The Merchant Slab Market: Strategic Outlook to 2020
The Merchant Slab Market: Strategic Outlook to 2020 provides on-the-ground research combined with strategic recommendations for anyone looking to invest, or already operating, in steel slabs today.
Various factors can be expected to play a critical part in defining future slab demand, supply and pricing patterns – all of which will be analysed in this brand-new study.
The study amasses years of specialised research and data on the global merchant slab sector. This includes detailed global information for each individual ‘dedicated’, ‘partial’ and ‘occasional’ buyer and seller of merchant slabs globally to include: capacity; historic and forecast production; key relationships; ownership; corporate strategy; forecast volumes; pricing strategy; technical capabilities; demand environment; value-added capability; outlook for industry dynamics; margins and company-specific behaviour.
Key questions addressed in this study:
- Will new slab capacity investment in the Americas continue or will this now be delayed?
- What is the outlook for slab to HR coil/plate margins? At the global level, in a market downturn, low-cost slab-based mills may continue to operate while finishing lines ramp down or close, while in a market upturn, the slab is consumed internally and the merchant market is starved.
- Will merchant slab producers add their own finishing rolling mills to recover lost value? If so, who and when?
- Could iron ore companies look downstream at slab to add value? If so, where and when?
- Will the market be characterised by excess merchant slab capacity?
- Does disintermediation add to merchant slab supply or detract from it?
- Who are the main buyers/sellers in the market and how will their strategy change now over the coming years?
- What impact has consolidation had on the market for merchant slab?
- Will the merchant market benefit or lose out if carbon is priced?
- Will the LME ever launch LME contracts?
The answers to these questions are critical to the success of your business
For more information please call +44 (0) 20 7779 8000 or email us. If you are in the Asia / Pacific region please call +61 3 5221 0715.
Other relevant Metal Bulletin Research reports include:
- Steel Raw Materials: Weekly Market Tracker
- Steel: Weekly Market Tracker
- Quarterly Global Iron Ore Cost Service
- Quarterly Global Steel Cost Service
- Trading Iron Ore: A full feasibility study for a new derivatives contract
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