The international steel review, MEPS, has reported that the upward trend in global steel values continued in February 2018, with North American and European flat product steelmakers securing a vast proportion of their tabled price hikes, owing to improved market fundamentals.
From MEPS research, in February, many North American and European steel buyers report that rising international selling figures aided the latest price advances. Domestic steelmakers were given the opportunity to lift values, in the absence of competitively priced alternatives, notably from Far East suppliers.
Steel manufacturers in China, took advantage of government closures of local induction furnaces and improved demand conditions to raise domestic prices significantly, in the second half of 2017. Consequently, less material is available for overseas markets. Export volumes slumped by 30.5 percent, in 2017, year-on-year.