Archive for November, 2008
Brazilian pig iron deal goes for US$310/t fob
A Brazilian pig iron maker from the country’s northern region of Carajás recently concluded a deal with a trading company for US$310/tonne fob, Steel Business Briefing learns from local market sources. The sale was for roughly 35,000 t, for shipment in January, the sources say. The last known deal in Carajás prior to this one [...]
US scrap prices show improvement
US scrap prices inched up a little more this week, as mills are buying despite so much capacity being offline at the moment. The selling price between the varying grades is narrow, which is a contrast from earlier in the year when there was a spread of at least $100 between them. The latest deals [...]
Construction Industry Is Poised for a Rebound
The construction industry, beset by one of the biggest drops in employment in the current economic downturn, could be poised for a rebound under President-elect Barack Obama’s expected stimulus package. Mr. Obama hasn’t offered details, but anticipating a surge in public-works spending, investors bid up construction and engineering stocks. URS Corp., a San Francisco-based engineering [...]
Ring the bell, scrap prices rebound !
A Mid-West steel mill decided to add scrap to their inventory in November to do some cost averaging, and take advantage of the current low published scrap prices of about $125 pgt. However, they ran into a dead end and couldn’t find any scrap dealers willing to sell at the current November AMM pricing. They [...]
Things may be bad in the USA, but Russia has it worse
Steel makers join hunt for Russian state funds Nov 18 (Reuters) – Russian steel makers Severstal, TMK and Evraz Group are in talks to secure loans from state-controlled banks to help refinance debt incurred to fund expansions in North America this year. Russia plans to channel at least $50 billion from its foreign exchange reserves [...]
Russia industry slowdown prompts new government action
By Gleb Bryanski and Denis Dyomkin MOSCOW, Nov 18 (Reuters) – Russia pledged fresh efforts to boost its economy on Tuesday after data showed industry growth slumping and the World Bank said further weakness in the rouble looked inevitable. Official statistics showed double-digit falls in production of materials such as rolled steel and cement, which [...]
The G-20 and GM: Economics, Politics and Social Stability
An interesting analysis of the current global financial crisis by Dr. George Friedman, founder of Strategic Forecasting, Inc. Reprinted (in part) with permission. By George Friedman Recession and the U.S. Auto Industry For the United States, this choice has been posed in stark terms with regard to the dilemma of whether the U.S. government should [...]
Evraz Gets A Kremlin-Style Bailout
Moscow gives money to steelmaker so it can pay its taxes. In a new sign that Russia’s corporate sector is reeling from its own branch of the global credit crunch, billionaire Roman Abramovich‘s Evraz steelmaker said Thursday it would borrow money from the government—to pay its taxes. Many of Russia’s largest companies, both public and [...]
