The global price of steel collapsed to its lowest monthly level in more than a decade in September amid a glut of the metal and cheaper raw materials.
China’s economic slowdown has led the world’s biggest consumer of steel to export “substantial quantities” of its excess to overseas markets that are oversupplied, according to MEPS, the steel price analysts
As a result, MEPS said that its composite index of steel prices had slumped to a nadir not seen since February 2004. The measure is a weighted average of the low transaction values for long and flat carbon steel products in the EU, Asia and North America.
Such factors contributed to the closure of one of the UK’s biggest steel plants in Teesside this week, with the loss of around 1,700 jobs.
Many steelmakers across the world are struggling financially as lower prices make their operations uneconomic.
European companies complain that subsidised Chinese products are unfairly dumped and the industry wants Brussels to mount higher trade defences.
But analysts say a sharp reduction of global steelmaking capacity is needed before prices can stabilise.
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