wiredInUSA November 2017

New production in the Philippines

Industry prepares for winter cuts

Steel Asia Manufacturing Corporation is set to invest a billion dollars for three new mini steel mills in the Philippines, its vice president Roberto Cola has announced. Cola told reporters that production from the new facilities will include billets, rebars, wire rod and sections, with a total capacity of two million tonnes per year. Steel Asia will partner with two investors, from Italy and Japan, for the plates and sections plants, but the rebar facility will be its own venture. The company is currently examining Batangas and Subic as potential sites for the mills.

Reuters has reported that Chinese rebar steel futures advanced through mid- October, supported by output cuts that are part of the government’s battle against smog. The gains in steel prices lifted iron ore, although traders “were not convinced” that the increase in prices of the raw material would last when most of the steel output curbs in China are in place during the winter. The most active rebar on the Shanghai futures exchange increased 4.3 percent to $589 per tonne, its highest since 14 th September. Iron ore on the Dalian commodity exchange was last up 2.4 percent. “The demand for iron ore in the near future doesn’t look great and we could see it come down again, maybe in two weeks time,” said one Shanghai iron ore trader. China’s iron ore imports jumped to a record 103 million tonnes in September in what analysts say was an indication of firm demand, but iron ore consumption looks to be at risk. Traders expect that mills in China, particularly in the north, will soon be ordered to cut production.

wiredInUSA - November 2017

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