Licenses to import steel into the US declined from March to April, with all major flat-rolled product categories showing month-on-month (MoM) declines, according to the latest figures from the Department of Commerce’s US Steel Import Monitor. Import licenses totaled more than 2.292 million net tons in April. This was a 12% drop from March’s final import […]
Hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports remain attractive to US buyers despite the current price correction in the domestic market, according to SMU’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis. Domestic tags are still significantly more expensive than imported product, namely because offshore steel prices are declining concurrently with US tags. The price advantage domestic HRC had enjoyed over imported […]
Northwest Pipe reported a drop in first-quarter earnings but is optimistic on the remainder of the year. The Vancouver, Wash.-based pipe producer saw Q1 net income dropped 34% from the year-ago quarter to $2.4 million, with sales down 9% to $99.1 million. “As we expected, the first quarter was challenging due to severe weather events […]
US hot-rolled coil prices slipped for a third consecutive week as market participants debated whether and when the declines might accelerate. Another big question: where the new floor for HRC might be? SMU’s hot-rolled coil price dipped to $1,105 per ton ($55.25 per cwt), down $15 per ton from last week and down $55 per […]
Domestic scrap prices are expected to fall in May, market sources told SMU. “Despite decent domestic demand, the recent and apparently continuing drop in the global scrap price will pressure US prices in May,” one market source said. “The global market for finished steel and semis is oversupplied, and Turkish demand is in a holding […]
Turkish scrap import prices continued to fall last week. Subsequently CRU’s assessed Turkish scrap price for HMS1/2 80:20 is $415 per metric ton FOB Turkish port, down $11 per metric ton week-on-week and $28 per metric ton month-on-month. This is based on several deals concluded before and sooner after the Eid holidays. Turkish scrap deals […]
Raw steel production by US mills inched up again last week, rising 0.9% from the week before and moving higher for a fourth consecutive week, according to data released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) on Monday, May 1. Domestic steel production stood at 1,716,000 net tons during the week ended April 29 vs. 1,700,000 tons […]
Sheet prices fell across the board this week on the heels of shorter lead times, higher-than-anticipated inventory levels, and potential import competition. Some market participants predicted that further declines would be “managed” by a more consolidated flat-rolled steel industry. Others said they feared that prices could come down quickly given how sharply they rose in […]
Hot-rolled coil prices edged downward for the first time since late November, according to SMU’s latest check of the market. The dip in HRC prices comes after we saw lead times contract slightly, an uptick in the number of mills willing to negotiate lower prices, and a modest increase in sheet inventories. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price […]
Manufacturing business activity increased for the first time in New York state in five months, according to the latest Empire State Manufacturing Survey taken between April 3-10. The New York Fed’s Empire state headline general business conditions index jumped 35 points month-over-month to 10.8, as new orders and shipments rose as well. The survey’s new orders […]
CRU expects metallics prices to continue trending down in May 2023 as supply will continue to outpace demand in most markets. In the US, obsolete scrap prices are expected to move lower as the inflow to scrap yards will pick up seasonally, and dealers get more inclined to sell. In Europe, the macroeconomic environment will […]
The World Trade Organization keeps on rolling along. Last week, the current director general (DG) of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, made a trip to the United States to attend the IMF annual meetings and to meet with international trade-oriented officials and business representatives. Her itinerary included addressing the Washington international trade community, […]
SMU’s Steel Current and Future Buyers Sentiment Indices have both slipped from two weeks ago as the gap between them has widened, according to SMU’s most recent survey data. The Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices measure how steel buyers feel about their company’s ability to be successful in the current market, as well as three to six […]
Turkish pipe and tube maker Borusan Mannesmann has finalized its buy of Panama City, Fla.-based Berg Pipe for $162 million. Borusan said it has acquired 100% of the US pipe maker, which manufactures large-diameter line pipe. “By acquiring Berg Pipe, a company with a total manufacturing capacity of 550,000 tons, we have secured a strategic […]
Cleveland-Cliffs is set to offer $750 million in unsecured guaranteed notes due in 2030. “The offering is expected to close on April 14, 2023, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions,” Cliffs said in a statement on Tuesday, April 11. The Cleveland-based steelmaker said the offering is exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities […]
