Gerdau has entered into a deal with Kinross Brasil Mineração to sell its two hydroelectric plants in Brazil’s mid-western Goiás state for 835 million Reais ($255 million), as a further step in its strategy to focus on profitable steel assets, it said late on Wednesday February 14.

The Chinese yuan's recent losses against the US dollar has pressured steel prices in Asia to move down, with continual drops for both flat and long steel products across the region.

The prices paid for steel scrap by mills in Turkey and Asia have moved up over the week ending Friday July 17, against a backdrop of stronger Chinese prices for iron ore and steel.

The Brazilian long steel market continued to show only weak trading activity for both domestic and foreign sales during September.

Iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodities Exchange slumped during the morning on Monday September 1 after China published weaker official manufacturing data and rebar futures slumped to a record low.

Prices for billet have started to stabilise in some regional markets around the world following a four-week rally fuelled by rising import scrap prices in Turkey and firm demand for long steel in China.

The downtrend in global billet prices continued over the past week as buyers looked out for bargains amid poor demand for downstream long steel products.

Steel billet prices in most global markets were largely unchanged or edged downward during the week from Monday July 30 to Friday August 3, due to limited buying interest and uncertainty about the impending United States sanctions on Iran.

The latest news and price moves to start the Asian day on Thursday September 20.

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