I spoke with the International Trade Administration this afternoon (Thursday) and they advised me that the OCTG Final Commerce ruling announcement will come out between noon and 4 PM ET tomorrow. The deadline date is today, July 10th but the actual announcement is always made on the next business day. We will receive a copy […]
Steel buyers have returned from the 4th of July Holiday ready and willing to buy steel. Steel Market Update spoke with a number of commercial people at various steel mills who told us they were receiving an increasing amount of inquiries and orders. One of the conversion mills told us earlier today that their order […]
The sense, the tone of the market, is that prices are firming a bit. The slide we experienced over the past few weeks (modest as it was) has been moderating and shrinking in size. That is the sense that we have been receiving as we spoke to both buyers and steel mills over the past […]
The Detroit scrap market settled on Monday with cut grades (such as heavy melt or HMS) rising by $10 per gross ton and shredded scrap by $15 per gross ton. Prime grades, such as #1 busheling traded sideways compared to last month. Our scrap sources are telling us that the best deals made (from a […]
Many within the steel industry are looking toward Washington, D.C. to right was has been perceived as a wrong committed by South Korea against the OCTG manufacturers and supporting domestic steel mills. According to the US Department of Commerce website, the final determination is supposed to be announced on Thursday of this week so we […]
Steel Market Update did not publish on Sunday evening due to the extended 4th of July holiday here in the United States. We know that there are a number of our readers who enjoy our Comparison Price Indices (CPI) articles on Sunday evening. Here is what the CPI looks like as of Monday evening: Benchmark […]
The month began pretty much the same way it ended with one of the domestic integrated mills attempting to influence pricing by making a flat rolled steel price announcement. Early in June ArcelorMittal announced specific base price levels in an attempt to stem the slide which had already begun at that point in time. The […]
On Monday, United States Steel (USS) announced a base price increase on all new flat–rolled steel orders. The $25 per ton increase ($1.25/cwt) was to be “…applicable to all open quotations and/or negotiations where an agreement is not yet concluded….” As with most price announcements all published pricing extras were to be applied to any […]
During the month of June we saw all of the steel price indexes followed by Steel Market Update decline by double digits ($10 per ton or greater). The only exception was on plate which saw two of the three indexes taking prices higher and one remaining the same. Looking at the indices as a whole […]
The fact that steel prices have been moderating and, in some cases, moving lower has not dented the enthusiasm buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel are showing based on the Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index. The latest market analysis produced during the middle of June is pegging Sentiment at +57, up 3 […]
For those of you who have never gone to New York City to participate in or be around the Steel Success Strategies Conference, you are missing an experience. The sheer concentration of steel mills, trading companies, service centers and manufacturing companies as well as scrap, logistics, shipping, toll processors, equipment can be overwhelming. After spending […]
Our sources close to the process are advising Steel Market Update that bids on the Severstal North America steel mill assets are due on July 2, 2014. If, and if is a big question with this potential transaction, the bids are acceptable to the Russian parent company, the deal to sell the mills could be […]
Our ferrous scrap sources are advising Steel Market Update that June saw the bottom to scrap prices and July will see prices move sideways (no change) to as much as up $20 per gross ton. If scrap prices do indeed rise by as much as $20 per ton, this could be important for steel buyers […]
Something has to give. US Steel announced during the month of June the closure of two of their OCTG production facilities. The McKeesport facility has a capacity of 315,000 tons of OCTG per year while the Bellville operation capacity is 100,000 tons of OCTG on an annual basis. Total US Steel production capacity of oil […]
Earlier today I learned that the deadline for offers to buy the assets connected to Severstal North America had been moved to July 11th. We originally reported the date as being July 2nd. None of the mills we contacted today were willing to share information about the bidding process or even if they had a […]
Hot rolled prices eroded during the month of June with the month ending at $660 per ton ($33.00/cwt) and our June monthly average $666 per ton. At the end of May our average was $680 per ton so we are down $14 per ton based on the monthly averages. The CRU hot rolled coil futures […]
Steel Market Update participates in a number of social forums including one of our own which is hosted on LinkedIn. Our LinkedIn group name is: Steel Market Update and if you are a LinkedIn member you are invited to join. We received the following questions after posting one of our articles about May imports on […]
This month will be focused on foreign steel imports. The month will kick off on Thursday evening or Friday morning (July 10th or 11th) when the US Department of Commerce is slated to report their final determination regarding the oil country tubular goods (OCTG) dumping suits. This determination is critical to those mills who support […]
On Monday, United States Steel (USS) announced a base price increase on all new flat–rolled steel orders. The $25 per ton increase ($1.25/cwt) was to be “…applicable to all open quotations and/or negotiations where an agreement is not yet concluded….” As with most price announcements all published pricing extras were to be applied to any […]
Hot rolled prices eroded during the month of June with the month ending at $660 per ton ($33.00/cwt) and our June monthly average $666 per ton. At the end of May our average was $680 per ton so we are down $14 per ton based on the monthly averages. The CRU hot rolled coil futures […]
For those buying coated products, zinc prices have been rising and by the end of the month of June were reported by the LME to be $1.0045 per pound. This is the first time zinc has exceeded $1.00 per pound since September 2011 just prior to the adjustment of the galvanized coating extras in January […]
A reminder right up front that Steel Market Update will not publish on Thursday and Sunday evenings due to the 4th of July holiday here in the United States. We will return to our regular schedule beginning on Tuesday of next week. If, by chance, there is some breaking news which needs to be covered […]
With the exception of Platts, the balance of the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update dropped slightly with benchmark hot rolled coil now averaging $667 per ton, down $4 per ton for the week. When looking at cold rolled Platts was unchanged, SMU was up $5 per ton to $785 per ton with CRU […]
With the 1st of July not coming until Tuesday and Friday being a holiday in the United States, I have decided to hold off our next flat rolled steel market analysis until next Monday, July 7th. That means we will produce our first survey for the month of July next week and then the second […]
Our ferrous scrap sources are advising Steel Market Update that June saw the bottom to scrap prices and July will see prices move sideways (no change) to as much as up $20 per gross ton. If scrap prices do indeed rise by as much as $20 per ton, this could be important for steel buyers […]
Our sources close to the process are advising Steel Market Update that bids on the Severstal North America steel mill assets are due on July 2, 2014. If, and if is a big question with this potential transaction, the bids are acceptable to the Russian parent company, the deal to sell the mills could be […]
Last week, while we were in New York City for various steel conferences, the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) published steel inventory and steel shipment data for the month of May. Based on this information and a special analysis of the data by Steel Market Update we produce our SMU Apparent Excess or Deficit of […]
US Steel advised us their number 8 blast furnace at USS Gary Works was “operational” after being down for approximately 3 weeks. We understand from our sources that the furnace came back up late last week. The #8 blast furnace at Gary Works is the smallest operating furnace at that facility. The furnace is rated […]
Steel Market Update participates in a number of social forums including one of our own which is hosted on LinkedIn. Our LinkedIn group name is: Steel Market Update and if you are a LinkedIn member you are invited to join. We received the following questions after posting one of our articles about May imports on […]
We had some international reservations for our Steel Summit Conference this week and the pace of registrations appears to be picking up over the last couple of days. Thank you to those who are registering early. If you are having any issues with the registration process on our website or just have questions we are […]