After a brief pause, raw steel production continued to slide last week. Production in the April 25 week totaled 1,250,000 net tons with the mills operating at an average capability utilization rate of 55.8 percent, down 2.1 percent from the previous week, and down 33.9 percent from the same week last year, reported the American […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor In the past week, iron ore prices have declined as we are seeing mixed sentiment in the Chinese market leading up to the country’s Labor Day holiday (May 1-5). Seaborne supply remained strong as Brazilian exports improved, particularly from the southern part of […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores and CME Group Commodities Research Analyst Gregor Spilker The CME Group recently launched a new steel futures contract which follows the U.S. hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil market. The U.S. Midwest Domestic Steel Premium (CRU) Futures is financially settled against the difference between U.S. Midwest hot-dipped galvanized coil (base) steel […]
By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson The U.S. plate market has, up to this point, seen prices fall on a slow downward trend. Plate has not been as exposed to the automotive-led manufacturing shutdown, which had allowed prices to only slowly fall by $61 /s.ton since the late January cycle peak. Current prices, though, reflect […]
Preliminary steel import license data was updated late last week, pegging March at 1.75 million net tons of total steel imports, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The preliminary March data shows finished imports at 1.5 million tons, up roughly 12 percent over the previous month. Nearly 230,000 tons of semi-finished product imports are […]
World crude steel production, not counting China, declined by 10.6 percent in March versus the same month last year, reported the World Steel Association, showing early signs of the effect of the coronavirus. Steel production in the United States declined by 6 percent in March, to 7.2 million metric tons, as mills announced furnace idlings […]
Steel buyers reported lower spot offers and transactions on flat rolled and plate products this week. However, the offers varied from mill to mill, and even in some cases varied within the same company but coming from different plants. The number of transactions appear to be lower than in weeks past, and the size of […]
By John Packard and Tim Triplett Steel Market Update has been asked: How does the COVID-19 pandemic compare to the Great Recession, in terms of its impact on the steel market? The full effect of the coronavirus crisis on the U.S. economy and steel demand is still to play out, of course, but some comparisons […]
U.S. raw steel production actually inched up last week after a series of declines that has taken the average mill capacity utilization rate down by 25 percentage points since early March. Production in the April 18 week totaled 1,277,000 net tons with the mills operating at an average capability utilization rate of 57.0 percent, down […]
This week’s SMU comparison of foreign and domestic hot rolled prices shows that U.S prices continue to remain advantageous over foreign imports, even further so than two weeks ago, according to SMU and CRU indices. The price gap between domestic HRC compared to German and Italian products has widened significantly over the past few weeks, […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Steel Falling demand and mill capacity utilization rates below 60 percent do not seem to have damped the HR futures curve since […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary, from CRU’s Zinc Monitor As the Chinese market gradually emerges from its Covid-19 lockdown and businesses and individuals start to return to normal, acute outbreaks of the virus across the world mean that many countries are still operating under severe restrictions. Even as China attempts to reinvigorate domestic demand, […]
By CRU Research Analyst Eduardo Tinti, from CRU’s Iron Ore Market Outlook Despite some volatility driven by divergent signs related to supply and demand expectations, iron ore prices were flat w/w. On Tuesday, April 21, the 62% Fe fines price was assessed at $86.0 /t. Last week, Chinese steel demand was robust as the country […]
Premium subscribers to Steel Market Update have reports available on our website that break out the import tonnage into district of entry and source nation for six sheet and plate product categories. This report takes the total national tonnage of hot rolled and breaks it down into product detail. Using U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) […]
The analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into the district of entry and the source nation. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about local import volume is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis is to describe in detail what is going on in a […]
The benchmark price for hot rolled steel dipped below the $500 per ton mark this week, but not by much. Flat rolled prices have been on the decline over the past several weeks, but their descent appears to be slowing. That may mean the mills’ decision to idle furnaces and reduce production to bring it […]
U.S. raw steel production continued to plummet last week as domestic steelmakers took further steps to adjust output to weak steel demand as the economy struggles with the coronavirus. Production in the April 11 week totaled 1,256,000 net tons with the mills operating at an average capability utilization rate of 56.1 percent, down from a […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor The iron ore price rose by $3.0 /dmt in the past week, driven primarily by optimism in the Chinese market, where both rebar and HRC jumped sharply from the bottom. On Tuesday, April 14, the 62% Fe fines price has been assessed at […]
While other iron ore mining operations are temporarily shutting down due to the impact of the coronavirus on iron ore demand, Prairie River Minerals plans to start construction this month on a multimillion dollar ore processing plant in Minnesota. Prairie River bought the assets of bankrupt Magnetation in Coleraine and Keewatin for $1.9 million in […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Metallics Monitor The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) will be updated following the conclusion of trade in the U.S. However, we expect the indicator to move substantially lower following price decreases across every market we track. Metallics prices in nearly every market came under substantial pressure in […]
With much of U.S. manufacturing on hold to control the spread of the coronavirus, it’s no surprise that steel production and demand for scrap are substantially lower than last month. Ferrous scrap prices are generally trading down $50 per ton for obsolete grades and $30 per ton for prime grades in April, reported Steel Market […]
SMU contributor Tim Stevenson is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Tim’s previous role, he was a Director at Cargill Risk Management, and […]
Steel Market Update is please to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on how to upgrade to a Premium subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Total rolled product imports in March were down by 25.6 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis year over year. This was the fifth consecutive month where imports were […]
Total rolled product imports in April were down by 26.3 percent year over year on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This was the sixth consecutive month where imports declined by more than 20 percent compared to the same month last year. This early look at April’s import volume is based on Commerce Department license […]
New Commerce Department data shows the United States exported 641,214 tons of steel in February, down 1 percent from January but up 7 percent from the same month one year prior. While steady compared to the previous month, recall that December 2019 was the second lowest export level in the past decade (just ahead of […]
February apparent U.S. steel supply slipped to 8.5 million net tons, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute and U.S. Department of Commerce. Recall that January apparent supply saw a drastic jump over December and was quite high compared to the last few years. The latest data shows suppy has fallen back […]
Buyers are not purchasing much steel these days as they work to keep inventories in line with declining demand due to the coronavirus, making it more challenging than usual for Steel Market Update to track steel prices. By SMU estimates, flat rolled and plate prices declined a further $15-45 per ton this week. Not surprisingly, […]
U.S. raw steel production plunged by another 8.1 percent in the week ending April 4, on top of a nearly 10 percent drop the prior week, as the coronavirus crisis eats into steel demand. Production in the April 4 week totaled 1,534,000 net tons with the mills operating at an average capability utilization rate of […]
Final February steel import license data was released this week, ending the month at 1.5 million net tons of total steel imports, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. This is the lowest monthly import level seen since December 2009 when final imports were at 1.4 million tons. OCTG imports have not been this low […]
CRU is forecasting that North American steel sheet prices will find a bottom sometime this summer, but will remain volatile while supply and demand gradually rebalance as the coronavirus crisis subsides. CRU projects steel consumption will decline by 22 percent this year as a result of virus-related shutdowns in automotive and other key manufacturing industries. […]