Last week, the main global news involved the rapid spread of the coronavirus in Europe, with growing fears also being registered in the US and in many other countries. While the numbers of infected people are lowering in China, concern in the Western world is now spreading. This is most evident in north-west Italy where a large number of cases have been detected, making the country the third largest for number of cases of infection after China and South Korea. This new wave of uncertainty brought about by the coronavirus comes at a particular time for the steel market. As iron ore and scrap prices recovered during the second part of February, the new uncertainty created by the spread of the virus outside China is having a rapid impact on steel markets. Seaborne iron ore lost almost $10/tonne in just few days in China at the end of last week. A direct impact on demand and prices is also expected in key areas such as Europe and the US. The opening period of 2020 is proving to be volatile for steel prices and the sudden change of directions seen so far may not be over just yet.