Posted on 19 Oct 2023
Sections producers are trying to take advantage of delivery delays from domestic UK mill British Steel.
ArcelorMittal announced a £30/t increase, based on higher costs, yesterday, after British Steel told customers it was seeking £20/t for new orders.
British Steel, the UK's only integrated longs producer, told customers it will not make deliveries before December because of production issues. Poor quality material from the blast furnace is impacting rolling schedules, it told several large customers surveyed by Argus.
There was talk when the problems first arose a month ago of a batch of imported coke causing the issues, which saw the company move from two blast furnaces to one. The mill closed its coking ovens recently and has been importing coke since. It recently bought a batch of material from an Indonesian cokery and is in the market for another.
Sources suggest there may be no furnaces running currently, but the company told Argus it is still producing iron and steel. It is taking "decisive action to minimise the potential impact on customer orders caused by a temporary production issue", it said.
Sources suggest British Steel could import blooms from China to feed the rolling lines if the furnace issues persist. Senior leadership from the company are currently in China for training.
The wire rod mill has not produced anything for almost 10 days. One source said the blast furnace has "run out of stock", leading to the halt. Rolling production was reportedly interrupted by a lack of gas supply after the coking ovens were closed — the mill captured the coke offgases and used them to power its downstream rollings.
Some traders said the delivery problems could cause tightness in the market, but a number of buyers said there was ample supply from European producers.
Source:Argus Media
