EU prices continue to increase. The mills are insisting that they must go up again in period three to reflect the rising costs of production. The initiatives are likely to be accepted due to a lack of any competitively priced alternatives. Import volumes into Europe remain very low and this is contributing to already limited availability from local steelmakers. The soaring prices are clearly not driven by demand, which is relatively modest. Inventories, generally, are not growing because it is too costly to finance steel stocks.

The German mills are talking of hefty price rises on strip mill products in the third quarter. Service centre inventories of commodity grade coil are adequate with some buyers refusing to place further orders at present. However, availability of the higher specifications appears to be more constrained and some gaps are appearing. Real demand is no better than “normal”. The strong Euro continues to have a negative effect on exports of manufactured goods.

In France, sales of coil are described as “average”, although some improvement is noted in the automotive sector, as one of France’s two major car manufacturers is ordering extra material on top of its usual annual requirements. Producers are said to be considering a basis rise of at least €100 per tonne. Under current market conditions, prices are not open for negotiation so buyers are placing business not knowing the final cost. They complain that they cannot get enough tonnage.

Italian values have continued to move up, albeit at a slower pace, despite fairly flat underlying consumption. Now that the new government is in place, customers feel that public investment could grow in the longer-term but no immediate improvement is expected. Import pressure is modest, leaving buyers with little or no alternative but to accept higher prices from local producers who are using inflated raw material costs to justify their demands. Suppliers are talking of further hikes next month.

UK consumption is far from robust. Even the auto sector is softening. Nevertheless, steel selling values for the remainder of period two continue to move up as availability is poor. Traders’ stocks are shrinking rapidly as it becomes increasingly difficult to secure new supplies. Service centre inventories are also depleted because they cannot afford to build them up, partly due to limitations on credit. Shortages are beginning to occur. Some distributors are struggling to recoup the mill increases from end-users.

In Belgium, the manufacturing and construction sectors are performing well. Inventories are low at the consumers because of the high costs of finance. Service centre stocks are described as “reasonable but not excessive” with holes appearing for certain grades/sizes. So far, distributors are recovering the higher prices they are paying the mills.

Spanish demand is stagnant at best and expected to decline further because of the generally poor economic situation. Meanwhile, prices continue on an upward trend, amidst a lack of credit availability. Customers are only buying what they need and are keeping inventories to a minimum.

As we have reported previously, nickel prices have dropped in half from their peak last year, following a combination of grade substitution and massive stock draw downs combining to hit production. When production drops, one automatically assumes demand must have dropped — but apparently demand has remained reasonably steady as stocks have dwindled, and is now forecast to grow this year, according to the Paris based International Stainless Steel Forum ISSF. Continue reading ‘Stainless Steel Has Uncertain Future’ »

(Baltimore Sun, The (KRT) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 21–Russian steelmaker OAO Severstal, the new owner of Sparrows Point, submitted a $670 million offer yesterday for West Virginia steel company Esmark Inc., whose own bid to buy the Baltimore County steel mill collapsed in December.

If you don’t have a telecommuting program, how much revenue is your business losing? Learn more, download free white paper. Continue reading ‘Severstal the Russian steelmaker offers $670 for Esmark’ »

XUYI, JIANGSU, CHINA, May 21, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) — China Jiangsu Golden Horse Steel Ball, Inc. (”Golden Horse” or “the Company”) (PINKSHEETS: CJGH) (FRANKFURT: 4J3), a leading Chinese manufacturer and supplier of ball bearings, has been granted an application from the local government to acquire additional land for manufacturing expansion.
Golden Horse was granted with the Republic of China, the opportunity to reserve 200 MU (an equivalent of 33 Acres US Standard) of sought after prime Industrial Lands. The company currently has 80 MUs, thus resulting in a total of 46 Acres of land use. With the additional land capacity, the company plans to increase its storage and manufacturing facilities. This government land grant to China Jiangsu Golden Horse Steel Ball Inc., is in accordance with the government’s 5 year plan that calls to modernize and upgrade the development of steel ball line processing technology.
The company will be better positioned to meet the increased demand for ball bearings, thus resulting in higher casting and machining volumes. With this recent strategic land expansion we will improve our margins and profitability in the future.
About Us:
Golden Horse along with its affiliates and controlled entities is one of the top five manufacturers of steel ball bearings in China. The Company produces over three billion ball bearings annually of various specifications along with its development of over 15 new products, such as stainless steel balls, aluminum balls, and ceramics balls. In addition, the Company continues to export its products to over twenty countries worldwide including the USA, Japan, Brazil, India, and Germany.
Forward-looking Statements:
The information contained herein includes forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or to our future anticipated financial performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond our control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Any forward-looking statement reflects our current views with respect to future events and is subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We do not intend to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. The safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 protects companies from liability for their forward-looking statements if they comply with the requirements of the Act.