Steel Market Production Cuts – Speculation is mounting that RG Steel LLC will idle tinplate production at its Sparrows Point, Md., facility due to low bookings that resulted from financial instability and concerns among would-be buyers.

Steel Market Production Increases – Turkish integrated producer Isdemir will relight BF No.2 this evening or tomorrow, and BF No.3 that went offline late last week is functioning again.

Steel Market Production Increases – In Libya, Lisco, the state-owned Libyan steel producer, is still not fully operational, but in February the company restarted its No.1 and No.2 rebar rolling mill.

Steel Market Production Increases – China’s Ministry of Industry & Information Technology (MIIT) has predicted that China will produce 730 mt of crude steel in 2012 (an average daily output of around 1.99m t/day), up 6.8% from 2011’s 683 mt.

Steel Market Production Increases – Mexico’s Industrias CH SAB de CV (ICH) expects to bring the first stage of its previously announced $500m billet plant in Mexico’s northeastern state of Tamaulipas on stream in May or June this year, with capacity of 350,000 tpy.

Steel Market Production Increases – ArcelorMittal is to invest an additional €17 million ($22.9 million) in its facility at Florange in eastern France.  The company will also invest in additional maintenance work to ensure that the idled blast furnaces are ready to be restarted in the second half of 2012 in the event of an economic recovery.

Sources: American Metal Market, Steel Business Briefing