Raw material prices continued their downward trend last week, falling back to the levels registered in mid-July. The correction is putting pressure on finished steel markets across the globe, with some exceptions such as Europe and Latin America. According to Kallanish price series, iron ore lost more than -15% since beginning of September. Scrap HMS 1/2 (80:20) on the other hand fell almost -10% in the last four weeks. Despite the fall, it is interesting to note that the scrap market remains very strong compared to last week. Currently the price remains more than 50% above the levels registered at the beginning of October 2016. Iron ore on the other hand is currently only 15% above the level of October last year, underlining that EAF-based mills have become significantly less competitive that integrated producers during the last twelve months, even before taking into consideration the increase in the cost of graphite electrodes that has happened during the course of 2017.