Ukrainian outages tighten Central European steel supply

Ukrainian production outages and rising fuel costs have focussed Central European steel buyers’ attentions on domestic coil supply, MEPS’s latest Market in Minutes podcast reveals. A tightening of supply in Poland and Czechia helped to support the price of coil products assessed by MEPS in its latest International Steel Report. However, steel market analyst Chris Jackson expects subdued demand to undermine the upward price trend. Jackson said: “In the longer term, it's fair to say that it may be a difficult task for steel mills and the supply chain to maintain those kinds of price levels if there is little improvement in demand.” MEPS managing editor Tom Sharpe hosts the Poland and Czechia-focussed Market in Minutes podcast which is available now via YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The full 12-minute podcast also discusses: Central Europe’s steel demand bright spots, including the region’s automotive and defence sectors. Central European service centres’ and end-users’ Brussels protests over increased downstream competition from overseas suppliers. Rising interest rates and their effect on steel demand.