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As of the end of July, production of automotive FD outer panels on the No. 1 tandem cold rolling line at Bensteel Group POSCO had maintained stable operation for a full consecutive year, marking the official transition of high-end manufacturing capability from “bottleneck-constrained small-batch production” to a new stage of “high-quality, stable output.” While FD outer panel production doubled YoY, the product qualification rate also increased by 4.40%, fully demonstrating the lean transformation of Bensteel Group POSCO’s high-end automotive outer panel production from people-based management to system-based governance.

Dow Jones and SGX Group signed an index licensing agreement on August 13 to develop futures and swaps tracking the McCloskey Australian FOB Second-Tier HCC Index. The proposed products are intended to provide steelmakers, miners and physical traders with a more direct hedging tool for second-tier hard coking coal. They remain subject to regulatory procedures, while no formal launch date or complete contract specifications have been disclosed.

A Russian airstrike hit ArcelorMittal Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine’s largest steel plant, early on August 16, killing at least two people and injuring 14. The company said key production facilities in its power generation and blast furnace sectors were damaged and that some production processes had been halted. It did not disclose the number of affected blast furnaces, production losses or an expected restart date.