[SMM Steel] Improved Mill Restocking Lifts Alang Ship-Breaking Scrap Prices

NEMO Industries has selected the ENERGIRON direct reduced iron technology jointly developed by Tenova and Danieli for its planned Ironworks pig iron project in Louisiana. The proposed plant will have annual capacity of 2.5 million tonnes of hot and cold high-carbon DRI to supply electric smelting-based pig iron production. It will also include the HYTEMP hot DRI transport system and be designed for future carbon capture and hydrogen integration. Tenova will begin front-end engineering design, with a final investment decision expected in December 2027.

[EU] European hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices edged slightly higher today, primarily driven by strong willingness among steelmakers to hold firm on prices, although some room for negotiation remains between buyers and sellers. Currently, most producers have completed their Q3 production scheduling, and their strong pricing stance has established a firm bottom support at 830 USD/tonne EXW. On the supply and demand front, despite sluggish end-user demand, EU blast furnace capacity utilization saw a slight month-on-month increase. The Southern European market has fully entered summer holiday mode, with some fully-booked mills taking the opportunity to withdraw their offers. On the import side, buyers' procurement willingness remains low due to concerns over the potential exhaustion of Q4 import quotas. Among them, Indian offers to Europe held steady at 650 USD/tonne CFR, while Italian import quotes remained firm at 570 USD/tonne CIF.

[Turkey] Driven by frequent attacks on merchant vessels in the Black Sea and surging freight costs, shipping rates from the Russian Black Sea to Turkey have reached approximately 40 USD/tonne, prompting buyers to largely halt new order placements from the Black Sea region. This supply bottleneck pushed Turkish steel billet import quotes slightly higher to 490 USD/tonne CFR. However, with domestic finished steel demand remaining sluggish and mill capacity utilization running low, buyers have not engaged in panic procurement. Against this backdrop, Turkish buyers are substantively adjusting their procurement strategies, with delivered prices for Iranian billets via rail recently stabilizing at 480–485 USD/tonne.