Steel Market Research Articles

Черная металлургия в эпоху торговых войн

Today, ferrous metallurgy has a huge role in the development of many sectors of the economy, such as: energy, chemical industry, engineering, construction, and the production of weapons and military equipment. Thus, the state of the metallurgical industry determines the development of many industries and the world economy as a whole. The article presents the results of a study of the current state of the metallurgical industry, a description of the trends in the development of the global steel market and its participants.

The impact of Chinese steel product prices based on the midstream industry chain

As a major importer and exporter of steel products, China has trade relations with many markets around the world. However, the development of the Chinese market in recent years has not been stable, and price fluctuations are frequent. To better understand the price trend of China's steel products, based on an adaptive neural fuzzy inference system and cluster analysis, this paper examines the price impacts on the Chinese import and export steel market from the perspective of the international mainstream market and steel products themselves. The study selected steel markets in 12 countries and regions and used daily data on the import and export prices from January 2009 to September 2017 to analyze eight steel products. The results show that in the mainstream market, Asian countries have a greater impact than non-Asian countries on China's import market, and developed countries have a greater impact than developing countries on China's export market. Among steel products, sheet steel products have the most significant impact on China's import and export markets. Based on the above results, this article gives some policy suggestions for monitoring and controlling the development of China's steel industry from an international perspective. When the price of imported products in the Chinese market increases, the government should add or change the import area. In addition, industry regulators should focus on products with large import volumes, such as flat products. When the proportion of imported products is too large, policies should be adjusted appropriately. In addition, the China Steel Industry Association should analyze the developmental trend of the international market in real time and provide timely assistance to related companies, especially when export products encounter issues, such as antidumping investigations in developed countries. Furthermore, steel enterprises should continue to strengthen the export of key products, for instance, by increasing the proportion of high value-added products such as cold rolled coils.

Modeling steel supply and demand functions using logarithmic multiple regression analysis (case study: Steel industry in Iran)

The steel industry is considered as one of the mother industries that serves many large and small industries. Hence, recognizing the market situation of the steel industry both inside and outside the country is very important. Supply and demand are among the most important factors in stimulating the steel market. Usually, supply and demand have complex function. So, modeling and forecasting steel supply and demand require the use of accurate and scientific approaches. This paper presents an approach to identify the steel supply and demand functions and also to forecast the supply and demand trends. In the first step, through reviewing the historical data on the steel supply and demand in Iran, the effective and most important variables will be identified. Then, the supply and demand functions will be fitted using multiple logarithmic regression analysis. Logarithmically transforming variables in a regression model is a very common way to handle situations where a non-linear relationship exists between the independent and dependent variables. The accuracy of estimations is checked through appropriate statistical tests. The analysis is based on data of Iran steel market obtained from a 60 monthly period starting in 2010 and ending in 2014. The results showed that the estimated functions was appropriate in modeling the steel supply and demand behavior. The extrapolation analysis using 24 monthly data from 2017-2018 has also been accomplished to check the performance of the regression analysis.

Strategy and policy for increasing work productivity of operators in the steel industry through work improvement with lean method (journal review)

Increasing tight of competition in the steel market and then need to be taken to make efficiency and effectiveness in the company. Not achievement of production targets which have been set that it will can have a negative impact for the company. Therefore it is necessary to create a good strategy to make the right policy to solve in the internal problems of production company. One the right of strategy for a manufacturing company is to use the Lean Method. Due to some approaches and tools can be used by manufacturing companies. This articel use balancing analysis and work standards. Some tools in lean method can be used adjusted to situation and the conditions of the company that can also improve the standardization of work and improve productivity of manufacturing. Therefore it is necessary to conduct more in depth empirical studies in applying this methode. Based on the results of this review literature study is expected readers can implemen lean method in accordance needs of manufacturing companies.

Coke and Blast Furnace Gases: Ecological and Economic Benefits of Use in Heating Furnaces

ABSTRACT Currently, the metallurgical industry in Poland is struggling with the problem of the energy use of process by-products. Coke oven gas (COG) or blast furnace gas (BFG) in accordance with the latest directives should not be a side effect troublesome to manage. They should become an energy carrier that improves the economic and ecological efficiency of the steelworks. The easiest way to manage them is combustion or co-combustion with natural gas directly in the place of production. In the article, simulations of process gas combustion were carried out in the actual operating conditions of a roller-hearth tunnel furnace for sheet hardening, using the Directed Relation Graph with Error Propagation aided Sensitivity Analysis (DRGEPSA) method. The main objective of the analyses was to determine the optimal solution for the use of COG and BFG gases in a heating furnace in the ecological and economic aspect. The conducted analysis shows that co-firing COG and BFG in appropriate proportions is the most advantageous solution. The presented savings resulting from the use of process gases and the heating of the sheet metal in the hardening furnace constitute a remarkable economic aspect of the furnace operation. Considering the growing competition on the steel market, the presented savings are a more advantageous technological solution for Polish steelworks, ensuring a lower price of the final product.

