Association of producers and exporters of long steel products IREPAS sees that demand would slow down in the global long steel products market due to slow season in the northern hemisphere and approaching holidays. IREPAS said that “Market activity may remain slow until the Chinese New Year holidays and so we may see further price erosion in the coming weeks. However, such erosion should be limited due to higher costs of production. There is an energy shortage, and the cost of energy is higher. Moreover, since steel production is already at pre-pandemic levels and since that keeps alloying elements, refractories and electrodes all at high prices, this will be another supporting factor for higher costs of steel compared to the same period last year, preventing any sharp drops in prices of steel. Higher freight rates are also supporting higher steel prices in the international market.”It said “Steel supplied to consumers and customers worldwide in 2021 has been determined by availability and price. Nowadays, there has started to be a shift to volumes in the international market. Competition in the market is getting stronger as there are not many markets left for exports; however, order books are still satisfactory. There are even some Chinese origin offers appearing in the market. The current status of the market is generally stable despite some fluctuations in certain areas. The market is now more volume-driven. The outlook for the first quarter is mostly stable, particularly as no supply pressure is expected.
Association of producers and exporters of long steel products IREPAS sees that demand would slow down in the global long steel products market due to slow season in the northern hemisphere and approaching holidays. IREPAS said that “Market activity may remain slow until the Chinese New Year holidays and so we may see further price erosion in the coming weeks. However, such erosion should be limited due to higher costs of production. There is an energy shortage, and the cost of energy is higher. Moreover, since steel production is already at pre-pandemic levels and since that keeps alloying elements, refractories and electrodes all at high prices, this will be another supporting factor for higher costs of steel compared to the same period last year, preventing any sharp drops in prices of steel. Higher freight rates are also supporting higher steel prices in the international market.”It said “Steel supplied to consumers and customers worldwide in 2021 has been determined by availability and price. Nowadays, there has started to be a shift to volumes in the international market. Competition in the market is getting stronger as there are not many markets left for exports; however, order books are still satisfactory. There are even some Chinese origin offers appearing in the market. The current status of the market is generally stable despite some fluctuations in certain areas. The market is now more volume-driven. The outlook for the first quarter is mostly stable, particularly as no supply pressure is expected.
