The already short supplies of steel wire rod and rebar in the north of Europe are likely to get even tighter in the coming weeks after a fire led to the suspension of operations at the Thy-Marcinelle long steel mill in Belgium, sources told Fastmarkets on Wednesday June 23.

Turkish steel mills extended their silence in the deep-sea scrap market on Thursday June 17, with market participants reporting no new bookings for the second day in a row and describing the market as “quiet.”

The recent start of electricity rationing in Taiwan capped any major price climbs in its containerized ferrous scrap import market during the week to Friday July 2, sources told Fastmarkets.

Editor Vera Blei looks at the main news covered by Steel First over the past week.

Members of the China Iron & Steel Association (Cisa) cut their crude steel, finished steel and hot metal production rates in the first 10 days of August compared with the preceding 11 days, according to data published by the association on Friday August 13.

With long steel prices in Europe reaching historically high levels, construction activity is slowing in some regions due to reduced supplies and delays, with some market sources fearing a decline in industrial activity long term.

Turkish steel mills resumed their deep-sea scrap purchases for June shipments with another sharp increase in prices, market participants told Fastmarkets on Thursday May 5.

After the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, the seaborne iron ore market will be affected by the macro-economic environment, seasonally low supplies and ongoing or additional steel production cuts in northern China, sources told Fastmarkets this week.

Market chatter about China possibly imposing new export taxes for steel as part of commodity price cooling measures has been rampant in the past week, causing traders and market participants to re-think their trading strategies, and overseas buyers to consider a potential supply shortfall.

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Tuesday August 28.