Lead times on flat rolled products remained less than stellar based on the results of our last flat rolled steel market analysis conducted this past week. The respondents to our steel survey pegged hot rolled lead times as averaging 2.92 weeks, statistically unchanged from what we saw as an average during the middle of February. […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel have been advising Steel Market Update during our flat rolled steel market survey process that the domestic steel mills are willing to negotiate steel prices. Since the beginning of the year the percentage of agreement amongst our respondents (which average 110 to 170 companies) has been almost unanimous. […]
Someone asked me recently what value is there in a publication like ours? Perhaps the best real life example I have to reference is about the two decisions made here in Dawson County, Georgia to build first, a new jail and then second, a new courthouse. The county ignored my warnings when they built the […]
The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming! Well, at least that is what the rest of the world is seeing when it comes to steel. The Russian steel mills have become the benefactors of the drop in the value of the Russian currency (the ruble). Steel Market Update has learned the Russian ruble lost […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) concluded our 5th flat rolled steel market survey earlier today. After evaluating the responses we found buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel continue to be optimistic about their company’s ability to be successful both in the current as well as the future steel markets (3-6 months out). The SMU Steel […]
Warning: You can drown reaching for the bottom…! Steel Market Update (SMU) is learning that the ferrous scrap deals which were done earlier this week in Detroit and in northern Ohio were done at sideways pricing on obsolete grades (such as heavy melt and shredded scrap) while primes grades (Busheling/bundles) dropped $20 per ton. However, […]
Steel Market Update just concluded our 5th flat rolled steel market survey earlier today. We have a couple of articles in tonight’s issue associated with our survey results and there will be more on Sunday. Our Premium level members should have access to the latest Power Point presentation on the survey results on our website […]
Steel Market Update hot rolled average pricing broke through $500 this week as we saw HRC prices as being $5 per ton lower than one week ago. When looking at the market as a whole we are seeing a slowdown or flattening of the downward price movement. Cold rolled saw the spread between the high […]
Every week the US Department of Commerce (US DOC) releases steel import license data for those months that have not had Preliminary Census or Final Census data announced. The latest license data was released this afternoon covering the month of February through today. Since we are so early into the month of March SIMA did […]
I spent three days in Chicago this past week, enjoying the snow, wind and cold temperatures. Upon my return one of my first directives was for Sandy Williams of our staff to research the ice cover on the Great Lakes as the opening of the Soo Locks is only three weeks away. We will let […]
After negotiations were completed for February scrap pricing, the word being spread around the industry was to expect another drop in March, perhaps down $20 on most grades. However, the weather got brutal during the month and we are hearing that many dealers will not be able to complete deliveries on obsolete grades of ferrous […]
Virtually all flat rolled steel products indexed by the steel indices followed by Steel Market Update saw steel pricing decline by double digits and, in most cases, the erosion in pricing on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and coated was at least $20 per ton ($1.00/cwt). First an observation, as we watch the weekly price […]
February and its 20 shipping days is now behind us. It is time to take a look at how the data for the month played out. SMU Price Momentum Indicator ended the month just as it had begun the month (as well as the New Year), pointing toward lower flat rolled steel prices in the […]
I will be staying put for a couple of weeks and can be found in our current headquarters. Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions, comments or suggestions. This offer includes those of you who are on a trial of the Steel Market Update (SMU) newsletter(s). I am always interested in […]
We made a mistake in our most recent issue when we referenced $440 as being the low for hot rolled back in June 2009. That was actually the low for the galvanized base price (noted in the HARDI article in that same issue). The low for hot rolled in June 2009 was $380 per ton […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest steel import licensing data for February as well as the Preliminary Census Data for the month of January 2015. January imports are being reported as being 4,250,041 net tons (3.9 million metric tons). This is up 32.6 percent compared to one year ago. Hot rolled imports, even […]
I couldn’t escape the snow. Our offices in North Georgia were closed today due to 4″ of the white stuff which paralyzes those in its wake in the South. However, I traveled to Chicago yesterday only to find that the flurries being forecast earlier in the week became closer to 5″ of snow and much, […]
We are seeing the benchmark hot rolled coil average as sitting right on the critical $500 per ton mark this week. Most steel buyers with whom we speak are of the opinion that hot rolled coil will drop below $500 per ton within the next week or two. The question then becomes how far down […]
Based on the most recent flat rolled steel market survey results, steel mill lead times stabilized this past week after having declined almost non-stop since August 2014. The question now is will the mill lead times begin to move out from here or remain stuck at these less than desirable levels (from a mill perspective […]
Lead times may be showing signs of reaching a bottom (too early to tell if only a dead cat bounce) but there is no question that the steel mills are willing to negotiate pricing on all flat rolled products. We have been hearing it from the flat rolled steel buyers and executives as we speak […]
It is no secret, the U.S. flat rolled steel service centers are over-inventoried and mill spot prices are falling. In order to take advantage of the lower pricing, distributors must move off any excess inventories which Steel Market Update has calculated to be approximately 1.145 million tons as of the end of January. (Note: the […]
Twice per month Steel Market Update conducts our flat rolled steel market analysis. We invite slightly more than 600 qualified companies to participate in our questionnaire which consist of questions about demand, inventories, foreign imports, pricing, sentiment, service center pricing and more. We have been compiling information since late 2008 (SMU began as an official […]
For the first time in many weeks, Steel Market Update, Platts and CRU hot rolled price indices are almost the same. SMU and Platts see HRC prices as averaging $515 per ton while CRU is two dollars higher at $517 per ton. Cold rolled prices did not meet the same fate as Platts sees CRC […]
Have I mentioned lately that our next Steel 101 workshop will be held in the Chicago area and will include a tour of the NLMK Indiana mini-mill? Details are on our website or you are welcome to contact our offices at: 800-432-3475 or info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. We believe this will be another excellent program as we bring […]
Steel Market Update last Apparent Excess/Deficit forecast for flat rolled steel shipments and inventories called for shipments in January to exceed 2014 levels by 2 percent. Total flat rolled shipments for the month of January 2015 were projected by us to be 2,415,000 tons. In actuality, shipment levels were 1.6 percent higher than January 2014 […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index was measured at +53 earlier today based on the results of our most recent flat rolled steel analysis conducted this week. The +53 is 7 points higher than what we reported at the beginning of the month. Our Steel Buyers Sentiment Index measures how buyers and sellers […]
According to data just released by the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI), U.S. service centers shipped 3,523,600 tons of all steel products during the month of January 2015. The daily shipment rate was 167,800 tons per day which was a slight improvement over January 2014 when the daily shipment rate was 165,800 tons. However, last […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest import licensing data for the license requests received through the 18th of February. Steel Market Update (SMU) then compares the daily tonnage rate against the previous four months and the daily license rate being reported during the 3rd week of that particular month. Based on that analysis, […]
There appears to be a lot of uncertainty in the ferrous scrap and pig iron markets as we move into the second half of February and start taking a peak into what March scrap and pig iron pricing may look like. One of our pig iron sources advised SMU that many of the Brazilian pig […]
I was relieved to see the Sentiment 3MMA trend break after dropping for almost five straight months (since mid-September). I am not quite yet ready to say we have vanquished any growing pessimism within the flat rolled steel industry. But, breaking the streak was the first step. I have a number of concerns. The continuation […]