Some people like to talk scrap, but not many talk as much scrap as CRU’s Senior Analyst, Alexandra (Alex) Anderson. We sat down with Alex ahead of the ISRI conference to discuss the role scrap plays in the steel industry. A lightly edited version of the interview is below. Steel Market Update: How long have […]
Does anyone think the “new normal” will be normal? In fact, has anyone even mentioned the word “normal” since 2020? I haven’t consulted the Merriam-Webster, but by this point they might’ve changed the definition. Black Swans. Mini-Swans. Bracket-busters. Good old fashioned Force Majeure. There is no shortage of terms to show that unexpected big changes […]
Hot-rolled coil prices marked a third consecutive week of very modest gains amid questions about whether the market was at or near a peak. Steel Market Update’s hot-rolled coil prices stands at $1,160 per ton ($58 per cwt), up $5 per ton from last week. HRC prices have risen only $20 per ton since March […]
An upgrade to JSW Steel USA’s mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio, is reportedly in the works. The company has proposed a $160 million investment for the mill, according to Samir Kapadia, principal at Vogel Group and lobbyist for JSW in Washington. Kapadia recently met with Parth Jindal, heir of India’s JSW Steel (of which JSW […]
US steel mill shipments declined 3.2% in February vs. January, and were off 4.4% from February 2022, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported on Wednesday. Domestic steel mills shipped 6,917,842 net tons in February, compared with 7,148,270 tons in January and 7,232,679 tons in the same month a year earlier. AISI said that shipments […]
Despite reporting a steep drop in year-over-year (YoY) earnings in its fiscal second quarter, Schnitzer Steel Industries’ sequential results improved on higher sales volumes and average net selling prices for recycled metals. The Portland, Ore.-based scrap recycler and long steel producer posted net income of $4 million in its Q2 2023 ended Feb. 28, down 89% […]
A plume of orange smoke was reported over the weekend at US Steel’s Gary Works in Indiana, according to the Times of Northwest Indiana (NWI). The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is investigating the incident, according to NWI. No production issues were associated with the situation, a spokesperson for the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker told SMU. “We are […]
Directors of Canadian miner Teck Resources have unanimously turned down what it described as an “opportunistic acquisition proposal” from Glencore. The offer values the Canadian miner at around US$23 billion (€21 bn). Glencore made the move soon after Teck announced first copper production from the QB2 expansion at Quebrada Blanca, Chile. Teck’s CEO Jonathan Price […]
Hascall Steel Co., a steel service center based in Grand Rapids, Mich., has acquired a new location in Chicago. The company said the operation, which opened its doors on Monday, April 3, is equipped with a full team of industry professionals and is already stocked to service current and new customers in the Chicago area […]
You may have wondered what goes on behind the scenes over here at CRU and Steel Market Update. CRU principal analyst Josh Spoores will talk about what goes into forecasts as well as his take on the latest market trends at the next SMU Community Chat on Wednesday, April 5, at 11 am ET. (You can register […]
Rig counts are down in the US and Canada this week, according to the latest data from oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The total US rig count was 755 for the week ended March 31, down three rigs from the week prior. The number of active oil rigs in the US dropped by one from the prior week’s 593. The […]
Canadian flat rolled producer Algoma Steel Inc. said its performance in the quarter ended March 31 would be much improved over the prior quarter thanks to attractive market conditions and steel prices that were at a nine-month high. In earnings guidance for its fiscal fourth quarter, Algoma said it anticipates quarterly steel shipments to be in […]
Steel mill leads time were largely flat this week, a trend change in a year that has seen them mostly rising, according to SMU’s latest steel market survey data. Case in point: hot-rolled coil lead times were flat for the first time since early January. We’ve noted a similar trend in prices, which tend to trend […]
Ternium SA and its affiliates aim to take a majority stake in Brazilian flat-rolled steelmaker Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais SA (Usiminas). The Latin American flat-rolled steelmaker said it and related companies had agreed to pay $111 million in cash for 57.7 million in ordinary shares of Usiminas. The shares will be purchased from Japan’s […]
The percentage of steel buyers finding mills willing to negotiate prices slipped below 25% this week, according to SMU data. Across the products surveyed by SMU, cold rolled took the largest tumble, falling 10 percentage points to 19% of respondents saying mills were willing to talk price. Every two weeks, SMU asks steel buyers whether domestic mills are […]