We had a couple of readers ask how our graph would look if we used the CRU hot rolled price assessments versus our own. As you can see by the updated graph there can be some variations between CRU and SMU HRC price assessments but, essentially we follow the same track. The blue line is […]
Domestic mill shipments declined in January 2013 compared to the same month one year earlier. Shipments fell by 3.38 percent. Imports also declined in January 2013 versus January 2012 by 7 percent, led by a 22 percent drop in semi-finished (slabs, billets). Exports during the month of January were 14.64 percent lower than last year. […]
The domestic mills are trying to collect increases – some are a little more adamant than others – but there does appear to be an effort. Lead times continue to be relatively short for this time of year. Demand levels are inconsistent with a number of service centers reporting slower shipments than anticipated for the […]
A note to those attending the SBB/Platts North American Steel Conference in Chicago this week – take a moment to find Andre Marshall and Jack Marshall as well as Bradley Clark. Andre and Bradley take turns writing articles for Steel Market Update about the hot rolled, ferrous scrap, iron ore and billet futures markets. Andre […]
According to Baker Hughes data from March 8th, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,752 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This number represents a decrease of 5 rigs from last week. Compared to last year the 1,752 count is a decrease of 221 rigs. Canadian rigs decreased by […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce has released final January import data (Census Data) and Preliminary License data for the month of February 2013. January imports grew by 6 percent over the previous month. When looking at the data closer SMU notes – only two products (of those we follow closely) were significantly higher than the […]
This week, the SMU Fair Value HRC (hot rolled coil) Model has spot HRC pricing below Fair Value for the fourth consecutive week after rising above the Fair Value price in the week of February 8th. This is due to the SMU average spot HRC index increasing $5 per ton last week to $605 per […]
With the exception of the CRU, all of the other indexes followed by Steel Market Update showed a change in the price direction on all of the flat rolled products followed by SMU. Steel Orbis and Platts both had items increase by as much as $20 per ton where SMU and CRU were a bit […]
Based on the results from this past week’s steel survey, demand remains relatively stable with 70 percent of our respondents (all companies) reporting demand as “remaining the same.” The number of companies reporting demand as “improving” dropped from the low to mid 20 percent range down to 15 percent. Those reporting demand as “declining” increased […]
Batting average is around .500 – Half Stick, Half Don’t Remember the good old days when the domestic steel industry would announce price increases based on the flow of business – when order flows increased to a point where mill books were strained and lead times became extended and industry prices moved higher? The “new […]
Service Center Spot Pricing Ignores Latest Price Increase Announcements “[Unnamed service center] They are making a big push in VA/NC HVAC market – dropping numbers all over the place. This is how a mill price increase announcement begins to die.” East Coast Distribution Company Based on the results from our most recent steel survey, service […]
SMU asked those taking this week’s steel survey if the latest price announcement stood a better chance of having at least some of the increase being collected than the one announced six weeks prior. We presented the percentages in our last issue of Steel Market Update (SMU 3/6) and now we would like to provide […]
In our last issue of Steel Market Update we published an article regarding the latest round of price increases and how those responding to this week’s steel survey felt regarding the potential success of this increase versus the one announced six weeks earlier. Our survey was finding 60 percent of those responding to the survey […]
Utilizing a trailing average hot rolled coil (HRC) price, the SMU Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained below zero percent this week for the eighth week after eight consecutive weeks of positive momentum readings. MoMo is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12 week […]
Written by: Damon Sun, Daido International The Far East and Asian markets are in a definite flux versus the USA market. I will preface my explanation with, the ferrous scrap markets in Asia increased in February first while the USA scrap markets were down in February. With that in mind, the scrap markets in North […]
Scrap prices rose for the month of March from a low of $20 per gross ton in the east and parts of the south to as much as $50 per gross ton on some prime grades in the Midwest. The Detroit market was reported by SMU sources to have settled at $410 for busheling, $410 […]
Based on the results of our latest SMU steel market survey, service center flat rolled inventories (as of this week) dropped from 2.37/2.33 in January and early February to 2.19 months. We did hear from service centers during the survey process of their continued focus on lowering inventories from these levels. SMU considers large, medium […]
Mill lead times grew only fractionally since the price increase announcements which began on Tuesday of this past week. Based on our SMU steel market survey results, hot rolled lead times went from 3.15 weeks to 3.28 weeks; cold rolled actually declined from 4.97 weeks to 4.65 weeks; galvanized rose slightly from 5.14 weeks to […]
Optimism waned this week as steel buyers and sellers toiled over price announcements, demand questions and a heightened sense of insecurity regarding their company’s ability to be successful in the current market environment. Based on the results from our just completed steel market survey, SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index dropped 6 points to +15 from […]
The CME Group announced it had record volumes for its NYMEX U.S. Midwest Hot-Rolled Coil Steel Index futures (HRC) and options (HRO). During the month of February HRC futures recorded 6,619 contracts eclipsing the previous record set in January 2012 of 6,214 contracts. At the same time HRO (options) contracts which have only been available […]
The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported their estimated raw steel production data for the week ending March 2, 2013. According to AISI estimates the U.S. steel industry produced 1,857,000 net tons of raw steel last week. This represents an increase of 0.8 percent compared to the week earlier but is 7.2 percent lower […]
Early indications our of SMU industry sources is for Midwest scrap prices to be $30-$45 per ton higher than what we found at the beginning of February. Negotiations are continuing with a number of mills but we have heard of a few deals being done on prime grades at +$40 per gross ton. We heard […]
Large steel buyers with whom Steel Market Update had direct contact with over the past few working days paint a picture of the domestic mills still uncomfortable leading on pricing. Although that may be changing as word starts to spread on the newest scrap pricing. We saw a widening of the range on hot rolled […]
“No demand- it is like raising ticket prices to see a last place team.” – Service Center Domestic mill price increases have a way of touching the nerve of the steel community. Whenever there is a price increase announcement and Steel Market Update (SMU) conducts our next steel market survey – we tend to gather […]
On Monday Steel Market Update will begin our next steel market survey. This will be the first for the month of March. Invitations should go out at approximately 8 AM ET. This will be an interesting week as we watch scrap prices, mill lead times and for evidence that the domestic mills will be serious […]
Originally published by IHS Global Insight on March 1, 2013 Congress has failed to secure a deal to prevent the “sequester” – USD1.2 billion of spending cuts divided equally between security and non-security spending. The impact of the cuts will be cumulative rather than immediate, which raises the prospect of congress agreeing to forestall them […]
According to Baker Hughes data from March 1st, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,757 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This number represents a decrease of 4 rigs from last week. Compared to last year the 1,757 count is a decrease of 232 rigs. Canadian rigs decreased by […]
This week, the SMU Fair Value HRC (hot rolled coil) Model has spot HRC pricing below Fair Value for the third consecutive week after rising above the Fair Value price in the week of February 8th. This is due to the SMU average spot HRC index decreasing $10 per ton last week to $600 per […]
Falls Church, VA, March 1, 2013 – Steel imports increased 4.6 percent in January 2013 compared to December 2012 according to preliminary government data. “Import levels improved in January in a normal seasonal rebound from end of the year declines as many consumers and distributors delay purchases to January due to inventory tax costs at […]
The indices watched by Steel Market Update (SMU) tumbled this past week as benchmark hot rolled averages were at, or below $600 per ton in three of the five indexes. We saw many indices dropping by double digits prior to the U.S. Steel pricing announcement. It is normal for prices to move lower the week […]