Raw steel production by US mills took another slight hit. Last week’s utilization is the lowest since the week of Feb. 13, 2021, and the lowest total output since the week of Jan. 2, 2021. Utilization rates haven’t eclipsed the 80% mark in twelve weeks, the longest run since the pandemic. Domestic output was 1,683,000 net tons […]
By CRU Research Analyst Aaron Kearney-Keaveny, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) rose by 2.2% month-on-month (MoM) to 312.3, following four continuous months of decline since May 2022. This MoM rise in the CRUmpi was specifically driven by a sharp rebound in Asian scrap prices while European prices stabilized. […]
Aluminum May Be Approaching the End of Its Long Destocking Cycle Last week, I described our premise about demand versus real consumption. We talked about the market’s natural tendency to destock when prices take a beating as they have during most of 2022. The latest Index of Orders from the Aluminum Association offers some early […]
SMU contributor Bryan Tice is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. He and the firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients. They also provide process and analytical support. Before joining Metal Edge Partners, Bryan held commercial leadership roles involving purchasing, sales, and risk management […]
Foreign steel imports from two of the three regions tracked by Steel Market Update no longer have a price advantage over domestic steel. US HRC prices are potentially 5% cheaper than imported steel from the two regions, according to our latest foreign versus domestic hot-rolled steel price analysis. Foreign HRC prices for just one region […]
Prices for each of the steelmaking raw materials tracked in this SMU analysis decreased over the last 30 days, further declining from the record-high levels seen in March and April. Through the latest data available as of Sept. 21, zinc prices decreased 12% in the last month, busheling scrap and aluminum prices fell 7%, pig […]
Imported sheet and plate products arrived at US ports at a slower clip in July, resulting in them accounting for a lower share of the domestic market, according to US Commerce Department data. Imports’ share of US sheet and plate markets peaked in December, with sheet reaching its highest level in the past 4.5 years. The trend […]
Sheet prices drifted sideways to down this week, while plate prices fell substantually following the Nucor price decrease announcement on Monday. SMU’s hot-rolled index eased an average of $15 per net ton this week to $770 per ton. This is now tied with our late August price for the lowest HRC price seen since November […]
US plate prices fell this week, responding to Nucor’s latest price announcement on Monday, Sept. 19. Price tags remain under pressure and further declines are expected through the fourth quarter as spot demand is likely to remain limited. But few expect Nucor’s latest plate price announcement to generate any immediate business, sources told SMU, speculating […]
Zekelman Industries is set to build a new steel tube galvanizing facility in Blytheville, Ark. The new, 200,000-tons-per-year Wheatland Tube facility will share a campus with Zekelman’s existing Atlas Tube operations there. The new facility will serve the fence, solar, and mechanical markets, producing tubes using Wheatland’s ThunderCoat™ inline galvanized coating. Construction is slated to […]
Nucor Corp. is significantly lowering plate prices effective immediately, largely impacting its November plate order book. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said discrete plate prices, as well as prices for normalized plate, will be $120 per ton ($6 per cwt) lower. Prices for certain cut-to-length items are unchanged from its Sept. 2 price announcement. “We reserve […]
GrafTech Mexico SA de CV has temporarily suspended manufacturing of graphite electrodes at its facility in Monterrey, Nuevo León, after an inspection revealed its operating license is no longer in effect. Discovery of the invalid operating license was made during an inspection by the State Attorney’s Office for the Secretary of Environment of the State […]
The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices has changed course in recent weeks, according to Steel Market Update data. Busheling scrap prices declined for the fifth consecutive month in September, while hot-rolled prices have levelled out in recent weeks. Overall, we had seen a shrinking delta between the two products from May […]
Long liquidation as opposed to short selling? I spoke this week at two diverse industry groups: the Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI). While differing in their sector concentration, the audiences had the same questions: • What’s going on with the London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminum price? • Why […]
