LONDON, Dec. 06, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- One of the major problems which the steel industry is currently facing is overproduction. China, which accounts for a sheer size of the excess supply, has been trying to export some of its surplus across the world. This has resulted in a wave of protectionism, particularly in matured markets in Europe and North America. Commodity Inside ascertains that oversupply has seriously distorted prices around the world and squeezed producers’ margins in major markets.

Meanwhile, China has been trying to balance the market and control carbon emission by cutting production capacity. In July 2017, the Chinese government decided to take a strict action by imposing production cuts during the winter season, when pollution levels increase. Consequently, buyers rushed for more steel, speculated a shortage in supply, which sent steel prices to new high levels. It also provided substantial support for prices outside China.

The flat steel prices rallied for four consecutive months until October when they showed some stability and increased by around US$ 5/t, month-a-month in most markets. Currently, prices have started edging down, in line with our forecasts. However, there are some risks surrounding the price direction going forward. What are those risks and how they will be unveiled over the coming few months; what Section-232 investigation means for the steel industry and how the Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp merger will affect the European steel industry are some of the themes which are discussed in our latest issue of Flat Steel Insider.

REPORT DETAILS
The Flat Steel Insider is a valuable resource necessary for examining the global flat steel market. This content-rich report covers the following key aspects:

• How are flat steel prices performing in major markets?
• What happened in the flat steel market over the past month and what to expect in the short term?
• How are the end users of steel products performing?
• Is the market in surplus or deficit and what is the inventory status?
• How does the competitor landscape look like?
• What are the leading trends and developments in the market?
• What are the significant economic risks for the market?

The Flat Steel Insider provides you with the following in-depth analysis:

• Price discovery and forecasts of flat steel products in the main regions
• Price assessments of hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil (CRC) and hot-dip galvanised (HDG) by regions
• 22 different flat steel price series
• Demand and supply analysis
• Analysis of various downstream industries such as construction, energy and automotive
• Capacity changes and M&A updates
• Tracking trade barriers
• Key recent economic developments which can impact market sentiments
• Analysis is supported by charts, tables and dashboards

To learn more about ‘Flat Steel Insider’ report please visit https://commodityinside.com/reports/flat-steel-insider/

About Commodity Inside
Commodity Inside (https://commodityinside.com/) is an independent privately owned company provides market research analysis and consulting to the commodities market. We specialise in glass, metal, paper and plastic industries and their end-use sectors such as packaging, automotive and construction. We publish a range of thorough and highly analytical market analysis reports. Our consultancy arm offers expertise to companies in these markets and helping them in making the right decisions.

For further information about this report and additional research, please contact:
Fernando Barbosa
Business Development Executive
Email: fernando@commodityinside.com
Tel: +44 (0) 207 14 00002