Billet prices in the global markets except India continued to fall during the work week from Monday March 26 to Friday March 30 due to negative sentiment caused by the uncertainty over the United States' Section 232 tariffs.

Global scrap prices continued to climb with increasing demand in the major import markets during the working week from Monday June 26 to Friday June 30.

The regional steel billet markets mostly fell quiet last week because of the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the persistence of high export offer prices from China.

South Korea is working to ease the steel import quota limits imposed by the United States following its Section 232 investigations, the Korea Iron & Steel Association (Kisa) said on Monday March 26.

Scrap prices in the global markets have continued to increase his week, amid strong demand for material in the major importing countries and upward momentum in the US export markets.

China’s daily crude steel output finally started declining in late June, following continual drops in steel prices throughout the month.

Scrap prices in the world’s major markets except the United States continued to strengthen in the week from Monday January 8 to Friday January 12 amid low supplies of material.

Steel imports are poised to halt a five-month slide and jump 10.7% from September to October thanks to gains in line pipe, hot-dipped galvanized products and hot-rolled coil.

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

Fastmarkets worked to empower its customers in 2018 - a year when they had to navigate metal markets in which fundamentals were often tightening even as greater political restraints were placed on trade than for many years.