steelmakers

Chinese steelmakers argued that the U. S. industry is trying to stymie legitimate competition and wasn't injured by the imports.

"Steelmakers will give priority to products used for repairing the power network, " says Ma. "That will drive up the industry's earnings. "

Steelmakers are at last waking up to a convergence of forces, none of them desirable.

Steelmakers will no doubt try to pass the latest price increases to their customers, making life more difficult for manufacturers globally.

Mr Eder's position contrasts with that of other leading steelmakers.

China's steelmakers seem to be fighting a losing battle in this year's iron-ore price negotiations.

Rio plans to team with BHP in iron-rich Western Australia in a joint venture the steelmakers fear could turn out to be monopolistic.

It thus looks as if Chinese steelmakers and others will have to pay up.

That what some Chinese steelmakers seem to think.

China's steel association said some of its steelmakers were planning to cut production by about 20% to help buoy falling prices.

Rio Tinto said it was still waiting for regulatory clearance for the joint venture, which many steelmakers claim would be anti-competitive.

For the moment US steelmakers will struggle if they try to use traditional legal tools against imports.

As well as planning to expand into shipbuilding, POSCO is looking out for opportunities to acquire steelmakers in Asia.

Thyssen Krupp, one of Europe's biggest steelmakers, said in April that it was considering using derivatives.

Nonetheless, some steelmakers, particularly in Europe, question whether the spot market truly reflects supply and demand fundamentals.

Up to now, Beijing has warned off foreign investors from having a sizeable influence in domestic steelmakers.

Steelmakers have had to boost production to cope with the state housing programme.

Mr. Hu was in charge of Rio's China iron-ore department, and oversaw the company's ore sales to Chinese steelmakers.

"We are stunned by the lack of financial good sense by China's high-cost steelmakers who continue to turn gold into straw, " it says.

As a result, larger China steelmakers avoid ore purchases from Iran, leaving the field to their smaller brethren, he said.

Steelmakers would likely oppose the merger, due to its expanded role in coal, analysts said.

Under the plan, a holding company would be created to be the majority shareholder in both steelmakers.

China's steelmakers are keenly aware that higher grades are often imported due to their lack of technology or production capability.

Chinese steelmakers are still holding out for a larger cut, demanding that prices revert to the 2007-08 level with a cut of 40-45 per cent.

The takeover has encountered strong opposition from Rio over the price, and has faced resistance from steelmakers in Asia and Europe.

But for the market to take off in earnest steelmakers, a conservative bunch, need to be convinced of their usefulness.

None of the Japanese steelmakers could be reached for comment.

Analysts say steelmakers have been running down iron ore inventories to avoid paying high contracted prices this quarter.

It is one of China's more efficient steelmakers, adept at sourcing raw materials cheaply and using superior technology.

Steelmakers have been hit hard by the global slowdown in sales of everything from appliances and autos to construction.

Steelmakers were hoping the first quarter would be its worst, in terms of losses, for 2009.

Most of that ore is bound for Chinese steelmakers, Rio's biggest customers.

Several industry analysts said that large steelmakers had been forced to reduce production.

The steelmakers' costs are likely to increase even further during the summer as spot prices continue to rise.

They were charged with taking bribes and stealing "commercial secrets" from Chinese steelmakers.

Steelmakers and their brokers are not affected by the ban, a trading executive familiar with matter told the Financial Times.

Steelmakers often owned their own mines in the industry's early days because few other companies had the capital needed to operate them.

In an unusual turn of events, that drop in U. S. demand is turning the nation's steelmakers into exporters.

Steelmakers elsewhere, including the European Union, have also raised competition concerns.

Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. and Kobe Steel Ltd. , Japan's third and fourth largest steelmakers, are scheduled to report tomorrow .

But the problems extend beyond its frontiers as steelmakers in Europe and the US are also cutting production sharply.

Driven by the Chinese government's infrastructure-centred stimulus spending, the steelmakers have been restocking.

Tangshan steelmakers acknowledge that their unexpected revival is built on flimsy foundations.

After a recent spate of consolidation in the industry, many steelmakers are looking at acquisitions.

The Chinese tried to act as one voice against the powerful mining industry but its steelmakers are still essentially an unorganized group.

Stronger domestic prices have prompted Chinese steelmakers to expand output and purchase more raw materials.

The increase in the quarterly contract price will either push up steel prices or dent steelmakers' profit margins.

"Since supply exceeds demand, then steel products' prices have dropped. " The situation has left Chinese steelmakers burdened by debt.

After that, miners have warned previous long-term agreements with Chinese steelmakers would be void and they would sell ore at spot prices.

Since April, Chinese steelmakers have been getting one whammy after another.

Rocketing prices for coking coal and iron ore, the two main components of steel, have left steelmakers shell-shocked.

But Baosteel ranked first among China's steelmakers during the first 11 months of the year, with a total output of 33. 1m metric tonnes.

Other executives agree that steelmakers from China to Germany are running down their stocks amid an uncertain outlook.

In a sign of some return to normality, Japan's top three steelmakers reported some progress in restoring production.

As a result, most steelmakers are guardedly optimistic about prospects for their sector in the next couple of years.

Indian iron ore producers are complaining of the same problem with Chinese steelmakers.

Facing slowing demand, Chinese steelmakers are lowering prices. The slump is passing into other markets.

Japanese steelmakers also confirmed privately that a deal had been reached, though no formal announcement has been made.