Trends and Solutions for Future Steel Grade Development

The world steel market is in a phase of maturity. Worldwide growth in steel demand is expected to be in the range of 1% per year and the world’s biggest market, China, is facing a phase of stagnating or even diminishing steel demand. The situation has changed from a supplier driven to a customer driven market meaning that customer demands are increasing and margins are dropping. Besides increasing levels of digitization and service orientation as well as the development of new sales channels the delivery of higher quality, introduction of new steel grades and further customization of high-end products to cover niche markets are of prime importance to keep or increase market shares. Besides efficient organization and execution of the daily business ranging from production to quality management and customer services paired with data-based insight, highly efficient research and development (R&D) with increasingly limited amount of resources is a must. This paper addresses the latter topic regarding trends for future steel grade demands and strategies for efficient R&D.

A hedonic model of import steel prices: Is the EU market integrated?

Operating as a single integrated market, the EU is a major world trading power. The defence against anti–competitive conducts and the policy for facilitating price convergence among EU Member States are two fundamental tasks for protecting the fair development of its economic environment, a target explicitly set in the founding treaty of the European Economic Community. Their importance is even more significant for steel industry, given its crucial role in modern economies and the great attention it recently attracted in the agenda of policy makers due to potential practices of dumping, both worldwide and in EU. This study provides a detailed analysis of EU flat–rolled steel import prices aimed to shed a light on these issues through a price model based on a hedonic approach. Given their flexibility, hedonic models are perfect candidates for detecting the main price determinants and assessing the contribution of different features. Model estimates allow to quantify the effects that different origins and destinations have on steel import prices, so to assess the exporting price policy of non–EU countries and the level of price convergence among EU Member States. Results confirm the presence of a small cluster of exporting countries with an aggressive price policy, and provide no evidence of progress toward price convergence in EU steel market. Representing an evaluation of the law of one price validity along with EU objectives achievement, this last conclusion suggests a partial realization of the European Market Integration.

TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION RATES IN THE US STEEL INDUSTRY

ABSTRACT The adoption of new technology has several consequences ranging from sustaining the firm’’s competitiveness down to the tactical level of targeting marketing efforts to certain promising segments. In here, technology adoption models were surveyed and applied to real data in the search for a model that could describe the US steel industry. After 1974 the Open Hearth, Basic Oxygen Furnace, and the Electric Arc Furnace were the three competing technologies in the US steel industry. The simple logistic fit and the competitive Lotka-Volterra model were considered to describe the data. Model parameters for the logistic fit were obtained by the least squares method and a steepest descent search algorithm. The competitive Lotka-Volterra model was solved using a Runge-Kutta numerical integration after obtaining parameters with a linear regression. Neither of these two models was successful in describing the data. Therefore, a modified Lotka-Volterra model was developed to describe a system dynamics where all players compete for one finite resource. This model was very successful in predicting the production rates of steel by the Basic Oxygen Furnace, the Open Hearth, and the Electric Arc Furnace over the period of available data (1978 through 2017). Besides showing that the steel market dynamics in the US is not akin to the competition in biological systems as proposed by Volterra, the model correctly predicted the extinction of the OH technology in the US in 1991. Forecasts from the resource limited Lotka-Volterra predict that the Basic Oxygen Furnace technology should go extinct in the US in the year 2033, whereas EAF production shall accelerate. “There where there is no struggle against fate there shall you resurrect your soul.” - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago Keywords Steel, industry dynamics, model, Lotka-Volterra, technology, adoption

Research on Capital Structure of Listed Companies in China's Steel Industry

Under the background of economic downturn, China's steel market has experienced a situation of oversupply, and steel companies have generally meager profits or even losses. The steel industry have entered a “cold winter”. Based on this situation, this paper studies the capital structure policy of 37 steel manufacturing companies listed in China. The innovation of the article is to link the working capital policy of the enterprises with the decision of capital structure, so as to provide advice for the investment and financing decision of the enterprise.

