Steel Market Update is well aware of the rumors which have been circulating regarding the potential sale of the Severstal North American steel mills. Late last week we learned from our sources that Steel Dynamics and AK Steel were close to purchasing the two U.S. steel mills owned by OAO Severstal out of Russia. Steel […]
Steel Market Update watches a number of flat rolled steel indexes and once per week we provide our readers an analysis of what movement has occurred in each during the prior week. This week we found small movements, mostly indicating higher prices, in most of the indices. Hot rolled saw two indexes moving prices by […]
U.S. light vehicle sales beat expectations again in June by surging to 17.0 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, (SAAR). This was the best performance since mid-2006. All of the improvement was in auto sales which increased from 8.1 to 8.3 million SAAR. Light truck sales were flat at 8.7 million. Pent-up demand, […]
Steel Market Update asked one of our Steel Summit Conference speakers, Mike Marley of MetalPrices.com to comment on why scrap prices moved lower as the month of July progressed compared to the early indications of higher ferrous scrap prices during the first few days of the month. Here is his response: There were a couple […]
At the end of May 2014 Steel Market Update calculated that the U.S. service center flat rolled steel inventories were short (apparent deficit) by -632,000 tons. At that point in time we projected that the inventory deficit would be reduced by 45,000 tons and that by the end of June the apparent deficit would be […]
In the last issue of Steel Market Update I warned that there are lots of rumors swamping the steel market as negotiations for Severstal NA heat up (or are perhaps already over) and Gallatin entertains bids on their mill (half owned by Gerdau and half ArcelorMittal). The other mill issue is the Chapter 15 (Canadian […]
Total steel shipments (all products) out of the U.S. service centers totaled 3,687,600 tons according to data released by the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) for the month of June. This represents an increase of 10.2 percent compared to June 2013. There were 21 shipping days during June 2014 compared to 20 shipping days last […]
Because we are a media outlet we receive from the International Trade Administration notification of all kinds of dumping filings against any number of countries. Earlier this week there was a filing against Chinese tires, this morning it was something I couldn’t even pronounce and didn’t have a clue what it was. What we are […]
Based on a quick analysis of the just released July steel import license data (through the 15th of July) we see the foreign steel imports continuing at very high rates. The import data suggests we will see July imports at levels similar to that of May and June. May had the highest level of imports […]
Spot zinc prices on the LME are closing in on $1.05 per pound as the metal has traded just above $1.04 over the past four business days. The metal has moved from $0.9508 per pound on the 16th of June to its current level at $1.04 per pound. It is important to watch zinc pricing […]
Chuck Bradford of the Metals Industry Advisory Group is a well known steel analyst. Mr. Bradford will be participating in our 2014 Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. Mr. Bradford will be part of a panel discussing commodity prices and the influence of China on the world steel industry – especially here in the United States. […]
We have had a number of end users and service centers who are against the filing of any new steel trade cases contact us to express their opinions. Most do not want to be identified. We received the following letter to the editor from an executive at a service center who asked that we not […]
As you may have noticed, we have been writing a series of articles highlighting the benefits of our Premium membership. Through the end of July, our Executive members will have access to our Premium content. If you have not yet explored our Premium content, such as SMU’s survey data or imports by product/port/country, I would […]
First thing I want to say is everyone needs to be aware that the market is plum full of rumors and half-truths. There are rumors about dumping suits, Severstal sale, pricing (going both ways) and more. When you hear something question the source, see if there is anything in writing or if the information can […]
Severstal NA has been actively informing their customers that they want hot rolled spot base prices to $700 per ton ($35.00/cwt) and cold rolled and coated to $820 per ton ($41.00/cwt). Other mills are mulling a move and we expect price announcements to be imminent. Whether specific base prices are announced or the mills go […]
Based on SMU sources we understand there are two steel mills, comprising three separate steel plants, that are for sale and could potentially change hands before the end of this calendar year. The two mills are Severstal NA and Gallatin. Severstal NA SMU understands the bids for Severstal NA were due this past Friday. Our […]
Big River Steel will break ground on the new 1.6 million ton flat rolled mill some time later this month, according to their Chief Commercial Officer, Mark Bula. Construction of the new flat rolled electric arc furnace mini-mill was delayed for about a year as Big River Steel (BRS) had to wait until all air […]
I thought the train references in the articles above were fitting as the Kansas City Southern Railroad just became one of our corporate sponsors for this year’s Steel Summit Conference. They are joining Alliance Steel and Magic Coil Products as sponsors. We are in the process of negotiating with a number of other potential sponsors. […]
US Steel has been one of the leaders in the push to prevent foreign oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from being unfairly traded here in the United States. US Steel recently closed two of their OCTG manufacturing facilities. One of the main reasons provided by US Steel was the flood of OCTG imports from countries […]
This past week saw very little movement in any of the indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Benchmark hot rolled averages ranged from a low of $670 per ton (SMU) to a high of $671 per ton (SteelBenchmarker). The only change from the previous week was in the CRU which rose $1 per ton to […]
Last week, Steel Market Update conducted our early July flat rolled steel market analysis. One of the items we watch as a key market indicator is how the manufacturing companies and service centers report whether distributors are raising, lowering or maintaining flat rolled steel spot prices. Just as the various indexes saw little movement in […]
As you may have read last week, Steel Market Update is providing our Executive members access to Premium sections of our website as well as Premium supplement newsletters for the month of July. We are doing this in an effort to educate our customers on what is available at the Premium Level should you wish […]
One of the analytical reports that Steel Market Update shares with our Premium Level subscribers is our flat rolled steel “Imports by Product, Port & Country” analysis. Once per month, Steel Market Update produces our analysis of the U.S. government import data and we break out hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume,plates in coils […]
The International Trade Commission and Commerce Department issued the following determination on antidumping relief on OCTG imports from South Korean steelmakers: “Today, the Department of Commerce announced its affirmative final determinations in the AD investigations of imports of OCTG from India, Korea, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam, and CVD investigations […]
For those of you who would like to read the fact sheet sent out by the International Trade Administration (ITA) which contains the US Department of Commerce Final Determination on the OCTG trade case you can click on this link. As I mentioned in one of the above articles, Roger Schagrin of Schagrin Associates is […]
The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index produced a new record high this week as those responding to our market questionnaire pegged Sentiment at +65. Sentiment is now +8 points higher than the +57 produced during the middle of June and is up +11 points from just one month ago. Last year at the beginning of […]
Average steel mill lead times maintained their slightly extended status according to the latest survey results from Steel Market Update. These lead times are not to be confused with mill specific promise dates which can vary radically (+/-) from the averages reported here. Hot rolled lead times were reported as averaging 4.63 weeks up ever […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel responding to this week’s Steel Market Update survey reported steel mills as continuing to be receptive to negotiating flat rolled steel prices. However, we are seeing a moderation in the numbers as only 70 percent reported hot rolled coil (HRC) prices as negotiable compared to 92 percent just […]
It is still too early in the month of July to provide a trend analysis of where we think import numbers will fall by the end of the month. The first eight days (with three being holidays) of the month saw a relatively large number of license applications but we will wait until next Tuesday […]
Steel Market Update is providing our Executive members access to Premium sections of our website as well as Premium supplement newsletters for the month of July. We are doing this in an effort to educate our customers on what is available at the Premium Level should you wish to upgrade to Premium Level membership at […]