Steel Market Update is revising our Price Momentum Indicator on flat rolled to Neutral from Lower. Sometimes you need a bit of a prod in order to see things clearly. We’ve had many conversations and reviews of the spot pricing data and came to the conclusion the timing of our move to Lower was incorrect. […]
Key Market Indicators show that the improvement in market trends in December and January translated to a jump in the present situation in February. This report is designed to be a big picture summary of data on which we have reported in detail during the month. In it we summarize 36 data streams that describe […]
Based on the results from the flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis Steel Market Update conducted this past week, along with new steel price discussions SMU had with steel buyers late last week, we have decided to move our flat rolled (hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume) price Momentum Indicators to Lower […]
Steel buyers sentiment, as measured by Steel Market Update, has remained relatively steady at a fairly optimistic level since the beginning of the year. But both Current and Future Sentiment have registered a very slight decline in the past few weeks. SMU’s Current Sentiment Index registered +56 this week, down from +63 at this time […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel have shortened slightly this month, though not yet enough to signal a definite trend. The current numbers suggest the mills are still maintaining relatively healthy order levels, but a change may be in the works. Lead times for steel delivery are an indicator of demand […]
Price negotiations with the mills have continued to loosen up as it’s rapidly becoming a buyer’s market. The vast majority of service center and manufacturing executives responding to Steel Market Update’s questionnaire this week said the mills are open to price negotiations on nearly all products to win the orders. In the hot rolled segment, […]
Writen by: John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update On Tuesday I received a question about the SMU Price Momentum Indicator, which is currently pointing toward Neutral pricing over the next 30 days. Yesterday (Wednesday) I received the following note from one of our readers after reading Tuesday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update: […]
Flat Rolled = 52.6 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 48.4 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Service centers scaled back their flat rolled steel inventories at the end of January to 52.6 shipping days of supply on an adjusted basis, down from 62.9 in December, according to the SMU Service Center Inventories Report. This […]
Service centers’ support of higher steel prices appears to have turned the corner and begun to recede, which helps to explain the recent downturn in the price of hot rolled coil. Steel Market Update data places the current price for hot rolled at $580 per ton, down $30 from the $610 peak in early January. […]
Steel buyers remain optimistic about their prospects for success, but perhaps slightly less so than in mid-January. Steel prices have seen modest declines since then, along with headlines on presidential impeachment and a deadly virus in China adding to worries about the economy. Steel Market Update’s Current Sentiment Index registered +61, down from +63 two […]
Earlier today, Steel Market Update adjusted our Price Momentum Indicators on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume to Neutral. What this means is we see market prices in transition, or in a holding pattern, and we no longer expect prices to rise over the next 30 days. Prior to today we had momentum on […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel extended by more than a week during last year’s fourth quarter, but so far this year have been fairly flat. The average lead time for orders of hot roll is now a bit less than five weeks, cold roll around six and a half weeks […]
Price negotiations between steelmakers and steel users have loosened considerably on most steel products. Buyers report some new wiggle room in talks over spot prices. In the hot rolled segment, nearly three out of four of the steel buyers responding to SMU’s questionnaire this week (74 percent) said the mills are now more willing to […]
Key Market Indicators show that the improvement in market trends that occurred in December continued into January. This report is designed to be a big picture summary of data SMU has reported in detail during the month. It summarizes 36 data streams that describe the state of the steel market and provide forward guidance for […]
The recent rise in flat rolled mill spot prices have, in Steel Market Update’s opinion based on our survey analysis, been supported by a rise in service center spot prices to their end customers. However, the analysis of last week’s flat rolled and plate steel market trends survey indicates that support for higher prices has […]
Steel buyers sentiment continued to improve through mid-January with Steel Market Update’s Current Sentiment Index registering +63, its highest reading since November 2018. Sentiment has been on the rise since October when it hit a low of +26, its most pessimistic reading since June 2013. (Historical low was in March 2009 when it hit -85.) […]
The benchmark price for hot rolled steel dipped by about $20 last week to an average price of $590 per ton, according to Steel Market Update data. Despite the small decline, most of the steel buyers responding to SMU’s latest market trends questionnaire believe prices still have upward momentum. Let’s look at the data for […]
Lead times for hot rolled and cold rolled steel have flattened out, seeing little change in the past month, as measured by Steel Market Update. Lead times for steel delivery are an indicator of demand at the mill level. The longer the lead time, the busier the mill. Lead times in general are about a […]
Negotiations between steelmakers and steel buyers on new spot orders appear to have loosened slightly on hot rolled and cold rolled, but not to levels we saw in late 3rd quarter 2019. In the hot rolled segment, the majority of buyers (58 percent) said the mills are now more willing to negotiate prices on HR, […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments for the month of December: Flat Rolled = 62.9 Shipping Days of Supply Plate Steels = 60.4 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Service center flat rolled steel inventories increased 5.7 percent month on month while shipments fell 10.1 percent, according to adjusted […]
Using U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) data, Steel Market Update has taken the import tonnage of cold rolled sheet and broken it down into coil and leveled, then our report breaks out four thickness ranges and identifies how much was full hard, annealed and high strength. Through November 2019, of the total cold rolled sheet […]
As the laws of economics have proven time and again, supply and demand will determine whether steel prices continue to rise in 2020. Demand is set by the marketplace; supply can be controlled by producers. Steel Market Update canvassed the market this week, asking readers: Has enough flat rolled capacity been removed to keep prices […]
Lead times for coated steels and steel plate have extended a bit, but lead times for orders of hot rolled and cold rolled have seen little change in the past few weeks. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level. The longer the lead time, the busier the mill. […]
Negotiations between steelmakers and steel buyers were mixed in early January, depending on the product. Responses to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week indicate that talks over price have tightened considerably for plate, while loosening slightly for hot rolled and cold rolled orders. In the hot rolled segment, the majority of buyers (56 […]
Written by: John Packard, President & CEO Steel Market Update Your customer will tell you what you need to know. The key is to listen. The key is to suppress your temptation to dominate the conversation. Brian Buckalew, Vice President of Business Development, Majestic Steel, recently wrote in a LinkedIn post: “People that are not […]
Steel buyers sentiment has seen a notable improvement as business conditions appear favorable to start the new year. Both the Current and Future Sentiment indexes had readings above +60 this week. The goal of SMU’s index is to measure how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful today (Current […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive level members. For more information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Key Market Indicators showed a substantial improvement in market trends in the December data. This report is designed to be a big picture summary of data SMU has […]
Key Market Indicators showed a substantial improvement in market trends in the December data. This report is designed to be a big picture summary of data SMU has reported in detail during the month. It summarizes 36 data streams that describe the state of the steel market and provide forward guidance for steel buyers and […]
Steel buyers sentiment has seen little change in the past several weeks as the market pauses to digest the latest price increases and looks ahead to the beginning of the new year. The goal of the index is to measure how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful today […]
In four rounds of price increases since late October, flat rolled steel mills have raised prices by a total of $150 per ton. How much are they collecting? Some, but certainly not all, according to the service center and manufacturing executives who responded to Steel Market Update’s questionnaire this week. SMU data places the average […]