Posted on 07/07/2015 in category Ferrous
BIR World Mirror on Ferrous Metals / Quarterly report - July 2015
PRESIDENT'S OPENING REMARKS
by William Schmiedel, Sims Group Global Trade Corporation
Dear colleagues,
Since our last report in May, semi-finished and finished steel exports from China have been climbing even as iron ore prices have increased and steel prices have decreased. Various global steel trade associations continue to voice their distress about Chinese steel overcapacity to their respective government agencies. Consequently, more anti-dumping investigations are now underway that may result in new duties on Chinese steel imports to those countries.
One bearish note is that the Turkish elections resulted in a political uncertainty that has caused the economy to slow, and as a result we have seen fewer purchases of ferrous scrap from this region. Meanwhile, the Russian government has included ferrous metals on its list of commodities that are, it states, essential for their domestic steel market, indicating that temporary export restrictions are a possibility.
With that said, the overhang of Chinese steel in our markets has inevitably become the new normal. Until trade barriers become effective or China’s domestic demand for steel increases, we must be one step ahead and adjust our business models accordingly.