Mining World

Chinese spot steel prices eased 0.8 percent in their fifth consecutive weekly fall, but the pace of their decline slowed, as mills started reducing production amid rising inventories and falling prices.

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China’s iron-ore imports slipped 15% in August from a record in July to their lowest in six months, displaced by growing domestic output which fed record steel production.

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China’s iron-ore imports slipped 15% in August from a record in July to their lowest in six months, displaced by growing domestic output which fed record steel production.

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Steel billet prices in the Black Sea and Turkey market have edged up this week on the back of firm scrap prices and steel mills offering high prices as they bet on a recovery in buying over the coming weeks.

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China imported 49.68 million tonnes of iron ore in August, down 14.5 percent from a monthly record hit in July, the customs authority said on Friday.

Steel product exports grew 15 percent from the previous month to 2.08 million tonnes in August, but were 73 percent lower than the same period last year, as financial woes hit the global economy.
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South Korea’s Posco will raise stainless steel prices by up to 13% from the start of September to reflect recent gains in global commodity prices, the company said.

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Chinese steel prices fluctuated after experiencing an increase in profits and then decrease within 20 days, with the biggest fall in 20 percent, according to figures from the state information providers industry.

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The Chinese government may cancel more than 20 companies’iron ore import licenses if it finds that they have conducted illegal speculative purchasing, sources reported Tuesday.

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Foreign companies should abide by China’s laws and regulations, a Chinese government spokesman said Tuesday even as Australia continued to press for details about the arrest of its citizen, an employee of Rio Tinto PLC, for the alleged theft of state secrets.

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According to Fitch Ratings’ 2009 global steel outlook report issued recently, Fitch expects the current sharp contraction in steel demand to continue to weigh on steel production and pricing through the first half of 2009. While in the short term the steel market will be in a downturn, the ratings outlooks on the vast majority of Fitch Ratings’ steel coverage are stable.
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Xinhuanet reported that Baosteel has formally signed a strategic cooperative frame agreement with Shanghai International Port Company Limited to strengthen their further cooperation amid severe market in the fields of supply, logistics, storage, deep processing, distribution and investment etc.

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The ailing U.S. steel industry is pressing President-elect Barack Obama for a public works plan that could be worth $1 trillion over two years to boost flagging demand for U.S.-made steel, the New York Times reported in Friday’s editions.

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