Saturday, 12 November 2011
Si Cu Thep
SE Asian billet import market quiet, direction unclear
Offer prices for Korean billet to Southeast Asia are prevailing at $620-630/tonne CFR, regional trading sources say. Most offers to Thailand and Philippines are prevailing at $630/t CFR. A Thai trader has heard of Korean 150 billet, albeit an unpopular size, offered at $620/t CFR Thailand.
Taiwanese billet is being offered at around $610/t CFR in the Philippines. “So especial customers are getting offers at $620/t CFR,” a trader in Manila reports. Korean billet at $620/t CFR with its 3% import duty advantage earns that it is $20/t lower cheaper when compared to billets of other origin imported into the Philippines.
The Korean and Taiwanese mills are generally offering their billet on FOB basis at $600-605/t and $595-600/t respectively, regional trading sources tell SBB. Russian billet offers are at $615-620/t CFR in the region, SBB is told. Suppliers are currently giving offers for next month's deliveries.
“It has been quiet this past week. So sellers think that the market is bottoming out and are holding back on offers. At the sales tie, buyers are not anxious to book material,” a regional trader says. Despite offer prices falling by $5-10/t since last week, most regional importers are not interested because they are aiming to book at $600/t CFR. So buyers are even expecting billet prices to fall to $580-590/t CFR.
Offers to Indonesia are at $630-635/t CFR for Korean material. No import deals are reported to have taken place, however. The dollar's recent strengthening against regional currencies has also dented buying interest. "The rupiah is weakening. This is contributing to importers' hesitation to book billet now," an Indonesian re-roller tells SBB.
Vietnamese apparent steel consumption dips 10.
Production of construction long products in Vietnam during October reached 358,000 tonnes, a fall of14.2% fro the previous month and a 19.4% decrease year-on-year, according to Vietnam Steel Association (VSA) data. Sales of longs in October at 327,000t dipped by 14.4% -o- and fell by a significant 27% y-o-y.
Cumulative production of longs during this year’s first ten months reached 4.1t, up 2.4% fro the corresponding period of 2010. Sales rose to 3.97 t, an increase of 1.5% over January-October last year.
“Apparent consumption of finished steel in January-October is estimated to have fallen by 10% year-on-year,” VSA vice-chairman and general secretary Dinh Huy Ta tells SBB. The volume of steel Vietnam imported during January-October dropped by around 1t y-o-y. “The fall in consumption of at steel is sharper than for longs. Exports of steel products rose too,” he adds.
Ta is not optimistic about the Vietnamese steel market this month because the slump in international markets – as well as the uncertain global economic landscape – has caused market players to adopt a
wait-and-see approach„
Policies implemented by the Hanoi government to rein in very high inflation, such as the setting of bank lending interest rates at nearly 20% and other credit-tightening measures, have dampened steel demand.Since inflation was 17.05% during the first ten months and is expected to reach 18% by year-end, these tight monetary and fiscal policies are expected to continue beyond this year.
The VSA tracks data fro its member steel ills that together contribute around 85% of Vietnam's long steel production.
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Si Cu Thep
Bạn đã bao giờ nhìn thấy một con sông chảy qua trên một dòng sông? Đây là một điều KỲ DIỆU TUYỆT VỜI.
Ngay cả sau khi bạn nhìn thấy nó, điều đó vẫn còn thật khó tin! Một cây cầu nước ở Đức. Một kỳ công của con người!
Sau sáu năm, với chi phí 500 triệu euro, cây cầu dài 918 mét. . . Giờ đây là một thành tựu của kiến thức khoa học và kỹ thuật thiết kế!
Cây cầu này bắc qua sông Elbe kết nối Đông và Tây Đức trước đây như là một phần của dự án thống nhất đất nước. Nó nằm ở thành phố Magdeburg, gần Berlin.
Bức ảnh được chụp vào ngày khai trương. Đối với những người đánh giá cao các dự án kỹ thuật, đây là một câu đố để kiểm tra cho các kỹ sư. . . và các nguyên tắc vật lý.
Câu hỏi:
Cầu có cần phải được thiết kế để chịu được trọng lượng bổ sung của tàu và các phương tiện lưu thông, hay chỉ là trọng lượng của nước?
