On the last day of the SteelOrbis 2023 Fall Conference & 89th IREPAS Meeting held in Istanbul on September 17-19, Jens Björkman from Stena Metal International and also the chairman of the raw material suppliers committee, summarized the committee meeting findings regarding the general situation in the global steel market, looking at various countries worldwide, stating that the general situation in China has been exerting a huge impact on the global market.
Regarding China, Mr. Björkman stated that construction activities in the country are slowing down, while steel production has remained at high levels despite government restrictions, which has increased the demand for iron ore in the country. The high levels of steel production in China lead to an increase in its exports, negatively impacting the global market. He added that steel production in the country is expected to be cut during the winter season, which may provide a bright spot for the global market going forward, especially for Turkey which is struggling to compete with China’s competitive prices. Noting that the Chinese economy has been struggling for a while, Björkman said that the recent monetary policy easing and stimulus measures in the country to boost the real estate and steel industries will not be enough to boost demand and prices in China.
Looking at Turkey, commenting that domestic production rates are slower than last year due to difficulties such as the high inflation and the hike in interest rates which Turkish mills are facing, he noted that the industry continues to generate demand. However, the production costs from energy are expected to decline, which would positively impact steel production rates.
Focusing on scrap, noting that the US, which still outperforms the rest of the world in economic and business terms, keeps generating decent scrap volumes, while the EU will continue to generate low volumes of scrap, the chairman of the raw material suppliers committee stated that the rising volumes of ex-US scrap supply to Asia were supported by lower freight rates.