For the week ending March 15, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,828,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 0.7 percent decrease over the previous week but a 0.1 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.0 […]
According to Baker Hughes data from March 14th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,809 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 17 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 18 to 1,461 rigs, gas rigs down 1 to 344 rigs, […]
The The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) released January shipment data for water heaters, furnaces and air conditioners. Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for January 2014 increased 2.2 percent, to 370,850 units, up from 363,004 units shipped in January 2013. Residential electric storage water heater shipments increased 7.3 […]
January prepainted flat rolled steel imports increased over both the previous month and the same month one year prior. The four prepainted products tracked by Steel Market Update rose a combined 18,188 net tons (NT) or 86.6 percent over the previous month and were up 16,236 NT or 70.7 percent over January 2013 tonnage. In […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S remained negative this week for the 7th consecutive week after being in positive territory for the prior 15 weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements […]
Total January 2014 US steel exports were 963,060 net tons (NT), a 10.5 percent increase over December 2013 figures but down 10.6 percent compared to January 2013. Total exports in January were above the three month moving average but below the twelve month moving average. The top countries receiving US exports were Canada at 54.8 […]
Apparent steel supply for January was 9,386,260 net tons, a 1.1 percent increase compared to the same month one year ago. Although steel imports were up and exports decreased over these periods, the decrease in domestic shipments negated any big changes in total apparent supply. The net trade balance between steel imports and exports was […]
For the week ending March 8, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,840,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 1.1 percent decrease over the previous week and a 0.7 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.5 […]
Zinc and aluminum prices are something to keep an eye on when you’re involved with coated products such as galvanized or Galvalume steels. At current zinc price levels, the amount of zinc needed to coat 0.060″ thick G90 coil costs approximately $1.98 per cwt (based on zinc calculation shared with SMU from a domestic coating […]
Total steel imports in January were 3,205,246 net tons (NT), the highest levels Steel Market Update has recorded since we began keeping track of monthly import data in mid-2009. January tonnage is a 27.9 percent increase over December figures and well above both the three month moving average (3MMA) and twelve month moving average (12MMA). […]
According to Baker Hughes data from March 7th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,792 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 23 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 13 to 1,443 rigs, gas rigs up 10 to 345 rigs, […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S remained negative this week for the 6th consecutive week after being in positive territory for the prior 15 weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements […]
Steel prices were flat to slightly lower this week based on direct contact with buyers and our ongoing flat rolled steel market survey results. Here is how we are seeing prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $620-$650 per ton ($31.00/cwt- $32.50/cwt) with an average of $635 per ton ($31.75/cwt) FOB mill, east […]
For the week ending March 1, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,861,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, the highest production level since the week of October 5, 2013. The latest production figure is a 1.6 percent increase over the previous week but a 0.7 […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) began collecting responses for the mid-February flat rolled steel market survey during the week of February 17th. Even with weather related issues being felt around the country, our Buyers Sentiment Index was measured at a robust +39 at that time. That result was one point lower than from our last measurement […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S remained negative this week for the 5th consecutive week after being in positive territory for the prior 15 weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements […]
During the fourth week of February Steel Market Update conducted our third monthly forecast projecting the number of foreign imports due into the United States during the month of February. What Steel Market Update does each week (except the first week of the month) is to review the U.S. Department of Commerce import license data […]
The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported their final raw steel production numbers for the month of January 2014. This estimation is different than the weekly raw steel production as it is based on 75 percent of the domestic mills reporting vs. 50 percent for the weekly estimates. Total raw steel production for the […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce recently released updated import statistics including preliminary January figures. According to the latest data, total steel imports in January were 3,172,481 net tons (NT), up 26.6 percent compared to the 2,506,795 NT imported in December. Total February imports are projected to be 3,012,761 NT, a 5.0 percent decrease over January. […]
The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported their final raw steel production numbers for the month of January 2014. This estimation is different than the weekly raw steel production as it is based on 75 percent of the domestic mills reporting vs. 50 percent for the weekly estimates. Total raw steel production for the […]
According to Baker Hughes data from February 28th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,769 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 2 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 5 to 1,430 rigs, gas rigs down 7 to 335 rigs, […]
A few weeks back Steel Market Update published an article on World Export Price vs. Domestic HRC Pricing. Here is an update with a comparison of current prices. The latest SMU HR price was at $635 per net ton (NT) average, and using the world export price as reported by SteelBenchmarker plus $70 per ton […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S remained negative this week for the 5th consecutive week after being in positive territory for the prior 15 weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements […]
Hot rolled prices continue to be the weakest of the flat rolled products with most buyers reporting $640 as readily available and we heard of only one mill (with limited to no spot tons available) holding firm at $660 (and we expect collecting few to no spot orders at that price level). Cold rolled continues […]
Chinese imports of iron ore in January were 86,830,000 metric tons (MT), an increase of 18.3 percent from the previous month and an increase of 32.5 percent from January 2012. Total iron ore imports for 2013 were adjusted to 819,410,000 MT. January imports of steel scrap were 160,000 MT, down 48.4 percent from December and […]
This is the fourth week in February and our third forecast regarding foreign imports into the United States. What Steel Market Update does each week (except the first week of the month) is to review the U.S. Department of Commerce import license data and then, based on the most recent numbers, project import levels by […]
For the week ending February 22, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,831,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 0.8 percent decrease over the previous week and a 2.3 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.3 […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) began collecting responses earlier this week from the companies invited to participate in our twice monthly flat rolled steel market analysis. Even with weather related issues being felt around the country, our Buyers Sentiment Index was measured at a robust +39 this week. This result is one point lower than from […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S remained negative this week for the 4th consecutive week after being in positive territory for the prior 15 weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements […]
For the week ending February 15, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,845,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 0.3 percent increase over the previous week but a 1.6 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 77.0 […]