A top Japanese steelmaker is expecting prices for October shipments of hot-rolled coil in Asia to continue to trend upward amid rising production costs as a result of raw materials becoming more expensive.
"Production volumes of electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) in China are increasing rapidly due to strong demand for long steel products from the construction sector, particularly as a result of domestic stimulus being applied to cushion the impact of the country's trade war with the United States," a source at the Japanese mill told Fastmarkets earlier this week. "EAF mills have started using pig iron as well as ferrous scrap because Chinese scrap prices are comparatively higher due to import restrictions set...