Steel Products
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
February 22, 2013
I was watching the daily results from our SMU steel survey which began on Monday of this week. I found it curious those working on Monday (a holiday to some, but not all in the U.S.) were much more negative than those who responded to our survey as the week progressed. Our SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index was at +11 on Monday but by the close of the survey on Thursday had improved to +22…
We have discontinued reporting SMU Future Steel Buyers Sentiment Index numbers – however, the data is still being collected and reported on our website. You can access the data in the Research section of our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com.
The final tally of opinions as to which company or joint venture group would be the best fit to operate the ThyssenKrupp Calvert, Alabama facility – USS/JFE = 37%, Nucor = 22%, CSN and ArcelorMittal/Nippon tied with 17.5% each and bringing up the rear was Posco with 6%. The biggest reason given for USS/JFE was their excess slab supply out of their Alabama facility located in Birmingham. Nucor was mentioned as the #2 option with their new DRI facility in Louisiana (which has the permits to eventually put in a blast furnace/BOF and make slabs).
In Sunday night’s edition of SMU we will discuss more issues which were covered in this week’s survey. Our next survey will begin on Monday, March 4th.
As always your business is truly appreciated.
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Steel Products
Nucor’s weekly HR spot price unchanged, again
Nucor’s consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil remains unchanged for another week – now on an 11-week streak. Nucor’s HR coil CSP, still at $750 per short ton (st), has been at that level since Nov. 12. The spot price for HR from Nucor’s joint-venture subsidiary California Steel Industries (CSI) is also flat […]
Price gap between domestic, offshore CRC narrows
The price spread between US-produced cold-rolled (CR) coil and offshore products tightened in the week ended Jan. 17. Domestic CR coil tags were lower week on week (w/w), while offshore products ticked higher. The result? The US premium over imports shrank. In our market check on Tuesday, Jan. 14, US CR coil prices averaged $895 […]
US HR price premium over imports narrows slightly
Hot-rolled (HR) coil prices ticked down in the US last week, while tags abroad varied. The result: US hot band margin over imports on a landed basis has narrowed to a slight extent. SMU’s average domestic HR price last week was $685 per short ton (st), down $5/st from the week before. US hot band […]
SMU Community Chat: Jan. 22 with Alan Kestenbaum, founder of Bedrock Industries
Alan Kestenbaum, the founder of Bedrock Industries and the former CEO of Stelco, will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat. The webinar will be on Wednesday, Jan. 22, at 11 am ET. It’s free to attend. You can register here. We’ll look at Stelco’s recent sale to Cleveland-Cliffs and what made […]
December service center shipments and inventories report
Flat rolled = 77.1 shipping days of supply Plate = 58.1 shipping days of supply Flat rolled Flat-rolled steel supply at US service centers ballooned in December with higher inventories as well as seasonally lower shipments. At the end of December, service centers carried 77.1 shipping days of flat-rolled steel supply on an adjusted basis, […]