Pig iron output about to peak, steel price may retrace down

Vietnam’s Ha Tinh Province has officially terminated the Thach Khe iron ore mining project and revoked the project’s investment certificate, according to media reports. The project had been suspended for several years and was operated by Thach Khe Iron Joint Stock Company. Located in Ha Tinh Province, the mine has reserves of around 544 million tonnes and is considered one of the largest iron ore mines in Southeast Asia. Local authorities have assigned relevant departments to handle follow-up matters related to land, finance, assets and other obligations. The termination suggests Vietnam is unlikely to improve domestic iron ore supply through this major project in the near term, limiting local raw material self-sufficiency.

[India] India’s BF-route rebar price fell by around 17 USD/tonne week on week to about 512 USD/tonne, pressured by seasonal construction slowdown, rainfall, project delays and rising distributor inventories. Demand remained need-based, while mill inventories stood at around 10-15 days. Major mills may cut long steel prices amid inventory pressure. In contrast, HRC stayed stable at around 609 USD/tonne, supported by safeguard duties and lower imports.

On July 6, it was learned from the Ministry of Emergency Management that the Office of the Work Safety Committee of the State Council, together with the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Justice, recently issued a notice, deploying all regions and relevant departments to earnestly implement the guiding principles of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions on work safety, strictly enforce the spirit of the national work safety video conference, and, in conjunction with the three-year action to address the root causes of work safety and the investigation and rectification of major accident hazards, focus on key industry sectors such as mines, chemical industry, fire protection, and industrial and trade, and deeply carry out the "crackdown on illegal activities and violations" in work safety.