South Korean steelmaker POSCO is reportedly preparing to file an anti-dumping complaint against stainless steel cold-rolled coil (CRC) imports from Malaysia, with the application potentially submitted in Q3 2026. POSCO is reviewing the sourcing of raw materials and the production and export structures of Malaysian stainless steel products, examining whether goods processed in Malaysia using materials from countries already subject to South Korea's anti-dumping measures, namely China Mainland, Indonesia, and Taiwan, China, should fall under anti-dumping rules. South Korea's anti-dumping framework was expanded this year to cover third-country processing and assembly operations. If circumvention is confirmed, the applicable duty rate would be that of the original raw material supplier rather than a newly calculated Malaysian rate. Importers and end-users have been warned to carefully assess contractual and payment terms, as products imported after an investigation's official launch may be subject to retroactive anti-dumping duties.

India's second-largest steelmaker, Tata Steel, reported first-quarter FY2026 operating results, with domestic crude steel production increasing by more than 10% YoY to 5.76 million tonnes, while steel deliveries rose nearly 9% YoY to 5.17 million tonnes, driven by higher output at its Jamshedpur and Kalinganagar plants. Meanwhile, elevated coking coal and iron ore prices pushed material costs up 12% year on year. The higher level of steel production indicates that Indian steel demand remains resilient, providing continued support for metallurgical coal consumption. Despite elevated coking coal costs, Tata Steel maintained strong production, suggesting that Indian steelmakers are unlikely to significantly reduce metallurgical coal procurement in the near term. In addition, the company has approved a 4.8 million tonnes per annum steelmaking capacity expansion at its subsidiary Neelachal Ispat Nigam, which could further support metallurgical coal demand over the longer term.

The Rare Earth Corrosion-Resistant Steel Application and Promotion Seminar was held in Lulong County, Qinhuangdao City. Guided by the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) and the Hebei Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, hosted by the CISA Science and Technology Innovation Committee, and organized by Qinhuangdao Baigong Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., the seminar, themed "Building a Collaborative Platform for Industry, Academia, Research, and Application, Promoting Rare Earth Corrosion-Resistant Steel Production Technologies and Products, and Accelerating the Green Transformation and Upgrading of the Steel Industry Chain," brought together industry academicians and experts, government representatives, and forces from upstream and downstream enterprises along the industry chain to jointly promote the transformation of rare earth corrosion-resistant steel technology achievements and multi-field demonstration applications.

Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade has issued Decision No. 1917/QD-BCT, imposing an official 27.83% anti-circumvention duty on certain hot-rolled steel products originating from China. The measure covers a range of flat-rolled alloy and non-alloy steel products under specified HS codes, while exempting high-carbon steel, hot-rolled steel plates with a thickness of 10 mm or more, and products already excluded under existing anti-dumping measures. The decision took effect on July 28, 2026, and aims to prevent the circumvention of Vietnam's trade remedy measures on steel imports.

According to media reports, recently, the second phase, third zone (1780mm hot continuous rolling production line) of the 8 million mt/year special steel project of Guangdong Jinshenglan Metallurgical Technology Co., Ltd. officially broke ground. The 1780mm hot continuous rolling production line that has started construction is a key supporting upgrade project for Jinshenglan’s 8 million mt/year special steel project. The total investment of the project is 2.5 billion yuan, and it is planned to be completed and put into production in November 2027. This renovation and expansion project is implemented within the existing land redline. By optimizing and adjusting the existing steelmaking and rolling production lines and externally purchasing steel billets, the capacity and variety of rolled steel products will be increased; this renovation and expansion does not add steelmaking capacity. The main construction content includes the addition of two 150t VOD refining furnaces, two two-strand slab continuous casters, a 1780mm hot continuous rolling line (equipped with three heating furnaces), along with public auxiliary facilities such as power supply and distribution, water supply and drainage, and corresponding environmental protection facilities. After the project is completed, the annual production of rolled steel products of the whole plant will reach 8 million mt.

India's Jindal Steel increased steel production by 14.8% year on year to 2.4 million tonnes in Q1 FY2026/27, while steel sales rose 17.4% to 2.2 million tonnes, supported by strong domestic demand. Consolidated revenue increased 25.8% year on year to INR155 billion as higher production and sales volumes boosted operating performance. The continued expansion in steel output suggests sustained blast furnace operations, providing near-term support for coking coal demand.

