Global steel prices drop 28% globally in 2 months

Global steel prices decreased significantly over the past two months as a result of Russian supply surplus in the market, which led to a decrease of 28%, as the price of a ton of Turkish bar fell by about $278, while its prices locally in the Saudi market decreased by 0.3 % during May, amid expectations of a further decline during the current month, which coincided with the largest drop in its prices globally.

According to data collected by Maaal, the price of of Turkish bar ton recorded at the beginning of this week about $702 (not including shipping costs), down from its peak in mid-April, when it recorded about $980 per ton, to lose in just two months about $278 per ton, a decline of 28%.

The drop in recent weeks is supported by the decline in the prices of iron ores and steel industry inputs globally, which comes days after the collapse of billet prices because of the Russian production surplus, which largely compensated for the suspension of supplies from Ukraine. This led prices during the period from February 23, 2022 (beginning of the Russian war in Ukraine) until mid-April 2022 to a series of rises that reached the price of a ton to its highest ever.

Domestically, the data of the General Authority for Statistics showed a slight decrease in the average price of a ton of reinforcing iron during May, which did not exceed 14.4 riyals per ton to hit SR 4278 a ton, compared to SR 4293 a ton, with a slight decrease of 0.3%.

GASTAT data indicate that the last March and April witnessed a significant increase in steel prices in the local market, with a drop of 19% before prices fell to SR 4278 per ton last May.