Trả lời:
Cầu chỉ cần được thiết kế để chịu được trọng lượng của nước!
Tại sao?
Tàu luôn luôn chiếm một lượng nước có trọng lượng tương tự như con tàu, bất kể tàu có được chất tải trọng bao nhiêu.
Và đây. . . ..
Chiếc cầu nước diệu kỳ Magdeburg ở Đức
Dịch từ: http://www.amusingplanet.com/2011/04/incredible-magdeburg-water-bridge-in.html
Cầu nước Magdeburg là một máng dẫn nước hàng hải khổng lồ ở Đức kết nối kênh đào Elbe-Havel với kênh đào Mittelland cho tàu vượt qua sông Elbe.
Với chiều dài 918 mét, đây là máng dẫn nước dài nhất trên thế giới. Các kênh Elbe-Havel và Mittelland trước đó giao nhau gần Magdeburg nhưng trên các cạnh đối diện của sông Elbe.
Tàu di chuyển giữa hai dòng kênh phải di chuyển một quãng đường vòng 12 km, từ kênh đào Mittelland thông qua điểm trung chuyển nâng thuyền tại Rothensee vào dòng Elbe, sau đó đi xuôi xuống hạ lưu sông, trước khi vào kênh đào Elbe-Havel qua kè Niegripp. Mực nước thấp trong song Elbe thường hạn chế các sà lan di chuyển và đòi hỏi phải tốn nhiều thời gian giảm tải hàng hóa cho tàu.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Si Cu Thep
Sales volume of construction long products in Vietnam in July reached 359,000 tonnes, an increase of 20.5% from the previous month but down 32.4% year-on-year, according to the Vietnam Steel Association (VSA). Production of longs in June at 308,000 t was down by 11.2% m-o-m and lower by 29.1% y-o-y.
Cumulative sales of longs during the first seven months of this year reached 2.78m t, up 3.2% compared with January-July 2010. Production rose to 2.89m t, an increase of 7.7% over the corresponding period last year.
“Steel sales slowed down in June,” VSA vice-chairman and general-secretary Dinh Huy Tam tells Steel Business Briefing with reference to sales dipping to just under 300,000 t for that month. He tells SBB that steel demand in August will be adversely affected by a slowdown in construction activity. This is due to the rainy season as well as the Hungry Ghost Festival taking place this month.
The tight monetary and fiscal policies being implemented in Vietnam to stem high inflation continues to have a negative impact on steel consumption, says Tam. Inflation during the first seven months of this year reached 14.6% and bank borrowing interest rates are prevailing at more than 20% per annum.
The VSA tracks data from its member steel mills that together contribute around 85% of Vietnam's long steel production.
Korean domestic H-beam prices firm slightly.
Korean spot market prices for H-beams produced by domestic mills have climbed to KRW 970,000r - 990,000/t ($892-910/t) for SS400 grade ‘junior’ beams this week, up by KRW 20,000-30,000/t ($18-27/t) from late July.
The climb reflects efforts by local dealers to pass on their higher input costs to end-users in tandem with rising prices from the two producers Hyundai Steel and Dongkuk Steel Mill.
In late July, Hyundai announced higher sales prices for H-beams and sections starting from 1 August of KRW 30,000-40,000/t depending on product and size, as SBB reported. With an upturn in market sentiment, spot prices for China-origin H-beams of similar size have also seen a small rise over the past two weeks of KRW 10,000-20,000/t to reach KRW 880,000-900,000/t ($809-827/t).
Buying activity among end-users remains thin for the moment, but industry sources believe H-beat prices will remain firm for the rest of this half. They cite several factors including higher input costs for mill from new electricity charges, output constraints during July-August due to summer maintenance, and expected better construction sector demand from autumn, as SBB has reported.
Meanwhile, Korea’s total H-beam output in this year’s first half stood at 1.53mt, up 4% from 1.47mt in H1 2010, according to Korea Iron & Steel Association data. Within the total, exports reached 668,200 t, up 6.1% y-o-y. But the total output for sections including angles and channels in H1 declined by 5.1% y-o-y to 2.08mt.
Source: SBB