1. Nippon Steel announced the acquisition of U.S. Steel Corporation
On December 18, Nippon Steel announced plans to buy U.S. Steel in cash and turn it into a wholly-owned subsidiary at a price of $55 per share, with a total value of about $14.9 billion. Based on the closing price of U.S. Steel shares on December 15, the purchase premium is about 40%. U.S. Steel shares rose 26% to $49.59 per share on the day. Nippon Steel did not explain why it was willing to buy U.S. Steel at a significant premium. As the world's fourth-largest steelmaker, Nippon Steel's acquisition of U.S. Steel will significantly increase its crude steel production capacity, while significantly increasing its production capacity in the United States. The acquisition is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2024 and is subject to CFIUS approval.
In addition, Nippon Steel pledged to respect all collective bargaining agreements reached by U.S. Steel and the United Steelworkers, but the takeover was resisted by the latter. According to the agreement between the United Steelworkers and U.S. Steel, the United Steelworkers has no right to block a takeover if the acquirer commits to upholding the existing collective bargaining agreement.
2. The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism has officially entered a transition period
and the UK's "carbon tariff" will follow
From October 1, 2023, the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) officially entered a transition period, which will last until the end of 2025 according to regulations, and will be gradually fully implemented from 2026 to 2034. The first reporting quarter of the transition period is from 1 October to 31 December 2023, and importers need to submit their reports to the EU CBAM Transitional Registry by the end of January 2024 to enjoy the relevant policies. On 22 December, the European Commission published default values for implied emissions that can be used to determine imported goods (other than electricity) covered by the CBAM transition period, which will be revised periodically after the end of the first reporting period in Q4 2023.
On December 18, the British government officially announced that it will implement the UK carbon border adjustment mechanism from 2027, and the initial product categories covered include aluminum, cement, steel, etc. The UK's CBAM implementation rules are similar to those of the EU, with goods imported into the UK from countries with low or no carbon prices paying carbon tariffs. The UK government will conduct further consultations in 2024 on the specific provisions of the CBAM.
The establishment of "carbon barriers" in the name of curbing carbon emissions is becoming a common practice in developed countries and regions. In September this year, He Yadong, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, responded to the EU's CBAM that relevant policies should comply with the basic principles and rules of the WTO and avoid constituting protectionist measures and green trade barriers.
3. COP28 releases the latest version of the Steel Standard Principles On December 5, the latest version of the Steel Standard Principles was officially released at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) "Steel Standard Principles
: Unlocking Decarbonization, Trade and Global Markets" press conference. This represents a deepening global commitment to drive the measurement and tracking of emissions from steel production. At present, 42 advanced standard-setting organizations, enterprises, industry associations and international organizations have formally endorsed the new steel standard principles. The main contents of the latest version of the steel standard principles include that the measurement method of near-zero carbon emissions in the steel industry should be fair and impartial, and reflect the actual situation of different countries.
4. The pace of investment and development of the Simandou project in Guinea will accelerate In the second half of
2023, the Simandou project in Guinea will be further promoted.
On August 10, the Government of the Republic of Guinea, Rio Tinto Simfer and Winning Alliance, as members of Trans-Guinea, signed the Simandou Iron Ore Port and Rail Infrastructure Joint Development Agreement, marking a key step in the development of the Simandou project.
In late August, Wrigley Minerals revealed that it would be involved in the Simandou project to cement its position in West Africa. Foreign media reported in mid-December that the company has restarted field work and plans to start drilling in March 2024.
On October 7, Baowu Resources and Simandou Win Alliance signed a confirmation letter of shareholder agreement for the mining joint venture company of Simangdu North Block Project in Baowu Building. Since the beginning of this year, China Baowu has cooperated sincerely with the Simandou Winning Alliance, successively signed a mining and infrastructure cooperation agreement for the Simandou North Block Project, and jointly promoted the signing of important cooperation documents such as the Joint Development Agreement by relevant partners, laying a good foundation for the integrated and coordinated development of mines, railways and ports of the Simandou Project.