LOGISTICS SYSTEM AS A DIRECTION FOR INCREASING COMPETITIVENESS OF THE METALLURGICAL PLANTS OF UKRAINE

Market relations in Ukraine are characterized by dynamism of the external environment, aggravation of competition between producers, increase of the level of commercial risk; require the enterprises of the mining and metallurgical industry of Ukraine to find effective ways of ensuring competitiveness, strengthening the competitive position and competitive status. Timely and uninterrupted supply of metallurgical complexes with quality secondary raw materials, sufficient for stable production volume, is an extremely important task that determines the economic security and competitiveness of ferrous metallurgy. Enterprise competitiveness management involves the introduction of modern logistics systems, taking into account the specifics of the competitive environment of the market and is a necessary and important strategic direction for improving the competitiveness of the enterprise. Today, in the secondary steel market, Ukraine's decision-making in the competitive behavior model is, in most cases, intuitive, without a fundamental basis and careful strategic analysis. Only a balanced approach to the assessment and use of competitive factors ensures business development and its advantages over competing companies. The implementation of this approach is an important task of management and marketing of the enterprise. In many ways, the solution to the problem of competitiveness of domestic metallurgical enterprises will depend on the possibility of its analysis. The methods of estimation of concentration level and monopolization of ferrous scrap market of Ukraine, which is a strategic raw material for metallurgical plants, are considered in the article. Approaches and indicators are analyzed to analyze the degree of market concentration: the coefficient of market concentration; Herfindahl-Hirschman coefficient; Rosenbluth coefficient (Hall-Tidman) is an indicator of market share entropy; Gini index. The share of metallurgical plants of Ukraine specializing in scrap metal processing and processing is analyzed and established. The current state and level of competition in the secondary steel market of Ukraine have been determined. On the basis of certain indicators, metallurgical plants of Ukraine have the opportunity to create an effective system for managing the competitiveness of enterprises, which are a prerequisite for achieving their strong competitive positions.

Financial Outlook of the United States Steel Industry and Its Role in the Economy Moving Forward

The US economy is an ever-evolving entity: with continuous spurs of technological innovation, massive corporations with prodigious influence, a government with the ability to sway the fate of entire industries, and a stock market that tracks these rapid transformations down to the minute. Despite this constant evolution, steel has remained a central fixture of the economic structure for the majority of US history. However, the recent development of advanced manufacturing and adoption of material counterparts has made the future status of steel uncertain. In my writing, I will determine the current state of steel, how its influence in the US economy will continue to evolve, and the financial ramifications of these changes. I examine the impacts of the current global trade war and the tariffs implemented by the US on the success of the domestic steel market. Furthermore, I discuss the rationale for investing in steel, and analyze individual companies within the steel industry’s extensive supply chain.

Steel product prices transmission activities in the midstream industrial chain and global markets

Market competition and trade activities between different economies’ steel industries induce severe steel product price transmission between different economies. Furthermore, steel products in different phases of the industrial chain present various price transmission features. In this research, we calculate the Granger causality relationship between different steel products in different markets and the midstream industry chain. We then construct the global steel product price transmission network and regional price transmission network. We analyze the network indicators and draw the following conclusions. First, emerging economies play a major role in international steel product price transmission activities. Second, billet and plates of middle thickness transmit the most price in the steel market. Third, China imposes price transmission impacts on the most regions with the widest range. Lastly, steel products at the end of the midstream steel industrial chain are “bridges” of price transmission activities. This research will guide market individuals in the steel industry to adjust their behaviors according to market signals.

Development of Steelmaking in the Modern Postcrisis Period of Economic Recession

The prospects of development of the steelmaking in the world and Russia are estimated using information in the period 2009–2017. Recommendations on predicting crisis phenomena on the world and Russian steel markets are given in short-, medium-, and long-term time periods. The situation on the first processing world market of steelmaking is shown to be rather stable, and sharp changes in the business activity of steel market players on the regional level are possible.

Market analysis to the Steel industry: evidence from Egypt

This case study is guidance for the market forces in one of the important industries. This study is prepared to analyze the market forces affecting the flat steel industry during the period from 2013 till 2017 in Egypt. Â The steel market in Egypt is a very wide market with many companies and a wide variety of products. The study will provide insight on the supply, demand and elasticity of Flat steel produced by Al-Ezz Dekheila Steel Company which is one of the biggest producers of flat steel in the Middle East. Finally conclusion.

Steel Corp: Using Logistics Criteria to Segment Customers

Steel Corp has a large production capacity but a shrinking steel market in Europe. Reaching growing markets like China and U.A.E will be important to sustaining and growing revenue but is tough due to higher transportation costs. In this case, users must identify and use logistics data; logistics customer segmentation and related cost analysis.

