Latin America editor Ana Paula Camargo reviews the main steel market news covered by Metal Bulletin over the past week.

Tight supply of manganese ore at Chinese ports kept prices of the raw material high last week, while silico-manganese futures prices plunged which could dampen prices in the near term, sources told Metal Bulletin.

Demand for flat steel will remain moderate in Turkey in February and price increases are unlikely because raw material prices are falling and end-user demand is unremarkable, market participants told Metal Bulletin.

Metal Bulletin reviews some of the key news and price moves from the past week in the global steel market.

Prices in the global billet market diverged in the week ended Friday November 2.

Global scrap prices continued to increase in the week from Monday November 27 to Friday December 1, with seasonal factors squeezing material availability.

Turkish, Indian and Taiwanese scrap import prices continued to soften this week as Turkey booked Canada-origin cargoes at sharply lower prices, while demand in China for long steel and billet was also weakening.

Steel billet prices have gone down this week in most regions apart from India and China, following the downward trend seen in scrap prices at the beginning of the week, Metal Bulletin has heard.

A potential ban on Chinese steel imports by Taiwan could disrupt trade flows in Asia, with the stainless steel segment set to be hardest hit, market sources told Metal Bulletin this week.

The impact of Covid-19 lockdowns continues for Vietnam’s agricultural sector