As of July 11, 2026, the direct reduced iron (DRI) plant of Jindal Steel Oman in Sohar operated continuously for 188 days without any unplanned shutdowns. The 6.5-meter shaft furnace set a record for the highest monthly production of 185,710 mt in May 2026, with an average operating rate of 249.6 mt per hour. The facility’s production exceeded its original designed capacity of 1.5 million mt by 33%, establishing a new global benchmark for operational efficiency. The Sohar plant integrates gas-based direct reduction (using reformed natural gas to reduce iron ore) with a 220-mt Danieli electric furnace, where hot DRI is charged directly into the furnace by gravity. Billed as the world’s first gravity-fed hot DRI charging system, it achieves significant energy savings. In early 2026, the EAF side also set records: monthly production of 235,112 mt of liquid steel at a rate of 324 mt/hour, with a charge mix of 61% hot DRI, 37% cold DRI, and 2% hot briquetted iron (HBI), and electricity consumption of 493 kWh per mt of steel. In other words, from reduction to melting, this is a fully integrated DRI-EAF process, and the high stability of the shaft furnace serves as the foundation for the entire chain’s efficiency. Jindal’s record carries weight because it falls within a strengthening megatrend. According to data from Midrex and the World Steel Association, global DRI production reached 140.8 million mt in 2024, setting a new record high, up 3.8% YoY (the previous record was 135.7 million mt in 2023). The cumulative increase since 2019 is approximately 32.7 million mt, an increase of over 30%. More notably, this growth outpaced the mild 1% growth in global crude steel production over the same period. The DRI route is steadily expanding its share in the overall steel landscape. Midrex technology accounted for 54.1% of total production and approximately 80.1% of shaft-furnace DRI output. However, this growth is highly concentrated. In 2024, India ranked first globally with 54.7 million mt, accounting for over one-third of the total. Iran followed with 34.7 million mt, and together the two countries accounted for about 63% of the global total. Next came Russia (8.0 million mt), Saudi Arabia (6.6 million mt), and Egypt (6.4 million mt). The landscape broadly splits into two segments: one is India’s vast domestic demand-driven system based on coal-based rotary kiln sponge iron, and the other is the gas-based DRI cluster in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) built on cheap natural gas. Jindal Steel Oman’s Sohar plant falls into the latter category. This concentration also means that any disruption in natural gas supply, energy policy, or geopolitical turbulence in one location will be magnified to affect global DRI supply. To grasp the strategic value of such plants, one must place them within the carbon intensity framework. According to the representative route values from the World Steel Association, the blast furnace–converter integrated route emits approximately 2.3 mt CO₂ per mt of steel, while the scrap-based electric furnace route records the lowest at around 0.7 mt. The gas-based direct reduction–electric furnace route falls in between, at roughly 1.43 mt. This means that before green hydrogen direct reduction achieves true scale, gas-based DRI represents the most viable low-carbon iron source pathway beyond the blast furnace. It is not zero-carbon, but it can already reduce the carbon footprint to around 60% of the blast furnace route. A gas-based DRI plant like Jindal Shuhar—efficient, low-cost, and running stably—sits right at the sweet spot of this transitional pathway. Placed back into the trade dimension of the ferrous metal industry chain, the Middle East’s gas-based DRI and HBI have long played the role of supplying green iron to Europe, Turkey, and the US. The top five global DRI importers in 2024 were the US (1.5 million mt), Turkey (1.2 million mt), India (900,000 mt), Mexico (800,000 mt), and Italy (700,000 mt). As the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) enters the actual payment phase and embedded carbon costs increase year by year, the premium window for exporting low-carbon iron sources to Europe is opening up. Plants that can spread fixed unit costs thinner and push annualized output to 133% of designed capacity are precisely the most resilient marginal suppliers along this trade flow. Viewed from this angle, Jindal’s 188-day record is not merely a straightforward milestone.

Hoa Phat Group reported first-half 2026 revenue of VND 108.87 trillion and net profit of VND 15.48 trillion, up 47% and 103% year-on-year, respectively, achieving 52% of its annual revenue target and 70% of its full-year profit goal. Second-quarter net profit rose 51% to VND 6.42 trillion on revenue of VND 55.56 trillion, supported by robust steel production and sales, with HRC shipments jumping 57% in the first half. The steel business accounted for 93% of revenue and 68% of profit, while agriculture remained the second-largest earnings contributor. The group also accelerated investments in new industrial parks, expanded its household appliance business with a new refrigerator factory, and continued construction of its Dung Quat rail and special steel project, which is expected to begin supplying rail products from the second quarter of 2027.

