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Michael Setterdahl, the chairman of the IREPAS Traders’ Committee, stated that traders are now increasingly seeing more regionalization in trade. Traders see the trade to North Africa as quiet, while demand coming from the Persian Gulf region has remained strong and Asian billet demand is mostly met by ASIAN producers  and  Russia’s Far East. Traders expressed their concerns regarding the possible oversupply of steel due to impact of international sanctions against Iran  and also regarding the political upheaval in Syria which has also caused trade to slow down in this region.

Ioannis Meimaroglu, the Chairman of the Raw Material Suppliers Committee, said that scrap collection levels are currently lower than normal. In some places like Russia, this situation has been due to severe winter weather conditions, but generally is due to low market price levels, which are not attractive for local suppliers. Mr. Meimaroglu pointed out that there are new threats which may place pressure on scrap prices, such as freight rate increases and cost increases in some countries, and such as the recent energy cost increase in Turkey. “If such costs are not absorbed by the end product market, the consequences for scrap collection will be very important,” Mr. Meimaroglu warned. Scrap demand remains strong in Europe, in the US and Russia. Short sea scrap suppliers, especially from the Black Sea, expressed the view that it will be very difficult for them to increase their scrap collection volumes due to the price policy of the steel producers. As regards the coming two months, the
lack of container availability is expected to cause scrap supply problems to India and to the Far East in general.

Uğur Dalbeler, chairman of both IREPAS and the Billet Suppliers’ Committee, stated that, due to the situation regarding Iran, steel billet supplies which used to be sent to Iran are now being consumed domestically in the CIS region, where steel billet consumption has remained strong in recent years and is expected to remain strong in 2012. Mr. Dalbeler said that billet consumption in Turkey and the Gulf region has also been strong so far in 2012, and that the outlook for billet consumption in
these areas remains positive. On the other hand, he said that the market situation in North Africa and Syria remains difficult to predict. However, there are positive expectations for steel billet consumption in Iraq. Regarding the Americas, the central and southern American markets have also started importing steel billet and the prospects are bright for these regions. Dalbeler concluded by saying that supply and demand in the billet market are currently balanced.

Kim Marti Subirana, the Chairman of the IREPAS Rebar and Wire Rod Suppliers’ Committee, said that the long steel market has started to gain stability, after the low activity levels experienced in February due to the cold winter in the northern hemisphere, adding that market activity is expected to accelerate in the coming month in line with better weather and increased construction activity.

The European long steel market remained fairly quiet in Q1, according to Kim Marti, while activity is expected to show some improvement in northern Europe in Q2. However, the same cannot be said for southern Europe. The outlook appears very bright for the long steel market in the Persian Gulf region, thanks to the positive economic situation there. Meanwhile, the US seems to be emerging from the recession, Marti said, also remarking that the outlook is good for rebar and wire rod in Central and South America.

April 1st, 2012 Sunday

19:00 – 23:00   Welcome Cocktail at London Hilton on Park Lane

April 2nd, 2012 Monday

09:00 – 10:00 Registration

09:30 - 12:30  IREPAS Committee Meetings

09:30–11:15   Wire Rod & Rebar Suppliers Committee (by invitation only)
09:30–11:15   Billet Suppliers Committee (by invitation only)
09:30–12:30   Raw Material Suppliers Committee (by invitation only)
10:30–12:30   Traders Committee (open to all attendees)

11:30–12:30   Producers Committee (by invitation only)

12:30 – 14:00 Lunch Break

14:00 Welcome Address by IREPAS Chairman – Mr. Ugur Dalbeler

SteelOrbis Spring ’12 Conference

14:00 – 15:30 Session One

Keynote Speaker: Kim Marti Subirana, Celsa Group
• Global Market & Macro Economics                        

PANEL: Global Market Supply / Demand

Moderator: Murat Eryilmaz, SteelOrbis

• David Faktor, Stemcor UK Ltd
• Ahmed A Aziz S A Al-Ansari, Qatar Steel
• Kerim Dilber, Turkish Steel Exporters’ Association

15:30 – 16:15 Networking Break

16:15 – 17:30 Session Two

Keynote Speaker: Colin Hamilton, Macquarie
• Economic Outlook and Effects on Steel Industry                          

PANEL: Risks and Price Volatility at the Markets 

Moderator : Phill Price, Stemcor UK Ltd

• Phillip Killicoat, Credit Suisse
• Martin Evans, CME Group
• Jeff Kable, JP Morgan
• Michael T. Zeitler, BNP Paribas

19:00 Gala Dinner at the Plaisterers’ Hall

April 3rd, 2012 Tuesday

10:00 – 11:30 Session Three

Panel with IREPAS Committee Chairmen

• Raw Material Suppliers Committee Chairman: Ioannis Meimaroglou, Helveco Intertrade
• Billet Suppliers Committee Chairman: Ugur Dalbeler, Colakoglu Metalurji A.S.
• Rebar&Wire Rod Suppliers Committee Chairman: Kim Marti Subirana, Celsa Group
• Traders Committee Chairman: Michael Setterdahl, Nucor Trading S.A.
• Producers Committee Chairman: Ugur Dalbeler, Colakoglu Metalurji A.S.

Please check http://www.steelorbis.com/ for details.