2 80:20 N 12-Nov 5,000 350 November Izmir Croatia HMS 1/2 80:20 N 12-Nov 5,000 350 November Turkey France HMS 1/2 80:20 Y 12-Nov 10,000 351 November Marmara France HMS 1/2 80:20 Y Ferrous scrap deep-sea trades (average composition price, cfr Turkey) Date Volume, t Price, $ Shipment Buyer Seller Composition Index relevant 20-Nov 40,000 345 (80:20) December Marmara Scandinavia HMS 1/2 80:20, shred, bonus Y 20-Nov 20,000 340 (80:20) December Iskenderun UK HMS 1/2 80:20 Y 19-Nov 30,000 344 (75:25) December Izmir Cont. Europe HMS 1/2 80:20, bonus N 19-Nov 40,000 353 (80:20) December Iskenderun USA HMS 1/2 80:20, shred, bonus Y 15-Nov 40,000 354 (80:20) December Iskenderun Cont. Europe HMS 1/2 80:20, shred, bonus Y 15-Nov 40,000 356 (80:20) December Marmara Cont. Europe HMS 1/2 80:20, shred, bonus Y 14-Nov 20,000 350 (80:20) November Iskenderun UK HMS 1/2 80:20 N 13-Nov 40,000 356 (80:20) December Marmara Cont. Europe HMS 1/2 80:20, shred, bonus Y 13-Nov 40,000 353 (80:20) December Marmara Cont. Europe HMS 1/2 80:20, shred, bonus Y Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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