On December 6, Rio Tinto announced that it had brought forward the start of production of its Simandou iron ore project in Guinea to 2025 and planned to spend about $6.2 billion on infrastructure.
5. Hydrogen metallurgy helps the global steel industry to deeply reduce carbon In
2023, the global steel industry will continue to promote the transformation from "carbon metallurgy" to "hydrogen metallurgy" and accelerate the low-carbon transformation.
On March 1, thyssenkrupp signed a contract with SMS in Duisburg, Germany, to design and build a hydrogen direct reduction plant for thyssenkrupp Duisburg steel mill, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026. On July 7, thyssenkrupp New Era AG, a subsidiary of thyssenkrupp's hydrogen energy business segment, was listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (premium market).
On May 31, India's steel ministry allocated about US$55 million to its steel industry to support research into hydrogen metallurgy and build a pilot plant.
On July 19, ArcelorMittal's Sesto plant in Spain, in cooperation with Saraye and Japan Gazelle, put into operation a ladle preheating system that can use 100% green hydrogen as fuel.
On September 5, Swedish steelmaker Ovak officially launched the world's first electrolysis hydrogen production plant in Hofos, Sweden, which does not use fossil fuels.
In mid-October, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a $7 billion launch of seven regional clean hydrogen hubs in the country, which are expected to produce 3 million tons of hydrogen per year, with the goal of producing nearly one-third of total U.S. hydrogen production from the seven hubs by 2030.
On November 6, Africa's first industrial-scale zero-carbon steel production project using green hydrogen broke ground in Namibia, with production scheduled to start production by the end of 2024.
On November 27, the Korea Economic News reported that South Korea's POSCO Holding Group plans to build three sets of hydrogen direct reduction systems at Pohang Steel Plant and Gwangyang Steel Plant respectively by 2050.
In addition, the hydrogen metallurgy practice projects of Chinese iron and steel enterprises, represented by China Baowu and HBIS Group, have attracted widespread global attention, and Edwin Basson, director general of worldsteel, praised them for "promoting the formation of green and low-carbon development advantages of China's steel industry".
6. The R&D of global advanced steel products and production technologies will accelerate In
2023, the production and R&D of global steel enterprises will continue to accelerate.
At the beginning of January, Swiss Steel announced the development of the XTP® process, which produces ultra-fine-grained, ultra-high-strength steels without the addition of alloys or special heat treatments. The process produces very fine grain steel with a grain size of less than 5 microns, which can increase the tensile strength of the steel up to 2050 megapascals.
In June, POSCO Group launched its first carbon emission reduction brand product "Greenate Certified Steel" in South Korea, achieving carbon emission reduction through the introduction of low-carbon production processes and the use of low-carbon iron source materials. In late November, it successfully developed a stainless steel lining technology using duplex steel with excellent corrosion resistance and erosion resistance, and used duplex stainless steel as the lining material for the water tank, improving environmental protection.
On October 31, Kobe Steel Co., Ltd. developed and commercialized the industry's first fatigue-resistant steel plate, EX-Facter, which inhibits cracking, using optimal composition design and TMCP technology.
At the end of November, Dongguk Coated Metals Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Dongguk Steel's cold rolling business, successfully developed the world's first technology to produce color steel plates from recycled waste plastics, Reborn Green PCM.
In addition, in 2023, Chinese companies also achieved the world premiere of a number of advanced steel products. For example, in the first half of this year alone, Baosteel achieved the world premiere of seven products, including the 1,500 megapascal DP ultra-high-strength automotive steel.
7. EU extends moratorium on retaliatory tariffs imposed on U.S. products On
December 19, the European Union said it would suspend its dispute with the United States over steel and aluminum tariffs until March 31, 2025. In exchange, the U.S. agreed to provide further tariff exemptions for EU exporters.
