The global market is collectively holding its breath while US President Donald Trump carefully and calmly considers his response to the US Department of Commerce’s 232 investigation. The department’s preliminary recommendation was either a blanket tariff of 24% on every country and every product, a 53% tariff on 12 countries …

Last week the main global steel market, China, entered its annual holiday period to celebrate the beginning of the Year of the Dog. While this has brought some calm to the international raw materials and finished steel markets, much of the discussion during recent days has focused on new developments …

Last week raw material prices gave a clear sign that the global market remains in good shape, as both iron ore in China and scrap values in Turkey moved upwards. Iron ore began the week at slightly above $75/tonne cfr Qingdao only to move up to over $76/t cfr Qingdao …

The iron ore price in China is continuing to remain firm, supporting prices globally despite the correction seen in scrap prices since mid-January.

Last week iron ore remained at around $72-73/tonne cfr Qingdao, before jumping back to above $75/t cfr at the beginning of the current week. The rebound gave …