The following analysis is from the SMU Service Center Inventories Index. This index is a proprietary product produced through data collection and interaction with a large number of flat rolled and plate service centers across the United States. This index is normally shared only with data providers and our Premium level members. If you would […]
Earlier last week, the U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest foreign steel import license data for the months of August, and the new data for September. The August number suggests the month will come in around 3 million net tons, which is higher than July as well as the 3-month and 12-month moving averages. […]
Steel Market Update was speaking with one of the plate mills regarding their maintenance schedules and order books, which we reported on in Thursday evening’s issue of our SMU newsletter. During the conversation, there was a discussion about what was causing the tightness in the marketplace, and the mill mentioned the drastically lower plate imports […]
I had originally intended to add to the Methodologies article I wrote last week, but I have decided there is not enough new relevant information to add to what was already written. I expect that we will re-visit this subject as time goes by and as questions are asked about the various indexes. Our first […]
Both the plate mills and their customers are advising Steel Market Update that, unlike the hot rolled markets, the plate markets are hot and are expected to continue to be hot for some time to come. The plate mills continue to be on “controlled order entry” (allocation) and all of the mills are struggling to […]
There have been many comments regarding the recent article I did on steel index methodologies. Included were comments/answers from two of the price providers mentioned at the beginning of the article who were unable to get to me prior to our publication deadline. I am going to do a follow-up article on Sunday evening. What […]
Manufacturing companies and service centers are in agreement, service center spot prices to their customers are negotiable and dropping. Our most recent flat rolled steel market analysis conducted this past week found a growing percentage of manufacturing companies reporting their service center suppliers as lowering spot steel prices. At the beginning of July 2018, there […]
Over the past few weeks, a number of domestic steel mills have announced new zinc coating extras for galvanized steel. The reason behind the adjustment has been due to the price of zinc moving lower on the LME spot market. Steel buyers should not assume that all of the steel mills are using the same […]
Steel Market Update steel training workshops continue to be very popular. We are finding many companies sending their new people to our flagship Steel 101 workshop. This workshop is excellent for those new to the industry; however, it is not just for new employees. It is an excellent way to expand the knowledge base of […]
I am in Middletown, Ohio, having spent the day at AK Steel’s Research and Innovation Center as part of our new Steel 201 training workshop. The facility is impressive both in physical beauty as well as the operations and people working there. Our class is being held in an auditorium that seats about 70 people […]
SMU President & CEO John Packard will be the featured speaker at the AWMI Industry Dinner at the Carnegie Hall at Newport in Newport, Ky., on Oct. 18. The event is open to the public. The mission of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries (AWMI) is to educate, network and mentor those in […]
Written by John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update When I was selling steel for a domestic mill (Winner Steel, now called NLMK Sharon), there was always cause for concern when steel buyers would contact me and reference a price from a trade publication that I knew to be “out of date” with the […]
Another busy week for me as our first Steel 201: Introduction to Advanced High Strength & Other New Steels workshop will be conducted at AK Steel on Tuesday and Wednesday (Monday is a travel day for me). We have a sold-out workshop, we have some new instructors and for the first time we will be […]
I have received many questions regarding the variance in pricing between the various flat rolled steel indexes out there. I have been researching the methodologies between the indexes. I am asking each one to explain how their index works and to provide details or a better explanation in some of the gray areas that may […]
August saw our SMU Price Momentum Indicator move from Neutral to Lower indicating our expectation that we will see prices drop over the next 30-60 days. The last couple of weeks of August and into early September has seen prices dropping and the trend does not appear ready to abate quite yet. Our Sentiment Index […]
Our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop will be held in Toledo, Ohio on December 11 & 12, 2018. We will be touring the North Star BlueScope steel mill. The NSB mill produces steel from scrap, pig iron and other iron units in their EAF (electric arc furnace). SMU would […]
Steel Market Update’s next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop will be held in Starkville, Miss., on Jan. 29-30, 2019. We will be touring the Steel Dynamics Columbus steel mill. The SDI mill produces steel from scrap, pig iron and other iron units in their EAF (electric arc furnace). SMU would […]
We sold out our first Steel 201 workshop which will be held next week at AK Steel in Middletown, Ohio. I am excited to conduct this workshop with the AK Steel team. It is the first time we have visited their Research and Innovation Center (RIC) and the fully integrated Middletown steel mill. Thank you […]
Nucor and USS/POSCO announced new coating extras today, and SMU learned U.S. Steel will provide their new extras in about a week and Steel Dynamics will announce their numbers within the next few days. Coating extras have dropped due to lower zinc costs on the LME over the past few months. SMU expects all of […]
Due to our conference, we will hold back on producing our steel indices until Thursday of this week. It’s Tuesday evening and we are deep into our 8th SMU Steel Summit Conference. The official number of attendees is 912, which exceeded our most optimistic expectations when we did our last forecast about six months back. Tomorrow […]
The 8th SMU Steel Summit Conference will begin on Monday, Aug. 27. Attendees will be able to gather their credentials at the south entrance of the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET. Monday’s program begins at 1 p.m. ET sharp. Question: How to get to the Georgia International Convention Center and […]
The last few days leading up to what has become a major steel conference have been hectic to say the least. My SMU team has been playing the role of the Little Engine that Could (I think I can, I think I can…) and I am amazed when we hit the crest of the hill […]
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest license data on foreign steel for the months of July and August. As SMU reported last week, the August trend has been for imports to be at, or above, 3 million net tons. This week the trend suggests August will be closer to 2.9 […]
SMU was at the Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway hotel so we could get a lay of the land and see how disruptive their renovations are going to be to guests attending the 8th SMU Steel Summit Conference next week. The only negative noticed during our overnight stay was some minor construction noise, which was not […]
I have already been to Atlanta and now I am on my way to Minnesota for my introduction to my responsibilities as a trustee for Hamline University, the college I graduated from many years ago. On Saturday, I will jet back to Atlanta to join the SMU team as we finish preparations and get the […]
Diana and I leave for Atlanta first thing on Wednesday morning. It’s an eleven-hour trip, so I will be checking emails and answering texts. The weather forecast for Atlanta on Aug. 27-29 looks very promising with high temperatures in the upper 80s and lows around 70 degrees. There is only a small possibility for rain, […]
CRU zinc analyst Helen O’Cleary reported late last week on what was causing the short-term movement of zinc pricing: “Zinc’s price has been pressured lower again in recent days on a combination of risk-averse investor sentiment, U.S. dollar strength and a sizeable delivery of warrants into the LME’s New Orleans warehouses. It breached support at […]
By CRU Group’s Zinc Analysis Team Despite lower-than-expected smelter output in China last year, which contributed to record refined deficits, 2018 marked the turning point for zinc’s price, reports CRU Group’s Zinc Analysis Team. Despite a still-tight refined market with stocks at critical levels, zinc’s price has had a shaky start to 2019, trading at […]
We are now one week away from the start of the 2018 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We are continuing to accept registrations, and we expect the conference to be completely full when we kick off at 1 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 27. If you would like to register, you can do so on our website […]
A couple of months ago, Steel Market Update was speaking in front of a group from the financial community. We were asked, “What do you look for as a sign when prices are about to change direction?” Our answer was a mill price increase announcement. Earlier this week, ArcelorMittal USA announced a $30 per ton […]