S&P Global Platts editors’ pick of unfolding commodities trends. This week, tight US gasoline supply incentivizes imports, high-tech industries drive tin demand and Iranian oil exports hit new low. Plus impacts of Europe’s heatwave and China key economic data on energy and commodities.
Posts tagged ‘steel’
 
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July 17, 2019 11:48 UTC 
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Iron ore, the “red dirt” that is the key ingredient for the manufacture of steel, is attracting significant interest again, both internationally and within China. Its price has just seen one of its sharpest ever rallies, almost doubling in value over seven months to hit $126.35/mt on July 3, responding to a confluence of supply and demand-side factors. |
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July 12, 2019 12:40 UTC
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As Tropical Storm Barry approaches the US Gulf Coast, offshore oil and gas producers, refineries and ports have been shuttering facilities in preparation. Utilities are also on alert. As of July 11, US offshore drillers have shut 1 million b/d (53%) of Gulf of Mexico oil production and 1.2 Bcf/d (45%) of natural gas output. |
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June 12, 2019 08:46 UTC
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Almost everywhere you look, auto production and sales are falling and putting pressure on one of the major end-user segments of steel. News within the space of a fortnight that British Steel was insolvent and Ford’s Bridgend plant in the UK would cease production in 2020 was somewhat emblematic of the challenges faced by carmakers and their steel suppliers. |
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May 31, 2019 14:39 UTC
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Market sources told S&P Global Platts that major steel billet buyers in Thailand and Indonesia were avoiding Iranian material in favor of sources like Russia, Vietnam and Malaysia. |
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Energy and commodities highlights: US steel and aluminum tariffs, Middle East oil and electric power
May 24, 2019 13:43 UTC
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Tariffs and trade deals are sticking to the top of the commodities agenda, after the US reached an agreement to remove Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico. The deal, announced on May 17, removes US import tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum, without imposing quotas to cap imports. |
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May 14, 2019 09:24 UTC
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Ahead of the S&P Global Platts Global Metals Awards in London, on May 16, The Barrel presents a special series of articles looking at the global metals trade. Here, Jun Kai Heng looks at how iron ore buyers and sellers are adapting to tightened supply of specific products, following the accident at one of Vale’s Brazilian operations in January. On January 25, a Vale tailings dam in Brumadinho, part of its Southern Systems mining operations, collapsed, resulting in massive loss of life and a significant impact on its iron ore supply chain over the longer term. |
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May 13, 2019 09:17 UTC
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Ahead of the S&P Global Platts Global Metals Awards in London, on May 16, The Barrel presents a special series of articles looking at the global metals trade. Paul Bartholomew and Jing Zhang take an in-depth look at China’s steel production in recent years, and the likely trajectory in 2019. Just a few years ago, market updates from major iron ore producers Rio Tinto and BHP routinely stated that they expected Chinese crude steel production to reach 1 billion metric tons by the end of the next decade. This sounded like an incredible amount of steel, particularly as China’s economic growth trajectory was heading south. Further, such a prediction seemed unrealistic given China’s steel output had retreated by 2.3% in 2015 to just under 804 million mt. › Continue Reading |
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May 10, 2019 12:11 UTC
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Ahead of the S&P Global Platts Global Metals Awards in London, on May 16, The Barrel presents a special series of articles looking at the global metals trade. Here, Pascal Dick analyzes the impact of new US tariffs, economic headwinds and other challenges on steel and ferrous scrap flows into and out of the country. After a healthy first half of 2018, the Turkish steel market now faces a drop in demand from both domestic and international customers. International policy changes and a recession in the Turkish economy have contributed to a wider trade flow diversion across flat steel products like hot rolled coil (HRC), and long steel products like rebar and billet, with some effects also due to be felt more strongly in the wider ferrous scrap pricing complex. |
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May 9, 2019 13:46 UTC
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Ahead of the S&P Global Platts Global Metals Awards in London, on May 16, The Barrel presents a special series of articles looking at the global metals trade. In this feature, Nicholas Tolomeo, Michael Fitzgerald and Joe Eckelman report on changing approaches to steelmaking in the US, as companies target higher-quality steel products. When it comes to raw materials, steel mills in the US are developing expensive tastes. Of all the major steel-producing nations, no country is so geared toward electric-arc furnace (EAF), flat-rolled steel production as the US. Profits from EAFs, or mini-mills, are at their peak, and producers Nucor and Steel Dynamics last year had record profits of $2.4 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively. |