Today we remember those who lost their lives in the World Trade Center, Pentagon and those aboard United Airlines flight 93 which crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Although it was a time of devastation and despair it was also a time when the world united behind the United States and the global fight against […]
The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index has been showing signs of a rebound as our Current Index is being released as +63 this week. This is a +2 point improvement from the middle of August and +5 point improvement since the beginning of August. However, SMU prefers to look at our Current and Future Sentiment […]
The following information comes from our flat rolled steel market trends survey which began last Friday and concluded earlier today. Do not confuse our survey results with actual lead time sheets produced by individual steel mill locations. Based on what our respondents shared with SMU, lead times on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume […]
With lead times shrinking on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels it would be normal to collect data suggesting the domestic steel mills are becoming more negotiable on the spot pricing. The following information was gathered through our flat rolled steel market trends analysis over the past six days. We found that the […]
SMU scrap sources advised ferrous scrap prices have settled in Detroit with prime grades (Busheling and bundles) moving lower by $30 per gross ton and shredded scrap by $20 per gross ton. Dealers had been hoping that a slower flow of feeder stock into the yards coupled with stronger buying by long products mills might […]
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) released their weekly assessment of the domestic steel mills raw steel production for the week ending September 3, 2016. The AISI reported production as being 1,656,000 net tons with a capacity utilization rate of 70.8 percent. The production rate (based on approximately 50 percent of the industry providing […]
Ferrous scrap prices drifting lower by as much as $30 per gross ton (Detroit) on primes and $20 (Detroit) on shred will put some pressure on flat rolled steel spot prices in the coming weeks. Not all of the regions have settled prices and the dealers are resisting going down as much as what was […]
Due to our Steel Summit Conference last week we did not produce our price ranges and averages until Thursday (September 1st). Since then there has been very little movement but we did tweak galvanized and Galvalume numbers slightly. We will be watching to see if the pace of price erosion gains traction from here or […]
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) reported their Final Determinations in the antidumping and countervailing duty investigation on cold rolled steel from Brazil, India, Korea, United Kingdom and Russia. The ITC affirmed injury from all of the countries with the exception of Russia. Imports of cold rolled out of Russia were determined to be negligible […]
Flat rolled steel prices moved lower last week according to the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Our own index saw hot rolled down $30 per ton, cold rolled as being down $10 per ton, galvanized down $20 per ton and Galvalume down $20 per ton. Platts saw their hot rolled average as being […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced Final Census data for July foreign steel imports. July imports surprised to the upside at 3,266,049 net tons. At the same time, based on data through the 2nd of September, August imports are trending toward another 3.0 million net ton month. Both July and August saw a surge in […]
The G20 group of nations released their thoughts regarding excess steel capacity and what they are doing to rectify the situation (essentially they are kicking the can to 2017 when they will meet again and hear from an OECD committee on the subject). China has promised to cut steel production by 45 million metric tons […]
Boy was it nice to have a long weekend off. After the non-stop go, go, go of our Steel Summit Conference I needed a few days to just unwind and do essentially nothing. As of 6 PM this evening the weekly raw steel production report provided by the AISI had not been published. Too much […]
Steel Market Update intentionally did not solicit flat rolled steel price information during our Steel Summit Conference which was held on Monday through Wednesday of this week. Today, as we canvassed the market, we found a significant reduction in prices on all products. We heard reports of “slab rollings” at, or slightly below, $500 per […]
Mark Bula, the Commercial Director for Big River Steel made it official at our 6th Steel Summit Conference proclaiming Big River Steel as “open for business.” Bula, who was speaking on a panel on Innovation and the future of the steel industry, reported that the mill will begin producing their first hot rolled coil for […]
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week Steel Market Update conducted our 6th Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference was the largest for us with 428 steel executives participating. I will let a few of the comments I got this morning speak for themselves: “Great conference John. Very well put together…..best one […]
Tuesday is normally the day that Steel Market Update puts out our price ranges and averages on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. As many of you know we are in the midst of our Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. Due to our antitrust guidelines we did not feel it appropriate to discuss […]
Earlier this evening we concluded the second day of our three day Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. The conference kicked off on Monday afternoon with trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz discussing antidumping/countervailing duty and other trade related items and remedies. Today we had a full day with speakers representing Steel Dynamics, Cliffs Natural Resources, Cargill, Bank […]
Flat rolled prices dropped for yet another week with benchmark hot rolled coil moving below the $600 per ton mark. The three indexes SMU follows had hot rolled coil averaging $590 to $598 per ton. SMU understands there are offers for HRC out there at the $570 level and potentially less than that for large […]
I had dinner with trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz this evening (Sunday). We discussed his presentation which will begin at 3:30 PM in Salon E at the Atlanta Airport Gateway Hotel. During dinner we spoke about the history of the steel industry and how the United States, after World War II intentionally helped build those countries […]
The prices for flat rolled steel have dropped over the past few weeks which is creating a situation where the domestic steel mills want to recoup a portion (or all) of the reductions by negotiating lower ferrous scrap pricing. The mills are asking for $20 per gross ton across the board (HMS, shred, prime grades) […]
I am in Atlanta and if you see me walking aimlessly about town on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with a glassy look in my eyes it is because the kickoff of our 6th Steel Summit Conference is on Monday. We are essentially sold out, every seat in the house should be filled. We have an […]
Steel buyers told Steel Market Update that the domestic mills were clearly hungry for orders on hot rolled steel and getting hungrier for cold rolled orders as well. So far, coated steels (galvanized and Galvalume) have fared better than their uncoated brethren but even coated steels were seeing some pressure on pricing. Buyers were telling […]
The following article is normally shared with just our Premium level members. Steel Market Update (SMU) has a proprietary product whereby we analyze the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) carbon flat rolled shipments and inventories at the end of each month. Based on our model, we come up with a number indicating whether service center […]
As I wander around the industry talking to buyers and sellers of steel I am always asking and listening for the signs of change. These are “warnings” to my ears and I heard one earlier today that needs to be pursued further and I think we will have the opportunity to do so at our […]
The pace of the slippage in flat rolled prices accelerated this past week with many products being reported down $10 per ton or more by the indexes followed by SMU. Benchmark hot rolled was reported to be $15 per ton lower by Platts at $590 per ton while SMU had it down $5 to $595 […]
Last week Steel Market Update conducted our mid-August flat rolled steel market trends analysis. For those new to our newsletter, we invite approximately 600 people representing about 550 companies to participate in our bi-monthly questionnaire. Our normal response rate is 100 to 150 people. Last week’s mix was 44 percent service centers, 43 percent manufacturing […]
I expect the next seven days will be quite hectic in my life and those of our SMU team as we make final preparations for the 2016 Steel Summit Conference. I will actually be traveling to Georgia on Wednesday and will work from there until the conference has concluded. We do have a few spots […]
SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index Twice per month, Steel Market Update surveys the flat rolled steel industry. One of the proprietary products which is derived from that expansive survey is the SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index. Sentiment is defined as how buyers and sellers feel about their company’s ability to be successful both in the […]
On Wednesday of this week HARDI hosted their monthly steel conference call. Steel Market Update participates in these calls which are dedicated to a better understanding of the galvanized steel market. The participants are wholesalers, service centers and manufacturing companies who either buy or sell galvanized sheet products used in the HVAC industry. SMU advised […]