Steel trading companies are advising Steel Market Update of their intention to pass along the 25 percent tariffs announced by President Trump last week, as well as any negative currency adjustments due to a falling dollar. One trader told us late Sunday, “Duties will be charged to customers. Directly or indirectly by being rolled into […]
Flat rolled steel prices surged this past week on all of the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Benchmark hot rolled reached the $800 per ton mark ($40.00/cwt) on Platts with SMU’s HRC index close behind at $790 per ton. SteelBenchmarker, which only produces its index twice per month, was trailing way behind, raising […]
Oscar Night, so I will keep my comments short and sweet…maybe. I was told by one of our readers over the weekend that it would cost U.S. Steel $100 million to re-start Granite City. They wanted to know if that was correct? I did some checking with a number of analysts and was told that […]
The White House announced that it would be formally announcing the remedies under Section 232 on steel and aluminum this morning. Then they said no, there would not be an announcement this week. Shortly after that information was shared by the White House, President Trump was asked a question… SMU advice to steel buyers: Do […]
The White House announced that it would be formally announcing the remedies under Section 232 on steel and aluminum this morning. Then they said no, there would not be an announcement this week. Shortly after that information was shared by the White House, President Trump was asked a question… SMU advice to steel buyers: Do […]
As much as the mills are gloating about President Trump’s decision to lay a 25 percent tariff on foreign steel, remember one thing – not one of them asked for it. When it was handed to them, they took it. They did not fight to protect those products that they don’t like to make (or […]
The market is moving very quickly now as issues of supply begin to raise their ugly heads. The issues at California Steel Industries (CSI) have spooked the market and steel mills are abondoning the process of announcing price increases prior to raising prices. In reality, prices have already gone up $50 per ton from the […]
We had another week of “up” pricing as everyone tries to grapple with the impact of Section 232 tariffs. One thing does appear to be a certainty – the laws of supply and demand are now clearly in the hands of the U.S. government. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: […]
Steel buyers are confiding in Steel Market Update advising us of the “craziness” that is going on in the market as both buyers and steel mills react to both the “known” and “unknown.” The known are the issues at California Steel, which has been advising some customers to expect they will get only 50 percent […]
The next few months are going to be a wild ride (in my opinion). There appears to be a cascading “Gray Swan” event in process prompted by Section 232 and expectations associated with 232, which now are for Trump to announce a 24 percent tariff on all steel products and let the chips fall where […]
We saw mixed results depending on which index you are following. SMU believes the variance is due to quotes vs. actual orders and the fact that many buyers who are reporting prices may not have actually bought flat rolled steel products in the spot market (from mills) over the past week. We are well aware […]
Diana and I will be traveling on Monday and Tuesday on business and will not be available in our offices and will have limited use of our cell phones. If you have an issue, please contact Brett Linton at 706-216-2140 or send emails to info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. I will be canvassing the market on Monday afternoon and […]
Grant Aldonas believes Wilbur Ross “ill-served the president” when he released Section 232 recommendations that don’t address the real issues: curbing global steel overcapacity and dealing with Chinese illegal business practices. A keynote speaker at this year’s Port of Tampa Steel Conference, Aldonas should know what he is talking about. As a former Undersecretary of […]
When the pressure begins, and the cooking surface gets “hot,” that is when you have to be at your best, most nimble and anticipate problems. USS/POSCO announced new prices late yesterday. We have not heard from California Steel Industries (CSI) on what they are going to do regarding pricing. We have heard from their customers […]
International trading companies are reacting to the report released by Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross recommending three options to protect the U.S. steel industry based on national security concerns. As we speak with trading companies here at the Port of Tampa Steel Conference, as well as traders located around the country, we are finding […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices remain strong, and many buyers are eixpecting prices to move higher from here. Hot rolled, which has been on a tear for a number of weeks, took a breather remaining at $745 per ton as an average. Other products, however, did move higher expanding the spread, which in the […]
The first advice I have for steel buyers is don’t panic. Nothing has been announced on 232 yet. Someone mentioned to me this evening that in reality the president hasn’t made a bad decision yet (I am going to ignore Russia – just talking about business related issues). Section 232 may be the first, but […]
Flat rolled steel prices had a mixed week as benchmark hot rolled came close to $750 per ton for the first time since Jan. 17, 2012. We are seeing a shrinking of the spread between spot base prices for hot rolled and those of cold rolled and coated steels. Hot rolled prices rose on all […]
Secretary Ross has released the 3 recommendations on steel made to President Trump. DOC has found that imports of steel products threaten national security and have made the following recommendations on steel. Remedy 1 – Global tariff on all countries of 24%, Remedy 2 – targeted list of 12 countries with tariff of 53%, all […]
Last week ended with a bang. Steel Market Update received an invitation to participate in a press conference as Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told the world that the DOC had found that imports of foreign steel negatively impact the steel and aluminum industries, which are necessary in the United States for national security […]
According to the Steel Market Update Service Center Flat Rolled Inventories Index, distributor inventories fell over the course of the month of January. Our index has distributors holding 2.8 months of supply as of the end of the month. This is 0.2 of a month’s supply lower than the 3 months of inventory held at […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices have been on the rise and are expected to continue climbing in the coming weeks. Yesterday, Nucor announced a new $50 per ton ($2.50/cwt) base price increase on plate. Steel Market Update anticipates flat rolled sheet prices will soon follow. With the latest Nucor announcement on plate the total […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices have been on the rise and are expected to continue climbing in the coming weeks. Yesterday, Nucor announced a new $50 per ton ($2.50/cwt) base price increase on plate. Steel Market Update anticipates flat rolled sheet prices will soon follow. With the latest Nucor announcement on plate the total […]
It appears that the market is being set for the next round of flat rolled price increases. With benchmark hot rolled averaging $745 per ton, which is essentially at the levels suggested by ArcelorMittal USA in their last announcement, then there is nothing to stop another increase. I heard from a buyer earlier this week […]
Steel prices continue their march higher, and we are seeing a very strong market on hot rolled coil right now. With the strength of HRC, we are seeing a return to more normal price spreads between hot rolled, cold rolled and coated base pricing. Prices appear to be heading to even loftier levels with steel […]
First, tomorrow (Wednesday) is Valentine’s Day. The heat is turning up on Section 232 discussions as trade groups, individual businesses and congressmen lean in and provide their opinions to President Trump. He still sounds like he is going to do something “disruptive,” but we just don’t know for sure. As you can see from tonight’s […]
Both manufacturing companies and flat rolled steel service centers reported near unanimous support for higher spot pricing. In the process, it is Steel Market Update’s opinion the higher flat rolled and plate spot prices provided by the distributors also support the most recent steel price increase announcements by the flat rolled steel mills. Last week, […]
According to at least one steel index, hot rolled prices surged higher this past week. Steel Market Update saw the markets as being higher with coated making the largest weekly move. When it came to benchmark hot rolled, Platts moved their pricing up by $28 per ton (actually $27.50 but we rounded to $28) as […]
Today is Feb. 11 and it has been one month since Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross sent his recommendation regarding Section 232 to the office of President Trump. Since then, there has been much speculation but nothing of substance as the industry waits for the president to remove the uncertainty. Over the past week, I […]
Steel Market Update has been pulling out all of the stops as we prepare to host the fastest growing and the largest steel conference in North America at the end of August. This year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference is expected to attract 750+ executives in manufacturing, service centers, steel mills, trading companies, toll processors and […]