TOKYO -- Japan's Nippon Steel & Sumikin Bussan plans to develop two industrial parks near a major port in Thailand, looking to tap demand expected from the year-end launch of the ASEAN Economic Community.

Redcar-based steelmaker SSI UK tells Kallanish that it has decided to mothball its iron and steelmaking facilities on Teesside. The Redcar Coke Ovens and the Power station will continue to operate, the company says.

China’s apparent finished steel consumption was down -4.74% year-on-year to 343.72 million tonnes in the first half of 2015. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says crude steel production was down 1.3% over the same period to 409.97mt.