By July 11, 2026, the direct reduced iron (DRI) plant of Jindal Steel Oman in Sohar had operated continuously for 188 days without any unplanned shutdowns. This 6.5-meter shaft furnace set a record high monthly production of 185,710 mt in May 2026, with an average operating rate of 249.6 mt per hour. The facility's production exceeded its original designed capacity of 1.5 million mt by 33%, thereby setting a new global benchmark for operational efficiency. The Sohar facility is an integrated combination of a gas-based direct reduction (using natural gas reformed syngas to reduce iron ore) unit and a 220 mt Danieli electric arc furnace. Hot DRI is gravity-fed directly into the electric furnace, touted as the world's first gravity hot DRI feeding system, achieving significant energy savings. The electric furnace side also set records in early 2026: a monthly output of 235,112 mt of liquid steel with a productivity of 324 mt/hour, a charge mix of 61% hot DRI, 37% cold DRI, and 2% hot briquetted iron (HBI), and electricity consumption of 493 kWh per mt of steel. In other words, from reduction to melting, this is a fully integrated DRI-EAF process, and the high operational stability of the shaft furnace is precisely the foundation of the entire chain's efficiency. This record is significant because it falls within a continuing strong mega-trend. According to statistics from Midrex and the World Steel Association, global direct reduced iron (DRI) production reached 140.8 million mt in 2024, a new record high, up 3.8% YoY (the previous record was 135.7 million mt in 2023); since 2019, it has cumulatively increased by about 32.7 million mt, an increase of over 30%. More notably, this growth rate outpaced the mild growth of about 1% in global crude steel production over the same period, with the DRI route steadily expanding its share in the overall steel landscape. Of this, the Midrex process accounted for 54.1% of total production, and an even larger share of about 80.1% in shaft furnace DRI. However, this growth is highly concentrated. In 2024, India ranked first globally with 54.7 million mt, accounting for over one-third of the total; Iran followed with 34.7 million mt, and together these two countries accounted for about 63% of the global total. It was followed by Russia at 8.0 million mt, Saudi Arabia at 6.6 million mt, and Egypt at 6.4 million mt. The landscape is broadly divided into two parts: one is India's massive domestic demand system primarily based on coal-based rotary kiln sponge iron, and the other is a gas-based DRI cluster in the Middle East and North Africa built on cheap natural gas, to which Jindal Steel Oman belongs. This concentration also means that any local natural gas supply, energy policy, or geopolitical disturbance will be amplified to the level of global DRI supply. Gas-Based DRI in the Decarbonization Landscape To understand the strategic value of such plants, one must place them back into the carbon intensity coordinate system. According to the World Steel Association's representative route values, the blast furnace—converter long process is about 2.3 mt CO2 per mt of steel, the scrap-based electric furnace is the lowest at about 0.7 mt, while the gas-based direct reduction—electric furnace is in the middle at about 1.43 mt. This means that, before green hydrogen-based direct reduction truly scales up, gas-based DRI is the most realistic low-carbon iron source route beyond the blast furnace. It is not zero-carbon, but it can already reduce the carbon footprint to about 60% of the long process. Gas-based DRI plants like Jindal Steel Oman, which are efficient, low-cost, and stably operated, exactly stand at the optimal point of this transitional route. Putting it back into the trade dimension of the ferrous industry chain, gas-based DRI and HBI from the Middle East have long played the role of supplying green steel to Europe, Turkey, and the US. In 2024, the top five global DRI importers were the US (1.5 million mt), Turkey (1.2 million mt), India (900,000 mt), Mexico (800,000 mt), and Italy (700,000 mt). As the EU CBAM enters actual payment and the embedded carbon cost rises year by year, the premium space for low-carbon iron source exports to Europe is being opened up, and plants that can spread their unit fixed costs thinner and push their annualized output to 133% of designed capacity are exactly the most resilient marginal suppliers on this trade flow. From this perspective, Jindal's 188-day record is more than just a simple milestone.

Rising compliance costs, a verification bottleneck, and tightening EU import quotas combine to reshape the competitive landscape for Asian stainless steel suppliers in Europe from 2026 onward. The EU CBAM entered its definitive implementation phase on January 1, 2026 — transitioning from a reporting exercise into a mechanism with real trade cost implications.