By CRU Research Analyst Rosy Finlayson, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor European scrap prices remained relatively unchanged month-on-month (MoM) in September. Buying activity has been slow after the summer holidays despite this being the normal restocking period. Finished steel mills are reportedly sufficiently stocked at present. Scrap prices in Europe now range between €300 […]
Foreign steel imports from two of the three regions tracked by Steel Market Update have lost their price advantage over domestic steel, according to our latest foreign versus domestic hot-rolled steel price analysis. After taking freight costs, trader margins and tariffs into consideration, foreign HRC prices for just one region remain cheaper than domestic steel […]
The following article on the hot-rolled coil (HRC), scrap and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Hot Rolled This futures market has no direction currently, summing up the sentiment in hot rolled as of late. After a slight index […]
Steel Market Update sources report ferrous scrap prices declined by as much as $30 per gross ton in September, going against previous expectations that prices would remain stable or even increase. September marks the sixth consecutive month of declines since March–April’s record high prices. Prime scrap fell by $30 per gross ton from the month […]
Sheet and plate prices continued to drift sideways this week as steel mills attempt to hold the line despite weak signals from the scrap market. Mills are more unified in trying to hold the line around $800 per ton ($40 per cwt) on hot-rolled coil following deep discounting ahead of announced price increases last month. […]
Zekelman Industries’ newest tubular products facility will soon be up and running outside of Chicago. The 1-million-square-foot facility in Rochelle, Ill., will house four in-line galvanizing tube mills with a capacity exceeding 300,000 tons annually. An automated hot-dip galvanizing line with 100,000 tons of annual production capacity is also being added to the facility. “While […]
Raw steel production by US mills recovered last week after declining for two straight weeks. Despite the week-on-week (WoW) gain, the total was still the second-lowest total since February 2021, while utilization rates haven’t eclipsed the 80% mark in ten weeks. Domestic output was 1,723,000 net tons in the week ending Sept. 10, while capacity […]
Raw steel production by US mills took a hit last week after a one-week recovery. Last week’s utilization is the lowest since the week of Feb. 13, 2021, and the lowest total output since the week of Jan. 2, 2021. Utilization rates haven’t eclipsed the 80% mark in eleven weeks, the longest run since the pandemic. Domestic […]
US apparent steel supply recovered 2% in July to 9.23 million net tons, according to the latest US Department of Commerce and American Iron and Steel Institute data. July supply levels are 2% below the average monthly rate across the past year of 9.41 million tons. Recall that supply reached a six-year high last September at 9.92 million […]
US plate prices were unchanged this past week but remain under pressure. Spot demand is limited, with sources noting that Nucor’s efforts to keep prices flat might be short-lived. Recall that Nucor announced it would keep some plate prices flat and decrease certain cut-to-length items as much as $150 per ton ($7.50 per cwt) with the […]
Natural gas inspired staggering energy prices crush primary aluminum economics The suspension of gas deliveries through the Nord Stream pipeline has further aggravated an already grim energy situation for European aluminum producers. Prices for day-ahead power in Western Europe are stunning in their magnitude: 404 euros/megawatt hour were published on Friday for Germany, France, the […]
US steel exports declined 7% from June to July, now at a five-month low of 742,000 net tons according to the latest US Commerce Department data. Just one month prior, we saw the third-highest monthly export rate seen in the past four years at 800,000 tons. On a 12-month moving average basis (12MMA), annual steel […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active […]
The spread between hot-rolled coil and galvanized base prices has narrowed over the past four months and stands at a 24-week low. The relationship between hot rolled and galvanized base prices has been volatile since late 2021. In the last year, galvanized has sold at a premium of as little as $195 per ton over […]
Final Census data shows that 2.68 million net tons of steel imports entered the country in July, down 6% compared to the month prior and the lowest rate in the past five months. The preliminary import figures reported last week were just 4,000 tons shy of the final count (most of the flat rolled products […]
Foreign hot-rolled coil imports have very little (if any) price advantage over domestic steel prices at this time, according to SMU’s latest analysis. In fact, German HRC prices are more expensive than domestic steel after taking freight costs, trader margins and tariffs into consideration. Prices in Italy and in Asia hold only a 1–3% potential […]