[SMM Steel] Shipping and Payment Bottlenecks Freeze Exports as Iranian Flat Steel Markets Diverge

Metinvest Adria, the joint venture between Ukrainian steelmaker Metinvest and Italian plantmaker Danieli, is working to bring in a third investor for its planned EAF-based HRC plant in Piombino, Italy. Construction could reportedly be postponed to spring 2027 — a delay of roughly eight to ten months — linked to permitting complexity and the need to finalize the project's financial structure. The ~€3.2 billion investment, including €285 million in public funding, requires a strengthened shareholder base per the financing banks' request. CEO Luca Villa said the company has received interest from infrastructure funds, industrial players, and steelmakers, and aims to finalize the process by end-October. Meanwhile, the environmental authorization process continues, with a decision deadline of October 4, 2026, and a key Mimit review meeting set for October 20.

Saudi Arabia-based Al Yamamah Steel Industries has taken another step toward developing its planned billet production facility, with subsidiary Al Yamamah Company for Reinforcing Steel Bars securing SAR 500 million ($133 million) in financing from Arab National Bank on August 24 for construction of the new plant.</cite> (cite index="22-1">This follows an earlier SAR 300 million capital increase at the subsidiary, with Al Yamamah contributing SAR 75.6 million, and a July agreement worth SAR 270 million with Italian plantmaker Danieli for billet production equipment, expected to run over two and a half years.</cite> (cite index="22-1">While the latest financing announcement did not disclose the plant's location or capacity, earlier information pointed to Yanbu as the site with planned capacity of around 1 million mt/year, expanding Al Yamamah's push toward a more integrated steel production structure in Saudi Arabia.

According to the SMM survey, total building materials social inventory continued destocking this period. As of August 27, 2026, SMM building materials social inventory stood at 5.5369 million mt, down 12,200 mt WoW, a decrease of 0.22%.