MMi Daily Iron Ore Report (March 22)

Primetals Technologies announced that the endless casting and rolling Arvedi ESP line it commissioned for the Zhongshou plant in China has broken multiple productivity and production ramp-up records. Since first coil production on May 13, the plant has hit four milestones: producing 1-mm ultrathin hot-rolled coils just 16 days after the first coil, reaching world-record productivity of 7 metric tons per minute with a 1,250-mm-wide strip within 30 days, rolling its first 0.8-mm-thick coil 11 weeks after start-up, and its first 0.7-mm-thick coil after just 17 weeks. The plant's productivity is estimated to be 20% higher than any other thin-slab casting and rolling facility globally. The line features a 135-mm-thick caster, four roughing stands, and five finishing stands, with zero CO2 emissions when powered by renewable energy.

[Indonesia] Over the weekend, demand remained at 490 USD/metric ton. There was no movement at all because the Chinese market is still on holiday, compounded by continued sluggish local demand. Currently, since Vietnam’s prices have been released, the market may see movement again next week as this will become a key focus in the future. If there turns out to be no demand at all in the market, there will be no further movement, or mills will attempt to lower prices again—as they tried to do last week—to remain competitive or attract market attention.

The European Commission granted regulatory approval for Swiss steel trading group Trasteel to acquire the Magona steel plant in Piombino, Italy. Magona operates downstream pickling, cold-rolling, and galvanizing lines with a combined processing capacity of approximately 600,000 tonnes per year, catering to the Southern European construction and appliance industries. The acquisition verticalizes Trasteel's distribution network into manufacturing. The move enhances local regional processing resilience ahead of tightening EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) regulations. [SMM Iron Ore]