MMi Daily Iron Ore Report (June 3)

[Sheets & Plates] Affected by the afternoon plunge in domestic futures, export prices of hot-rolled coil and other sheets & plates edged down slightly day-on-day today, with transaction prices for hot-rolled coil at $491-500/mt. In the last two days, market rumors suggested an improvement in export orders. According to SMM's verification, although shipping to the Middle East has become somewhat smoother, most clients still said they need to wait and see given the high freight costs. However, orders for sheets & plates and billets destined for Turkey have increased noticeably recently. It is learned that this might be due to fewer arrivals from other sources, prompting a shift to procurement from China.

[US] The US domestic HRC EXW price recently climbed 7.5 USD/tonne, pushing it to 1,142.75 USD/tonne EXW. This price level marked the highest since April 25, 2023. As domestic steel mills are currently focused entirely on delivering earlier backlog orders, spot HRC availability in the market is extremely scarce, causing the sharp price surge.

POSCO said Wednesday it streamlined its product line into eight 'strategic steels' run under a new 'One Team' structure that breaks internal divisional silos, with each team handling the full chain from R&D to sales. The eight include stainless steel for next-generation growth markets, PosMAC, high-manganese steel, premium EAF steel, energy heavy plates, electrical steel, GigaSteel and HyperNO. Pohang will anchor energy steels—including high-strength stainless—while Gwangyang focuses on automotive and new-mobility grades. POSCO framed the revamp as a response to rising low-priced imports into Korea and trade barriers abroad, after US tariffs cut its US exports 8% year-on-year, and tied it to Korea's new K-Steel Act—signaling a pivot toward premium specialty products, stainless among them.