【SMM Steel】Turkey's Kardemir successfully commissions advanced KOCKS RSB line

SMM News Flash:  [Steel Billet] Today, billet export offers weakened, with offers at USD 470–474/t. According to feedback from several traders, the North African market is facing pressure from rising port and freight costs, but the overall impact remains limited. Market inquiries were relatively active, mainly from customers in South Asia and the Middle East. Recently, low-priced export billet transactions were concluded. [Thailand] Currently, the DDP price for cold-rolled substrate galvanizing in Thailand is 28.75 THB/kg. According to SMM’s latest survey, affected by weak procurement demand during the off-season, orders at local processing centers have recently shown a weakening trend, with actual transaction performance remaining weak. It is expected that prices will remain under pressure in the near term, and significant improvement in short-term trading will be difficult to see, pending the release of updated price adjustments by steel mills.

【SMM Steel】Jubilee Metals Group has resumed full capacity at its Roan concentrator in Ndola Zambia targeting monthly run-of-mine throughput of 30000 tonnes following scheduled annual maintenance. Upgrades include an expanded copper oxide flotation circuit designed to boost recovery efficiency by 5% offsetting higher transport costs. Jubilee also commissioned a new fine copper concentrate dewatering facility to manage a stream representing about 25% of Roan's feedstock copper with material transported to its Sable refinery in Kabwe. The company is also evaluating an additional DMS circuit to potentially expand throughput.

【SMM Steel】SSAB is expanding its Oxelösund steel powder facility for additive manufacturing to commercial scale in partnership with SMS group. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2026 with production ramping up gradually from Q1 2028 targeting annual capacity of 350 tonnes and creating 20 jobs at full operation. The project serves growing demand from defense automotive and engineering sectors enabling lighter components with less waste and shorter lead times. SSAB's specialized steel powders require no subsequent heat treatment and can replace aluminum as a lightweight material in certain engineering applications.