Aug 24, 2026 · 7 min
Trade tensions lift steel while offshore losses deepen
SSAB Rises, BW Offshore Drops, Oxford Nanopore Climbs
The episode pairs a sharp European market snapshot with a broader question about whether technology and planning can keep fast-growing cities functional.
- 1SSAB and other steelmakers benefit as US-Canada tariff tensions support elevated Canadian steel prices.
- 2BW Offshore cuts its profit forecast again after operational delays and a $125 million BW Opal impairment.
- 3Oxford Nanopore gains after an upgrade tied to a strategy targeting mRNA quality control and leukemia testing.
Don't miss
BW Offshore’s repeated forecast cut and $125 million impairment tied to BW Opal provide the episode’s clearest warning about operational risk.
The brief
The episode opens with a smart-city question: as urban populations grow rapidly, can long-term infrastructure planning and AI make expansion manageable?
The market report turns to SSAB and other steelmakers, whose shares benefit from continued US-Canada trade tensions and elevated tariffs on Canadian steel.
BW Offshore offers the sharper warning: another profit forecast cut follows operational setbacks and delays involving BW Opal in Australia, plus a $125 million impairment.
Oxford Nanopore rises after an analyst upgrade built around a new strategy targeting lucrative gene-sequencing applications, including mRNA vaccine quality control and leukemia testing.
The episode returns to the urban-growth challenge, presenting Dubai as a case where AI, technology and long-term planning are being built into infrastructure decisions.
What was said on this episode
4 statements · 3 positive · 1 negative
Canadian steel tariffs have increased European producers’ US-market profit margins.
“that meant a very... nice profit margins for European steel producers in that US market. So that's been very positive for SSAB and Norsk Hydro.”
Listen at 1:10
Collapsed US-Canada trade talks are benefiting European steel producers’ shares.
“this is essentially the resumption of the status quo for those European steel producers. And so we have losers in one place creating winners in another. And so we are seeing some of those names climbing in response to that this morning.”
Listen at 1:51
BW Opal delays are damaging BW Offshore’s profit outlook and shares.
“And that's really impacting the profit outlook for the company. And that has led to a really, really big drop in the shares this morning and bringing down the overall drop this year to about 11%.”
Listen at 2:57
Dubai has a long-term urban-planning vision uncommon worldwide.
“They have a long-term urban planning vision, which again doesn't happen everywhere in the world.”
Listen at 5:54
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
SSAB
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