Across Europe, steelmakers don't see an upturn anytime soon, Europe's steel association, Eurofer, said Thursday.

Prices have tumbled by more than a third in three months, as Chinese steelmakers have scaled down production.

The mining companies are bigger, and steelmakers have virtually no negotiating leverage.

Before the credit crisis, steelmakers pushed for early negotiations, hoping to lock in a lower price.

Steelmakers'shares fell sharply Tuesday on expectations of the iron ore price hike.

Certainly not by turning back iron ore shipments, so desperately needed by their steelmakers.

Absent a sustained pullback in Chinese output, pricing power for global steelmakers will be constrained.

Lyndon Johnson attacked steelmakers who raised prices as unpatriotic.

Bankers hope the move by Tokyo traders and steelmakers would prompt others to follow.

Steelmakers are understandably wringing their hands over this.

The government wants steel mills to start moving higher value-add product, and for steelmakers to get smaller and leaner.

Vale, a Brazilian mining firm, has persuaded some steelmakers to pay as much as 71% more this year for its iron ore.

Many global steelmakers increased production in the second half as world economies strengthened.

Coking coal prices are set in quarterly contracts between miners and steelmakers.

But Vale clearly reckons that its best bet is to concentrate on supplying the world's steelmakers.

The steelmakers would face higher costs if they move to quarterly prices linked to the spot market.

But small steelmakers without their own technological edge are unlikely to survive.

Steelmakers favor contract prices to lock in costs and insulate them from price jumps.

The falls will either push down steel prices or widen steelmakers' profit margins.

The steelmakers have failed to agree a 2008-09 annual contract price with Rio and BHP Billiton despite months of talks.

Some steelmakers on Tuesday posted third-quarter losses, while others fell off from the second quarter.

"The talks may end quietly as steelmakers accept the 33 percent as a provisional cut. "

Steelmakers do not want to pay a cent above Rio's settlement.

One banker in the deal says all steelmakers are now asking themselves what they should do next.

The ban in India has tightened supplies as Asian steelmakers step up their buying.

Analysts said steelmakers are likely to pass the rise in costs on to customers, such as construction companies and car makers.

Structural overcapacity isn't just bad for some steelmakers.

The main reason for the plunge in iron ore is that record output by Chinese steelmakers flooded the market with steel this year.

The Japanese steelmakers are contracted to provide Thai tinplate producers TMBP at USD 700 per tonne FOB for April to June period shipments.

Most steelmakers are losing money as construction dries up.

The push for a record price would be strongly opposed by steelmakers and mining executives are braced for extremely difficult talks.

Chinese steelmakers could struggle to pass on these rates.

Most steelmakers are thought to want to pass on the increase in their costs to customers.

Another barrier is Beijing's reluctance to the use of derivatives by steelmakers.

The derivatives could gain importance if miners and Chinese steelmakers fail to reach an agreement over 2009-10 benchmark prices.

China's iron ore demand remains strong, with the country's steelmakers in June producing 49. 42m tonnes of steel, an all-time monthly high.

Around 20 Chinese steelmakers have long-term supply contracts with Rio Tinto.

But steelmakers are puny compared with their main suppliers and customers.

Industry officials said Japanese steelmakers were also seeking a 40-50 per cent cut as demand for ore and steel was plunging.

Steelmakers are a case in point.

BHP is also becoming more dependent on the steelmakers.

This is roughly the same price that miners negotiated with Japanese steelmakers earlier this year.

China is the world's largest importer of iron ore. Its steelmakers recently accepted a 65-71 per cent hike for supplies from Brazil's Vale.

Rio Tinto will meet Chinese steelmakers for further talks next week, the people said.

Many of China's steelmakers looked for supplies on the open market to fill hungry blast furnaces.

Steelmakers in China, Japan, Europe and the US have already announced output cuts for the second half of the year.

That has decreased steelmakers' ability to recoup rising costs for raw materials, such as iron ore and coal, eroding earnings.

Steelmakers such as U. S. -based Nucor Corp. (NUE) that melt recycled steel, rather than coal and iron ore, won't be impacted.

That was a blow to steelmakers accustomed to predictable prices for their most important ingredient.

The first is the price that the steelmakers pay Rio for their iron ore.

He has strong support from steelmakers.

Severstal and other steelmakers are more inclined to invest in emerging markets such as Brazil and China.

He also said that Nucor's pessimistic outlook, which is more so than other steelmakers', is more realistic.

Chinese steelmakers could end up paying more as a result.

Steelmakers had little option but to accept the 65 per cent increase.

There are around 800 steelmakers in the country, and the 10 largest control only one-third of production.

But in China the big steelmakers are state-owned and even basic data are technically secret.

POSCO's TMBP export prices are lower than what the Japanese steelmakers charge for their TMBP exports to Thailand.

Much of the subsidy comes from 91 per cent of the production of the top 20 steelmakers in China being government-owned, the study says.

What the government's plan lacks, however, is any idea that private steelmakers might compete, in China, with the emperors and kings.

Some steelmakers, such as U. S. Steel Corp. (X), are likely to benefit indirectly because they rely on North American coal.

Steelmakers in Japan are targeting sales in Asia, including China and India, to counter slower domestic demand.

Chinese steelmakers became Rio's most important customer by far last year.

Although steelmakers in Japan and South Korea had made a deal to pay 33% less than last year, China has demanded a deeper discount.

US steelmakers offer concession to EU over tariffs