India 21 day Lockdown: What is exempted, what is not

Exempted (Central government):

Defence, central armed police forces, treasury, public utilities (Including petroleum, CNG, LPG, PNG), disaster management, power generation and transmission units, post offices, National lnformatics Centre, and Early Warning Agencies

Exempted in States:

• Police, home guards, civil defence, fire and emergency services, disaster management, and prisons, District administration and Treasury, Electricity, water, sanitation, Municipal bodies, but only staff required for essential services like sanitation, personnel related to water supply etc.
• Hospitals and all related medical establishments, including their manufacturing and distribution units, both in public and private sector such as dispensaries, chemist and medical equipment shops.
• Laboratories, clinics. nursing homes, ambulance etc will continue to remain functional. The transportation for all medical personnel. nurses, para-medical staff, other hospital support services be permitted.
• Shops, including ration shops (under PDS), dealing with food, groceries, fruits and vegetables, dairy and milk booths, meat and fish, animal fodder.
• District authorities to encourage and facilitate home delivery to minimize the movement of individuals outside their homes.
• Banks, insurance offices and ATMs.
• Print and electronic media, Telecommunications, Internet services, broadcasting and cable services.
• IT and IT enabled Services only (for essential services) and, as far as possible, work from home.
• Delivery of all essential goods including food, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment through E-commerce.
• Petrol pumps, LPG, Petroleum and gas retail and storage outlets.
• Power generation, transmission and distribution units and services.
• Capital and debt market services as notified by the Securities and Exchange Board of India.
• Cold storage and warehousing services.
• Private security services
• Manufacturing units of essential commodities.
• Production units, which require continuous process, after obtaining required permission from the State Government.
• Hotels, homestays, lodges and motels which are accommodating tourists and persons stranded due to lockdown, medical and emergency staff, air and sea crew.
• Establishments earmarked for quarantine facilities.

Not exempted in States:

• Offices of the Government of India, its Autonomous/ Subordinate Offices and Public Corporations shall remain closed.
• Offices of the States Union Terrltory Governments, their Autonomous Bodies, Corporations, etc shall remain closed.
• Commercial and private establishments shall be closed down.
• All other establishments may work from home only.
• Industrial Establishments will remain closed.
• All transport services air, rail, roadways will remain suspended.
• Hospitality Services to remain suspended
• All educational, training, research, coaching institutions etc. shall remain closed.
• All places of worship shall be closed for public. No religious congregations will be permitted, without any exception.
• All social/political/sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious functions/ gatherings shall be barred.
• In case of funerals, congregation of not more than twenty persons will be permitted.

China's steel output may rise from February on improved logistics, demand

China's steel output in March will almost certainly be lower on a yearly basis, but could potentially be higher than in February as Chinese steel mills adopt different strategies around steel production depending on the local situation with inventories and logistics.

The net outcome of this is that total steel production in March may not be as weak as anticipated.

Mills in some parts of the country have deepened production cuts due to high inventories and tight cash flow. Others have restarted or ramped up production due to improved logistics and demand, according to market sources.

Some independent electric arc furnaces have restarted production recently after the long break.

Warehouses in Chongqing were so full that steel had be placed outside of the warehouses. End-user demand are recovering, but at a very slow pace, and therefore any production restarts would be modest due to the pressure of soaring steel inventories.

Eurofer calls on EU & UK to reach comprehensive trade agreement

EU and the UK started negotiations this week to sign a trade agreement.

The European Steel Association (Eurofer) called on both parties to reach a trade agreement to provide a mutually beneficial, frictionless and fair platform for suppliers and downstream consumers in the steel industry. The agreement was extremely important for the steel industry on both sides, and the association expected that the EU and the UK would reach an agreement on a solution that would ensure continued logistics operations between the two parties.

With the consent of the UK and the EU, the transition period could be extended, but an agreement must be reached by July 1st. Even if the two parties could not reach an agreement, the transition period would end at the latest on December 31st.

MetalKompass News Headlines 03/03

-US sheet hike settles into market
-Russian silicomanganese prices firm
-Turkey's scrap imports rise in January
-European ferrosilicon prices hike further
-Russian HC ferromanganese prices stable
-China steel production falls 5.4% in mid-Feb
-Chinese manufacturing PMIs fall to record lows 
-Organisers call off Dusseldorf Tube and Wire event 
-UK hot-rolled coil rises on stronger European market
-Serbian rebar mill expands capacity, enters rod production 
-EC to review Indian graphite electrode anti-dumping tariffs 
-Chinese HC ferromanganese producers' output down by 6.0% YOY in Jan
-Chinese LC ferromanganese producers' output down by 22.9% MOM in Jan

Compulsory certification of ferro silicon might disrupt Indian steel makers

Indian steel manufacturers might face a slight glitch in the supply of Ferro Silicon, as the Ministry of Steel has passed an order in the month of February to include the alloy under mandatory certification by April 2020.

“This order may be called the Steel and Steel Products (Quality Control) Order, 2019. It shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. It shall apply to steel and steel products … except for steel and steel products for export which conform to any other specification required by a foreign buyer,” said the order dated 22nd July 2019.

While the order was dated 22nd July 2019, companies in Bhutan and Norway and other countries, major suppliers of Ferro Silicon, came to know about it around February 20th.

India imports around 300,000 tonnes of Ferro Silicon from various countries like Bhutan, Norway and China every year and out of which only 1/3 rd is manufactured in India. If the deadline is not extended, the steel companies might have a shortage of Ferro Silicon.

“This regulation might lead to an increase in the price of Ferro Silicon to unreasonable level due to scarcity of it after 22nd of April 2020. 

A few companies, including a Bhutan-based company have applied for the license only in February and are yet to be cleared. This will take a long time, about 9-13 months.