The U.S. exported 600,000 tons of steel in June, according to final Census data, a 5 percent slip from May, and down 34 percent from the same month one year ago. June exports were in line with the 2018 average (~610,000 tons), but down significantly compared to the past few years. This time last year, […]
Steel mills continue to press for higher prices and this week SMU found success on everything but hot rolled coil, which continues to lag behind the rest of the flat rolled market. We found that maintenance at Steel Dynamics and other mills over the next 30-45 days is weighing on some steel buyers. Here is […]
Steel Market Update sources report that ferrous scrap prices have turned around after repeated declines in the first half of the year and are settling up $20/GT for August, lending support to recent price increases on finished steel. “Demand is about the same for August as it was in July, there is just a little […]
Steel mill capacity utilization has been inching upward for the past month and registered 81.5 percent in the week ending Aug. 3 as the domestic mills benefit from higher steel prices. The last time the mills operated at this rate was mid-May. Raw steel production for the week ending Aug. 3 totaled 1,897,000 net tons, […]
By Josh Spoores, CRU Principal Analyst Sheet prices have continued to rise, but the bullish trend is clearly fading. Overall volume of spot transactions last week was the lowest recorded all year. Furthermore, manufacturing is now in recession based on the last two quarters of IP activity, while recent PMI data shows weakness in new […]
By CRU Analyst Michelle Liu Rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China have driven one of the largest w/w falls in iron ore prices, a drop of $21 /t w/w to $98 /t. The U.S. president’s threat of imposing 10 percent tariffs on the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese imports last Friday has escalated trade […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Iron ore prices continued to decline in the past week as international steel prices continued to fall on a weak demand outlook for steel in the coming month. On Tuesday, Aug. 13, CRU assessed the 62% Fe fines price at $90.30 /t, down $7.70 /t w/w. Steel prices in […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores Sheet prices in the U.S. have continued to rise as both buyers and sellers have reported higher transactions. Overall volume reported has been steady over the past few weeks and near 2019 average levels. The overall price range remains wide, around $50 /s.ton. We anticipate that prices will continue […]
The following article discussing the global ferrous derivatives markets was written by David Feldstein. As an independent steel market analyst, advisor and trader, we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Note that Steel Market Update does not take any positions on HRC or scrap trading, and any recommendations made by […]
Zekelman Industries plans to build what it claims will be the world’s largest continuous ERW tube mill in Blytheville, Ark., on property adjacent to its existing Atlas Tube mill. Startup of the new mill is scheduled for September 2021. “Having two mills within close proximity of each other will only increase our organization’s efficiency. We […]
Domestic steelmakers appear to be collecting at least some of the price increases they have announced on flat rolled steel. Steel Market Update data shows prices for hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel up by $10 to $25 per ton over last week. The mills hope to do the same with steel plate, announcing […]
Following Nucor’s lead on Friday, ArcelorMittal USA, EVRAZ and SSAB Americas informed customers this week that they are raising the spot price of their plate products by a minimum of $40 per ton ($2/cwt), effective immediately. ArcelorMittal and EVRAZ informed customers verbally, SMU was told, while SSAB distributed a letter stating that the $40 per […]
Steel mill capacity utilization inched up for the third week in a row to nearly 81 percent last week as the domestic mills seek to capitalize on higher prices in the marketplace. Raw steel production for the week ending July 27 totaled 1,884,000 net tons, an increase of 0.6 percent from the previous week, as […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Iron ore prices were steady in the past week as mills in China continue to demand spot cargoes while inventories at ports and mills remain low. Seaborne supply has, although somewhat improved, remained relatively weak as we conclude the month of July, a month that typically has lower Australian […]
Last week, Steel Market Update conducted our mid-July flat rolled and plate steels market trends analysis. We invited 480 individuals representing 450+ companies to participate in our questionnaire. We intentionally concentrate on inviting manufacturing (40 percent last week) and service centers (45 percent last week) as well as steel mills, trading companies and toll processors […]
