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Engineering Industry Reports and Surveys
News Release from: MEPS (International)
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 13 August 2004
EU steel prices set to decline
Industrial activity in the EU remains weak and there are few signs of any real recovery in steel demand, according to the latest data from MEPS (International).
Industrial activity in the EU remains weak and there are few signs of any real recovery in steel demand, according to the latest data from MEPS (International) Nevertheless, driven by a shortage of coke and tightness in slab supply, flat product prices remain firm
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 4 Nov 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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These high values have not yet resulted in any significant offers of imported material.
Substantial reductions in scrap costs in recent months have now worked through into long product selling values.
The plate segment performed better than MEPS expected in the latest negotiations.
It is now likely that this robust pattern will continue into the final quarter and beyond.
MEPS continues to forecast modest price increases for strip and plate in the next round of negotiations.
These gains could well be rolled over into the following quarter for most product categories.
However, decreases are still expected in the early part of 2005.
Significant transaction price reductions for long products occurred in July.
For most products, the decline was Eur 25/32 per tonne (between 4.3 and 6.3%).
The figure for reinforcing bar was even greater at more than 15%.
These decreases were associated with falls in scrap values.
MEPS expects scrap to move up in price over the next quarter.
This could signal a recovery in negotiated values for structural sections and reinforcing bars in the near term.
MEPS still expects a slow but steady price decline for all long products from the end of the year.
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