Midweek Steel news round-up

Steelonthenet has just launced an RSS newsfeed on the Russian Steel Industry here.

Meps are forecasting that the current round of steel strip price increases are likely to be the only ones achievable in the EU during 2006, I personally think that some price slippage is possible in the second half of the year. They are forecasting prices at around 2% above the start of the year in the North America, with a strong possibility of prices slipping back due to imports later in the year. Modest gains are seen as possible in Asia due to improving economic activity, curbed by a continuing oversupply situation.

ThyssenKrupp AG has denied rumours that it is to sell it’s automotive division as reported earlier in the week.

SOUTH Korea's Posco said it might ask Japan's Nippon Steel to buy more of its shares to help fend off any potential hostile takeover attempts.The news came amid growing concerns at the world's fifth-largest steel maker that it might also face a takeover threat from foreign investors following US financier Carl Icahn's $US10 billion ($13.6 billion) hostile bid for KT&G, a Korean cigarette producer.

The AK Steel lockout continues despite a further meeting. Negotiators for AK Steel and the independent union representing 2,700 hourly employees at the Middletown Works met for about 40 minutes Tuesday afternoon, the second meeting since the company locked out the workers a week ago. AK Steel is looking to reduce the workforce and have more flexible working arrangements.

Turkey's first private and second largest flat steel producer Borçelik has stated in an emailed statement that its hot rolled base galvanizing line, which stopped rolling by end of January 2006, is in a revamping period and would start again in mid of May 2006. After revamping this galvanizing line would produce thick gauge galvanized material of >2.00 mm.

SteelSalvor, the only Web-based steel industry focused auction and marketing solutions site, today announced the launch of its redesigned Web site. full press release