Prices for cargoes of steel scrap imported into South Korea have dropped over the past week amid lower demand from mills that will take rounds of maintenance during the next few months, sources told Fastmarkets on Friday September 18.

The EU market for finished long steel products has been looking up recently amid expectations that Algerian buyers will return to active trading.

Sabic Hadeed expects local steel consumption to increase gradually over the next 10 years thanks to stronger demand from the private sector and not only via government spending or the oil sector, the state-owned Saudi Arabian steel producer said at Fastmarkets’ Middle East Iron and Steel conference in Dubai last week.

Iran’s imports of long products have fallen dramatically, raising concerns about the effects on inventory levels in the future.

The Trump administration’s surprise doubling of Section 232 duties on Turkish steel imports has gone into effect and could hammer US ferrous scrap prices as well as the steel trade landscape.

Metal Bulletin reviews the major stories affecting the steel market over the past week.

Prices decreased in most markets last week, with demand for rebar remaining subdued in many regions, but a recovery in prices for semi-finished material in China led to improved sentiment in some countries later in the week.

Prices in most locations moved up this week, with Chinese mills out of the market due to the weeklong Lunar New Year and continued strong scrap prices.

The Turkish long steel export market has remained sluggish because of the uncertainty created by the Section 232 tariffs imposed by the United States, and prices have started to fall, sources said on Thursday March 22.

Steel price trends and market fundamentals in China set the heartbeat for the international spot market.