Steel Strip

Again spotted over at purchasing.COM 
 
Department of commerce trade officials have accepted a ruling by the World Trade Organization that requires global adoption of one formula for investigating allegation of dumping and imposing punitive duties. Because of the recalculation, most dumping duties on 15 steel products from European mills have been changed.
The duties eliminated were on [...]

 There is an interesting article over at purchasing.COM on steel sheet and coil prices from the view of the buyers. Whilst demand is not increasing the mills continue to push prices to recover the higher cost of scrap. It’s well worth reading the whole article, and extract of which follows:-
Steel sheet mills have been increasing [...]

HOT ROLLED STAINLESS STEEL COIL
Transaction values for grade 316 moved up again this month in all regions. Another alloy surcharge rise occured in North America. In the EU, basis figures reduced but offset only 53 per cent of the surcharge growth. The gap between Eastern and Western prices narrowed as Asian mills imposed another significant [...]

MEPS latest forcast:-
 
We still forecast a steady improvement in the average flat products price up to the middle of the year. Demand should hold up reasonably well in most countries in the region over the next few months. This is expected to provide opportunities for further price increases. However, in China, substantial new capacity (particularly [...]

Despite rising steel prices and many steelmakers posting increasing profits, Stelco the Canadian Steelmaker continues to struggle. Speculation continues about them being a possible takeover target. Following is an extract from an article in the Toronto Star where the Stelco chief Rodney Mott talks about the current situation.
 
Stelco Inc. chief Rodney Mott says he doesn’t know [...]

The MEPS North America Average Cold Rolled Coil and Hot Dipped Galvanised prices moved up again in April. This was in line with our expectations. Both Cold Rolled Coil and Hot Dipped Galvanised values are forecast to increase up until the summer period. However, prices are not anticipated to reach the highs recorded during the [...]

Meps are reporting that the price of Nickel is casing buyers to seek alternatives
 

High nickel prices are prompting buyers of austenitic stainless steels to actively seek alternative grades or other materials. The benefits of life cycle costing are diminishing. However, much of the substitution is taking place within the stainless industry but coated carbon steels [...]

Stelco Inc. reported a firstquarter loss late yesterday as record production at its Lake Erie operations was offset by continued “significant losses” at its Hamilton Steel unit. The steelmaker said it lost $39-million in the quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $145-million in the fourth quarter of 2006. Stelco did not give [...]