IREPAS: Mood brightens in global long steel market despite ongoing unpredictability

The global long steel products market has resumed business after the holiday period, as activity had stopped in many countries from the middle of December up to the first week of January, according to the short-range outlook report issued by IREPAS, the global association of producers and exporters of long steel products.
 
The mild weather conditions in the EU have permitted reasonable levels of construction activity, which have helped to sustain a certain volume of demand in the region's long steel market. European mills still intend to produce less, though their output will likely continue to exceed the very weak demand.
 
The current political turmoil in Turkey on top of the lack of steel demand has negatively impacted the country's demand for ferrous scrap. Very significant production cuts have been reported in Turkey, and these are due especially to the extreme difficulty in making any forecasts. Meanwhile, the severe winter conditions in the US make it very difficult to operate, IREPAS stated.
 
On the other hand, the overall mood and expectations in the market have become brighter as the bad news from the financial sector and national debt reports of EU countries has dried up to a certain extent, and this encourages market players to be optimistic for stronger global demand in 2014.
 
The IREPAS report points out that the competition levels in the market are still very high, particularly in the Asian and the Middle Eastern markets.
 
The market is showing some signs of stability in certain regions such as North America and the EU, though other regions are characterized by instability.
 
Regarding the January outlook, market sentiment has improved slightly but conditions still make it difficult for players to operate with a certain level of comfort. Even though the market is still unpredictable, the outlook is positive as long steel product prices are expected to increase gradually throughout the first quarter of 2014.