NORTH AMERICAN PRICES STRUGGLE TO KEEP PACE WITH EU AND ASIA

摘要

Over the past year, EU and Asian carbon steel selling values have shown firm growth. The former rising by almost 11 percent between July 2006 and July 2007 and the latter by more than 8 percent. This is in stark contrast to figures recorded in North America. These decreased by approximately 5.6 per cent over the same period - affected by a weak US economy. Asian prices have not moved up as much as those in the EU but they are now closer to US values - with the gap between the two reducing by around 85 US dollars per tonne since July last year. However, the price differential with the EU has increased by more than 30 US dollars per tonne. This has caused a shift in Chinese exports away from the US and into Europe.