Five must-know bits of news from the world of metals

Staying up to date with the most interesting news in the metalworking industry is not always an easy task. Luckily, expometals.net got you covered: we have selected 5 stories from as many corners of the globe that we think deserve your attention. For any comment, we invite you to get in touch with our editorial staff: Daniela Di Maggio, editor-in-chief, [email protected], +39 349 8385199.

USA
The US government has recently introduced a new bipartisan act to combat unfair trade.
The legislation is primarily intended to address the problem of cross-border subsidies (such as China’s Belt and Road Initiative) and combat the “whack-a-mole” issue by allowing streamlined successive and concurrent trade remedy investigations. As it transpires from the words of Kevin Dempsey, president and CEO of AISI, the US steel industry has positively welcomed the measure: “American steelmakers have repeatedly won relief against unfair trade practices under the U.S. trade laws only to face new surges of steel imports of the same products from other countries […]. This bill creates a new process for successive investigations to provide for more timely relief against these subsequent surges than under the current system.”

Indonesia
As reported by MEPS, Indonesia's stainless steel industry continues to post record numbers in 2021. While production slows down in China due to government directives and the financial issues of Evergrande, the South-East Asian country drives global stainless steel output growth. Considering this production spike and the difficulties of India, still grappling with the scars of the Covid-19 pandemic, Indonesia is set to become the second-largest stainless steel producer in the world.

Europe
The Omicron variant scares the Old Continent, but steel producers are not intimidated. Against this backdrop, in Q1 2022 the Sweden-based Ovako will install a new continuous casting line for SBQ grade round billets up to ø120mm. Concurrently, the Italian Arvedi commissioned a hot-dip galvanizing and color coating line able to process up to 200,000 tons of coil per year. The plant is expected to enter in service during the second half of 2022 — states ͕MEPS.

Nigeria
According to Olamilekan Adegbite, Nigeria's minister of mines and steel development, the country’s largest steel mill will breathe again in 2022. The Abuja government plans to conduct a technical assessment of the Ajaokuta steelworks with Russian support early in 2022. The project aims to boost Nigeria's steel sector in diversification from oil.

Australia and worldwide
During normal conditions, trade winds blow west along the equator, taking warm water from South America towards Asia. However, this perfect cycle can be interrupted by the so-called El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). This climate phenomenon features two opposites states, which can last from 9 to 12 months: "El Niño" (a warming of the ocean surface, or above-average sea surface temperatures, in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean) and "La Niña" (a cooling of the ocean surface, or below-average sea surface temperatures, in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean). According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, a La Niña has just developed in the Tropical Pacific area. Although the impact of the event may vary widely, this climate pattern can lead to higher-than-normal precipitations and more intense cyclones in Australia, playing havoc with iron ore shipping activities. The same could happen in Brazil: there is a high chance that iron ore shipments from the country could be disrupted over the first half of 2022. At the same time, in Southeast Asia and in the Far East, La Niña could bring lower-than-normal temperatures during winter, potentially causing increases in coal demand. Other affected regions may be Chile (copper and lithium) and Indonesia (aluminum and bauxite).