Steel trade structure and the balance of steelmaking technologies in non-OECD countries: the implications for catch-up path

The landscape of the steel industry has changed significantly since the start of the twenty-first century. The countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have played an active role in the global steel industry. However, in the past decade, non-OECD countries have also caught up with trends. Non-OECD countries have developed from peripheral players to major centres of global steel production and trade, and they should continue to play a crucial role in the global steel market as a result of steady capacity additions. In addition to changes in the composition of the global steel market, there has been a gradual change in the structure of production technologies in the global steel industry. With the increasing importance of the electric arc furnace (EAF) route, does the blast furnace/basic oxygen furnace (BF/BOF) route still play an important role for non-OECD countries to catch-up with OECD countries? This study provides an in-depth analysis of non-OECD countries’ steel production and trade, and the results indicate that the balance of steelmaking technologies is associated with steel trade structure in non-OECD countries. The BF/BOF route is more likely to be significant for non-OECD countries to become net exporters of steel and diversify and/or to upgrade exports of steel products.

Government Intervention in Security Markets: Evidence of Contagion, Speculation, and Informed Trading

The Chinese regulatory authority’s interventions into the futures market for steel during 2016 provide a rare opportunity to study the unintended consequences of interventions. Although hot rolled coil (HRC) and rebar are products with nearly identical components, their futures contracts trade separately. The regulatory authority intervened into the futures market for rebar but refrained from doing so for HRC. We document impacts of interventions measured by increased volatility, trading volume, and spreads in rebar markets. There is also evidence of informed trading in both markets, reflected by abnormally high trading volumes and low open interests occurring the day before the announcement of interventions.

Global Coal, Coke, and Steel Markets and Innovations in Coke Production: A Report on the European Coke 2018 Summit

The economy of the European Community is analyzed. The state of the global and European coal, coke, and steel markets is examined, as well as price trends. Some achievements and innovations in coke production are presented. The prospects for steelmaking and coke production are assessed.

"Invited Paper" Computer-aided alloy designs of grade 600 MPa reinforced steel bars for seismic safety based on thermodynamic and kinetic calculations: Overview

In order to satisfy the demands for both safety and global warming reduction, a high-strength seismic reinforced steel bar is required in the structural steel market. Recent developments in computational thermodynamics and related application software have made it possible to design a suitable material as well as support engineers of steel manufacturing companies in the production of the designed material with minimum benchmarks in practical operations. This paper reports our recent success in developing grade 600 MPa reinforced steel bars for seismic safety in South Korea. First, conventional alloy design based on CALPHAD-type computational thermodynamics was carried out. For this purpose, a typical alloy system of Fe-0.30C-0.23Si-1.37Mn-0.14V-0.22Cu (in wt%) was selected, and thermodynamic and kinetic calculations were carried out using MatCalc and JMatPro software. Second, in order to reduce V content in the steel for economic reasons, a cooling process designed using finite element (FE) simulation based on the thermodynamic database was performed. For this application, Fe-0.34C-0.22Si-1.34Mn-0.04 V (in wt%) alloy was chosen, and the FE software ABAQUS was applied for modeling the TempCore process. The mechanical properties of the steel products with a diameter of 32 mm produced based on the simulated results satisfy the required properties for grade 600 MPa seismic reinforced steel bars.

Factors of enterprise value - the privatization of ‘Sidex Galati’ Romania (case study)

Abstract The enterprise value is central in business transactions (i.e. mergers and acquisitions, entrance of new shareholders or exit, bank loans), privatization of state-owned companies, etc., when the seller and the buyer confront each other’s business valuations trying to identify as many weaknesses as possible on the other side. Such important value as the enterprise’ is not an exact figure that can be calculated with precision at a certain date for a certain company, but an approximation that both buyer and seller may consider in each other’s attempt to close a good deal for himself/ herself. The valuation approach in this paper is a market method for business investments and comparable sales. This retrospective analysis of a major privatization in the Romanian steel industry - when the industry’s 'giant' was sold by the Romanian State - aims to identify key factors of the enterprise value in the context of international transactions. This was a high-profile privatization of great significance for the European steel industry and this analysis aims to understand enterprise value in order to model it. For this purpose, the article takes into consideration the information available regarding the privatization of Sidex Galați, the relevant literature and the author’s experience, supplemented by the information from the post-privatization evolution of the Romanian steel enterprise. As a result, the article draws lessons and concludes on determining factors of enterprise value, such as assets, solvency, company's history, cash flow, taxation etc., while the price transaction in the case of the privatization of Romanian steel enterprises was also influenced by exogenous factors, such as the steel market, the State's need for revenues, the controlling package of the company sold, etc.