Nucor’s Plate Group notified customers on Friday that it is raising the price of carbon and alloy plate and heat-treated plate by a minimum of $40 per ton ($2/cwt), effective immediately on all new spot orders. “In recent weeks, plate pricing has fallen to unsustainable levels. While end-use demand and project business remains stable, the […]
The surge in the price of iron ore and the decline in the price of scrap continued through mid-July, benefiting the EAF producers in the U.S. over the integrated mills Table 1 summarizes the price changes through July of the five materials considered in this analysis. It reports the month/month, 3 months/3 months and 12 […]
The following calculation is used by Steel Market Update to identify the theoretical spread between foreign hot rolled steel prices (delivered to U.S. ports) and domestic hot rolled coil prices (FOB domestic mills). We want our readers to be aware that this is only a “theoretical” calculation as freight costs, trader margin and other costs […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores U.S. sheet prices continue to be supported by new mill price announcements as HR coil gained $5 /s.ton, rising to $553 /s.ton. This price assessment reflects transactions taking place last week. On Monday of this week, ArcelorMittal led the third round of increases since late June, signaling $630 /s.ton […]
Following the lead of most of the other flat rolled mills, NLMK USA informed customers Tuesday that it is raising spot prices on all products by a minimum of $40 per ton. Nucor, U.S. Steel and USS-POSCO Industries also announced $40 increases this week. ArcelorMittal USA released higher minimum base prices of $630 per ton […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released foreign steel import preliminary Census data for June and license data for July. June imports totaled 2,023,081 net tons with 1,720,318 of those tons being finished steels (as opposed to semi-finished, which is slabs/billets). The July license data has total finished imports trending toward a 2 million net ton […]
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 Latest HR indexes have physical trading higher at around $555/ST to $560/ST, which appears to reflect the first of the three mill […]
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: Lighter volume summer market conditions prevail in the HR futures market. After six consecutive price increases, in the HR index that the […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued their march higher – even prior to the ArcelorMittal USA price increase announcement. The domestic mills are determined to move prices higher. As one mill executive put it to Steel Market Update today, “I think the fall from $940 to $505 was too much, too fast. Way overshot a fair […]
This week we solicited input from steel buyers (and steel mills) regarding their reaction to the third round of price increases, which was kicked off by ArcelorMittal USA yesterday. On June 24, Nucor announced the first of the latest round of mill price increases on spot flat rolled steel. Nucor advised that hot rolled, cold […]
Domestic steelmakers are keeping their capacity utilization above the 80 percent mark as they seek higher prices in the marketplace. The U.S. mill utilization rate averaged 80.4 percent in the week ending July 20, an increase of 0.3 percent from the previous week. Raw steel production for the week totaled 1,872,000 net tons. Production was […]
May apparent steel supply was calculated at 9,387,605 net tons, according to data recently released by the American Iron and Steel Institute and U.S. Department of Commerce. Apparent steel supply, a proxy for demand, is determined by adding domestic steel shipments and finished U.S. steel imports, then subtracting total U.S. steel exports. May apparent steel […]
Brian Harroun, founder and president of Nobilis Pipe Co., sees an opportunity for a new domestic steel mill to bring production of specialty pipe and tube products back to the United States—and to do it in an environmentally responsible and sustainable way. Nobilis Pipe is now working to secure financing for construction of one of […]
Domestic steelmakers showed solidarity this week in their pursuit of higher flat rolled steel prices with most major mills announcing their third $40 increase in just the past month. U.S. Steel and USS-POSCO Industries (UPI) were the latest to notify customers of their price change on Tuesday, following on announcements Monday by Nucor and ArcelorMittal […]
By CRU Research Manager Chris Houlden and CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores FOB US Midwest HRC pricing: new research reveals market preferences Physical market preferences for attributes of FOB US Midwest mill HR coil (HRC) prices have recently been established by independent market research. Key findings are that weekly FOB US Midwest mill prices are […]