AK Steel and NLMK USA raised flat rolled steel prices by $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt) on all new spot sales of flat rolled steels (hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized). At the same time, SMU understands that Steel Dynamics has opened their order books for February and are quoting prices that are approximately $40 per ton […]
The following article was provided to Steel Market Update by Beijing Metal Import and Export Company, Ltd. out of China. It is their view of the Chinese steel markets for the week ending at Sunday, January 8th. After the article we will have some independent comments from another Asian steel trading source of ours who […]
As expected, the domestic steel mills began 2017 right where they left off. Another $30-$40 per ton of price increases on top of the $140 per ton of increases leveled on their spot customers since late October through the end of 2016. The key from here is if business, both at the steel mills, as […]
On Friday, January 6, 2017, AK Steel became the first U.S. steel mill to increases flat rolled steel spot prices. The mill announced an increase of $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt) effective immediately on all flat rolled, which for them includes hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel products. This is now the fifth (5th) price […]
Ferrous scrap price negotiations for January were slow to develop but by late Thursday and into Friday prices firmed and deals between the domestic steel mills and the scrap dealers were getting done. The two largest scrap buyers, David J Joseph (Nucor) and Omnisource (Steel Dynamics), entered the market late during the week at $30 […]
There was very little movement in flat rolled steel prices according to the Platts and Steel Market Update steel indexes. This is expected to change as we move into the second week of the New Year as AK Steel announced a new $40 per ton price increase on Friday. Benchmark hot rolled is being reported […]
The steel buyers and sellers of steel who responded to our first flat rolled steel market trends survey of the New Year foretold the move by AK Steel to raise flat rolled steel prices late on Friday. Eighty-one percent of the respondents reported that they were expecting another flat rolled steel price increase (the 5th […]
During the first week of January Steel Market Update conducted our flat rolled steel market trends analysis. We invited 630 people associated with the flat rolled steel industry to participate. Of those responding 46 percent were manufacturers, 41 percent were steel service centers or wholesalers, 7 percent were steel mills, 4 percent steel trading companies […]
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported the Final Census numbers for November foreign steel imports into the United States. November steel imports totaled 2,805,763 net tons. This was approximately 100,000 tons higher than October. When looking at the individual items it appears the difference between the two months can be found in the […]
Welcome back to any of you who managed to extend your New Year Holiday until the 9th of January. The year started slow but increased speed once we got toward the end of this past week. Ferrous scrap prices are up $30-$45 per gross ton and AK Steel has started the ball rolling with a […]
On a single data basis both our Current Steel Buyers Sentiment Index and Future Sentiment Index are at the record highs for our index. Current Sentiment, which is how buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful in the existing market environment, came in at +71 this week. […]
January scrap negotiations have begun between the domestic (USA & Canada) steel mills and their scrap suppliers. As one large scrap company put it, “Things are slow to develop today, but I’m anticipating some movement by day’s end. This market has been sort of like a junior high dance at this point, with the reluctant […]
Flat rolled lead times remained essentially unchanged from what we reported during the middle of December. Steel mill order books appear to be “good” without creating excessive anxiety at their customers. At the moment, we will call lead times as being not too short and not too long but, just about right… Since early Tuesday […]
Steel mills continue to feel comfortable when negotiating with their customers. We found that only one quarter of the steel buyers responding to our survey for this week reported the mills as willing to discuss the possibility of adjusting (lowering) steel spot prices. We found this to be consistent across all flat rolled products: hot […]
Earlier this week we reported on the status of the Chinese steel markets and steel export price offers as of the end of this past week. Both trading company sources used by SMU reported that prices were artificially high and the expectation was that they would fall if not soon by no later than the […]
It has been a busy (albeit short) week. I mentioned in my last newsletter that we are actively in the process of reviewing and building a new website. Beginning this evening, we have our website designers (K3 Technologies out of Atlanta) here in our Florida offices for the next few days so we can work […]
The engines are warming up and the expectation is for a better 2017 than 2016. The data we collected today was not significantly different than what we were seeing one week ago. Many mills are telling their customers they are on an “inquire only” basis when it comes to new spot orders. We are also […]
When we ended 2015 benchmark hot rolled base prices averaged $375 per ton ($18.75/cwt), cold rolled base average was $515 per ton ($25.75/cwt) and the spread between HRC and CRC base prices was $140 per ton ($7.00/cwt). Galvanized base prices averaged $510 per ton ($25.50/cwt) and the spread between HRC base and that of Galvanized […]
The following analysis of the steel markets in China is from Beijing Metal Import & Export Co.,Ltd and is being reproduced by Steel Market Update with permission. However, we did need to make some edits to help our readers to better understand the message that is trying to be portrayed: Please allow us to update […]
We ended 2016 with a semblance of agreement as to where flat rolled steel prices stood. The table below is for last week and does not include price adjustments that may have been made this week. Hot rolled prices now average more than $600 per ton with SMU at $610 per ton and SteelBenchmarker $608 […]
The last month of the year was a strong one based on the data we just reviewed and have shared with you in the table at the end of this article. SMU Price Momentum Index finished both the month and the year pointing toward higher prices in the coming 30 to 60 days. Our Sentiment […]
Well, we made it through 2016 in one piece and we are excited to see what the New Year has in store for the steel industry and those affected by the steel industry. I want to thank all of you who sent messages to me over the weekend. A special note of thanks to Chris […]
We are but a few days away from the beginning of the New Year. We thought it prudent as we plan for 2017 that we take a look at what transpired with flat rolled steel prices over the course of the past 12 months. Because the market “bottomed” in December 2015 we have expanded our […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce reported Preliminary Census Data for November showing foreign steel imports totaling 2.8 million net tons for the month.This is up from 2.7 million net tons reported during the month of October. We saw increases in semi-finished of 210,000 net tons which accounted for the larger numbers. Semi-finished steels include slabs […]
Today’s issue is our 150th Executive newsletter (Volume 11, Issue 150). We averaged 11.4 articles per issue so we published 1718 articles. On top of that we published 51 Premium newsletters which average 2.5 articles per issue for another 124 articles. We have produced thousands of graphics, many of which our readers are able to […]
The data collected late last week and through the day today was spotty at best. However, we feel confident from the numbers we were able to collect to make some minor adjustments in our hot rolled and cold rolled indices. With the Holiday Week upon us SMU does not anticipate another round of price increases […]
Based on the results of the Steel Market Update flat rolled steel market trends analysis performed prior to the Holiday weekend steel mill lead times continue to be extended. The respondents to our survey reported on the amount of time it takes to get hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume produced from the time […]
There was little movement in the positions of the domestic steel makers when it came to their willingness to negotiate spot flat rolled steel prices this past week. Respondents to our final flat rolled steel market trends survey reported the steel mills as taking strong stances when it came to negotiating spot pricing on hot […]
The following Comparison Price Indices (CPI) is analyzing prices supplied to the steel industry for the week ending December 23rd and does not include price changes from this week. At the end of this past week both Platts and Steel Market Update had hot rolled prices as averaging $595 per ton ($29.75/cwt). SteelBenchmarker did not […]
The following analysis of the steel markets in China is from Beijing Metal Import & Export Co.,Ltd and is being reproduced by Steel Market Update with permission: Please allow us to update China steel market (Dec 19 – Dec 25, 2016) as usual as following: In the past week, China steel market had a heavily […]