In 2018, then-U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum products exported from the European Union to the United States on the grounds of "safeguarding national security". After several unsuccessful negotiations, the EU appealed to the WTO and imposed retaliatory tariffs on US goods exported to Europe. After several rounds of negotiations, the EU and the Biden administration of the United States reached a two-year "truce" agreement in October 2021, announcing the re-establishment of steel and aluminum trade relations and the suspension of mutual taxation. The United States partially lifted the restrictive measures and imposed tariffs on only some goods that exceeded certain quotas, while the European Union "froze" all its restrictive measures.
8. Steel scrap has begun to be regarded as a strategic resource by many countries (regions) Since the beginning of
this year, many countries (regions) have introduced a series of measures around scrap steel, treating scrap as a strategic resource.
17 January, EuropeParliament voted to amend the Waste Transport Regulation to prohibit the transport of all waste used for solid waste disposal within the EU unless authorised. Eurostat data shows that scrap accounts for 59% of all waste exports in the EU.
In early October, the UAE government issued an extended ban on scrap exports to ensure sustainable access to raw materials for local producers. The UAE Ministry of Economy announced the temporary suspension of steel scrap and paper exports in line with Ministerial Resolution No. 06 of 2023 in line with public interest requirements. The measure will be in place until December 19, 2023, extending the ban previously in place, which was due to expire on September 21.
Kazakhstan Interfax reported on October 26 that Kazakhstan's ban on the export of ferrous and non-ferrous metal scrap has been extended for another six months from November 7.
In mid-November, Russia plans to extend the TPQ for steel scrap exports to countries outside the Eurasian Economic Union until June 30, 2024.
Scrap steel has gradually become a "sweet pastry". According to incomplete statistics, more than 60 countries (regions) have adopted or plan to take measures to ban or restrict the export of recycled steel.
9. Ukraine resumes some steel production In
2023, Ukraine will resume some steel production and reorient trade flows to the European market. Despite the persistent threat of geopolitical conflicts, Ukraine's steel production has started to pick up this year. In the first 10 months of 2023, Ukraine produced 5.16 million tonnes of crude steel, 4.91 million tonnes of pig iron and 4.37 million tonnes of steel, according to the latest data from the Ukrainian Steel Trade Association.
In January this year, Ukrainian Prime Minister Shmygal again called on Western countries to provide him with $70 million worth of reconstruction aid. From June 21 to 22, the International Conference on the Reconstruction of Ukraine was held in London, England. According to a report by Voice of America radio on the same day, the British government said that the focus of the meeting included calling on about 60 countries to provide assistance to Ukraine in terms of technology, logistics and infrastructure.
Some scholars said that although Ukraine's steel industry has made some recovery so far, there are still multiple challenges to a full recovery.
10. Frequent shutdowns and strikes by overseas steel and mining companies Against the backdrop of slowing
global economic growth, soaring energy prices and production costs, and high inflation, workers in various overseas regions have gone on strike and steel mills have stopped production frequently this year.
From May 24 to October 5, POSCO Holding Group's labor and management held a total of 24 negotiations on wages and benefits, but no agreement was reached. During the mediation, POSCO Group union members also approved the strike with 75% in favor. On October 30, the chairman of the Central Labor Commission of South Korea made an exception to participate in the mediation of the labor dispute between POSCO Holding Group. In the early hours of the next morning, the group's labor and management reached a tentative agreement, which was approved in a vote held on November 9, introducing benefits such as a four-day work week every other week.
On November 17, ArcelorMittal decided to temporarily suspend production at its Mizenica steel mill in Bosnia and Herzegovina. On November 28, its South African company announced the gradual closure of its long products business and the laying off of about 3,500 employees starting in January 2024. In mid-November, its Brazilian subsidiary also announced that it would temporarily suspend production at three steel mills in southeastern Brazil until the end of December.
On November 24, hundreds of train drivers at a BHP Billiton mine in Western Australia went on strike.
On November 27, thyssenkrupp Spain announced that it would close its Sagunto plant.
On December 12, some 68,000 steelworkers in the western German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Bremen and Lower Saxony went on strike for 24 hours, halting major steel mills such as ThyssenKrupp and Stahl. 
