Sentiment in the global long steel market has become more positive "especially after the announcement that a trade deal between the [United States] and China will be signed," the International Rebar Producers & Exporters Association (Irepas) said last week.
"[But] we have to keep in mind the possibility that any trade deal may prove to be elusive," the association added in its January 2020 Short Range Outlook document, published on Wednesday January 8.
The market has yet to emerge from the seasonal slowdown for Christmas and new year holidays in Europe and around the globe, according to Irepas.
Scrap pricing
In North America, Irepas said, there was no expectation of price increases for long steel products. But scrap prices have become firmer internationally and have gone up in the North American domestic markets.
Fastmarkets' daily index for
steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20 mix), US-origin, cfr Turkey was $303.95 per tonne cfr on January 10, up from $303.39 on January 2, and from $271.74 per tonne cfr on December 2 and $254.80 per tonne on November 1.
"The general expectation for...