According to Baker Hughes data from May 23rd, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,857 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 4 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 3 to 1,528 rigs, gas rigs down 1 to 325 rigs, […]
For the week ending May 24, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,875,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, 2.0 percent increase over the previous week and a 2.3 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 78.0 percent, […]
Chinese steel trade data for April 2014 was released earlier this week, providing updated data on iron ore imports, steel scrap imports, and flat rolled imports and exports. Chinese imports of iron ore in April were 83,390,000 metric tons, an increase of 12.8 percent from the previous month and an increase of 24.2 percent from […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S was positive this week for the 7th week in a row after being in negative territory for the prior 10 weeks. However, the Index dropped 2.06 percent in one week after dropping 0.54 percent the week prior. MoMo, a trailing indicator, […]
Every month, Steel Market Update calculates whether flat rolled steel distributor’s inventories are in excess or a deficit based on our proprietary formula. The Metal Service Center Institute released April data late last week and, based on our analysis, we believe the “apparent deficit” to be 251,000 tons. This represents an improvement of 101,000 tons […]
Even though there might be an air of expectation that flat rolled steel prices are going to drop, Steel Market Update continues to see a stingy domestic steel industry. Stingy in that they are not quick to give back the gains made over the past eight weeks. SMU noticed that Platts actually moved their hot […]
For the week ending May 17, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,838,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 0.3 percent decrease over the previous week but a 0.3 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.4 […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released updated import license data through the 20th of May. If we remember, the license data through the 13th projected that we would see May imports surpass 4.0 million net tons and could go as high as 4.5 million tons. We discounted that number as we have seen previous month’s […]
US steel service centers shipments for all steel products during the month of April were 3,087,300 net tons, an increase of 3.6 percent from the March shipments, and an increase of 4.9 percent from April 2013 levels. Steel inventories at the end of the month were 8,617,500 tons, an increase of 4.3 percent from the […]
Canadian steel service center shipments for all steel products during the month of April were 496,300 net tons, a decrease of 0.7 percent from the month before, and a decrease of 5.6 percent from April 2013. Inventories at the end of the month stood at 1,431,800 tons, a decrease of 2.7 percent from last month, […]
According to Baker Hughes data from May 16th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,861 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 6 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 3 to 1,531 rigs, gas rigs up 3 to 326 rigs, […]
SteelBenchmarker released regional pricing earlier this week, putting the world export hot rolled price at $501 per net ton ($552 per metric ton). The spread between the SMU HR price and the world HR price went from $173 per ton two weeks ago to $184 as of Monday. With an estimated $70 per ton in […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S was positive this week for the 6th week in a row after being in negative territory for the prior 10 weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) […]
Shipments of heating and cooling equipment, a benchmark for residential construction as well as the home improvement segments of the industry, have made significant improvements in the shipping rates compared to the same month one year ago. Below is the press release from the The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute on heating and cooling equipment […]
U.S. and Canadian steel mills continue to keep a firm grip on pricing as supply (production) related problems keep lead times extended on most products. We are seeing the impact of foreign galvanized and Galvalume imports influencing at least one coated steel mill in the South. Domestic buyers appear to be accepting the higher prices […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released their latest imported steel license data for the month of May 2014. The early indication is for May steel imports to remain at, or above the projected April imports of 3.7 million tons. March final imports came in at 3.2 million which is also our 3 month moving average. […]
For the week ending May 10, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,843,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 1.5 percent increase over the previous week and a 0.5 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.6 […]
Apparent steel supply for March was 9,753,954 net tons, a 9.6 percent increase compared to the same month one year ago. This is due to an increase in domestic shipments and finished imports and a slight decrease in total US exports. The net trade balance between imports and exports was a surplus of 2,194,246 net […]
March ferrous scrap exports totaled 1,466,528 net tons (1,330,413 metric tons) with Turkey, Taiwan, Korea, Egypt, and Mexico the top five countries receiving U.S. scrap. These countries received 69.3 percent of all scrap exports. Total March ferrous scrap exports were 11.1 percent higher than previous month but 32.3 percent lower than the same month one […]
According to Baker Hughes data from May 9th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,855 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 1 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 1 to 1,528 rigs, gas rigs unchanged at 323 rigs, and […]
The following is reprinted from AIIS March Export Press Release: March Important Canadian and Mexican Markets Show Strong Gains U.S. steel exports expanded significantly in March, though they remained below the levels of a year earlier. Following a dip in February, when many parts of the United States were still suffering the impact of a […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S was positive this week for the 5th week in a row after being in negative territory for the prior 10 weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) […]
Pressure continues on flat rolled steel prices as we saw gains on hot rolled and cold rolled while galvanized and Galvalume remained the same as one week ago. The issue on the coated products and cold rolled to a lesser degree, has been imported steel which is impacting the southern states in two ways. First, […]
For the week ending May 3, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,815,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 1.1 percent decrease over the previous week and a 1.1 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 75.5 […]
According to Baker Hughes data from May 2nd, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,854 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 7 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 7 to 1,527 rigs, gas rigs unchanged at 323 rigs, and […]
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) commented on a report released earlier today by the Center for American Progress (CAP) regarding China’s Economic Reform. The AISI stated that CAP’s article indicates that economic reforms announced by Chinese leadership last fall will do nothing to mitigate China’s state-ownership and control over key industrial sectors, including […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S was positive this week for the 4th week in a row after being in negative territory for the prior 10 weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) […]
Prices moved sideways this week as buyers digest the $30 per ton of movement made in benchmark hot rolled pricing going back to the beginning of the month of April. Steel Market Update is aware there are a number of domestic mills who have made “internal” spot price adjustments, taking price offers from $34.25/cwt ($685 […]
For the week ending April 26, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,835,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 1.5 percent increase over the previous week but a 0.1 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.3 […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued to rise for the 6th week (according to SMU HRC average) with the benchmark hot rolled coil price average just below $680 per ton and just a few dollars away from the $685 announced by Nucor and a number of other mills at the beginning of April. For the first […]