Brussels – The European Steel Association (EUROFER) and the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP) are following the recommendations provided by the Belgian authorities, including those announced on 10 March, in order to slow down the spread of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus.

Lucerne – Schmolz + Bickenbach, a global leader in special long steel, today reported 12.6% lower sales volume of 1,830 kilotons for the 2019 financial year compared to 2,093 kilotons in 2018. The decline in turnover was lower in percentage terms and fell by 10.0% to EUR 2,980.8 million.

Charlotte - The hot-dip galvanized sheet steel production facility has a production capacity of 400,000 tons annually.

Frankfurt - Metal prices fell by over 4% at the beginning of the week.

Sao Paulo, Brazil – The performance of steel consumption in Latin America in 2019 registered a 5% decrease, totalling 64 million tons. This result is a serious symptom of worsening deindustrialization process, which has been present for decades and can impact the stability of 260,000 direct jobs in the sector.

Bocholt – Flender Group, part of Siemens AG Portfolio Companies, will have a new CEO. As of April 1, 2020, Andreas Evertz will be appointed as additional Managing Director and will succeed retiring Stefan Tenbrock as CEO effective June 1, 2020.

Duisburg – Falling steel prices and weak demand resulted in a decline of around 7% in KlöCo’s sales to €6.3 billion in fiscal year 2019. While operating income before material special effects was within the guidance range at €124 million it remained substantially below the prior year.

Frankfurt am Main – METAV 2020 is postponed until March 2021. It will now be held from 23 to 26 March 2021. "We are delighted to have agreed a new date together with our partner, Messe Düsseldorf, so quickly," says Dr. Wilfried Schäfer, Executive Director of the METAV organiser VDW.

Genova - Amendment Agreement outlines the terms for a significant investment by Italian state-sponsored entities into AM InvestCo.

London - The value marked a decrease of 93.6% over the previous month and a drop of 89.7% when compared with the last 12-month average of $4.88bn.

Frankfurt - Steel and iron ore prices are also not exceptionally low, although the corona virus has hit the steel industry in China particularly hard.