Contributor: Michael Cowden

U.S. Steel has temporarily idled the No. 3 blast furnace at its steel mill in Košice, Slovakia, for annual maintenance.

Cleveland-Cliffs swung to a profit in the second quarter after losing money in the first.

We weren’t supposed to see hot-rolled coil prices dip below $800 per ton ($40 per cwt) anytime soon.

Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices fell for a second consecutive week as mills appear to have given up holding the line on $900 per ton ($45 per cwt) and amid discounting into the high $700s per ton.

We weren’t supposed to see hot-rolled coil prices dip below $800 per ton ($40 per cwt) anytime soon. Or at least that seemed to be the consensus in mid-June after mills rolled out a round of $50-per-ton price hikes, with a second round rumored to be in the works. That second round of price hikes […]

Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices fell for a second consecutive week as mills appear to have given up holding the line on $900 per ton ($45 per cwt) and amid discounting into the high $700s per ton. SMU’s average HRC price now stands at $830 per ton, down $40 per ton from a week ago and marking […]

Cleveland-Cliffs swung to a profit in the second quarter after losing money in the first. The Cleveland-based steelmaker and iron ore miner predicted that the good times would continue to roll into the second half on what is said was continued strength in automotive demand. “While the performance of our automotive clients continues to improve, […]

I’ll dive into the latest sheet market trends in a moment. But first some big news: We’re less than a month away from the start of SMU’s Steel Summit in Atlanta! Nearly 1,100 people were registered to attend when I last checked on Friday. The pace of registrations has picked up, so we’ll probably be […]

I’ll dive into the latest sheet market trends in a moment. But first some big news: We’re less than a month away from the start of SMU’s Steel Summit in Atlanta! Nearly 1,100 people were registered to attend when I last checked on Friday. The pace of registrations has picked up, so we’ll probably be […]

We’re just a month out from Steel Summit, so I decided to go back and check on how things look now compared to ~30 days ahead of the event last year. For starters, approximately ~1,100 people are registered to attend the event on Aug. 21-23 in Atlanta. That puts us on track to meet or […]

We’re just a month out from Steel Summit, so I decided to go back and check on how things look now compared to ~30 days ahead of the event last year. For starters, approximately ~1,100 people are registered to attend the event on Aug. 21-23 in Atlanta. That puts us on track to meet or […]

Join SMU’s next Community Chat webinar with Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries – the largest independent steel pipe and tube manufacturer in North America. The webinar will be on Wednesday, July 26, at 11 a.m. ET. It’s free for all to attend. A recording will be available to SMU members. You […]

Join SMU’s next Community Chat webinar with Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries – the largest independent steel pipe and tube manufacturer in North America. The webinar will be on Wednesday, July 26, at 11 a.m. ET. It’s free for all to attend. A recording will be available to SMU members. You […]

Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) posted lower year-over-year second quarter profits but said demand “remains solid” across the automotive, construction, industrial, and energy sectors. The Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker also predicted that steel prices might find support thanks to what it described as low customer inventories. “We remain confident that market conditions are in place for […]

Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) posted lower year-over-year second quarter profits but said demand “remains solid” across the automotive, construction, industrial, and energy sectors. The Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker also predicted that steel prices might find support thanks to what it described as low customer inventories. “We remain confident that market conditions are in place for […]

Hot-rolled coil prices remain rangebound between roughly $850-900 per ton ($42.50-45 per cwt), according to our latest market check. You could say that’s not news. Our HRC index settled at $870 per ton on Tuesday afternoon. A week-over-week decline of $20 per ton from $890 last week might be little more than noise. You’d want to […]

Sheet prices slipped by $20-25 per ton as hot-rolled coil (HRC) failed to break through the $900 per ton threshold some market participants had predicted it would. SMU’s average hot-rolled coil (HRC) price stands at $870 per ton ($43.50 per cwt), down $20 per ton from a week ago. Numbers at or around that figure […]

Hot-rolled coil prices remain rangebound between roughly $850-900 per ton ($42.50-45 per cwt), according to our latest market check. You could say that’s not news. Our HRC index settled at $870 per ton on Tuesday afternoon. A week-over-week decline of $20 per ton from $890 last week might be little more than noise. You’d want to […]

Sheet prices slipped by $20-25 per ton as hot-rolled coil (HRC) failed to break through the $900 per ton threshold some market participants had predicted it would.

I’ll get to the market in a minute. But first the big news, for us and we hope for you too. We crossed a big threshold this week with Steel Summit – more than 1,000 people are attending the conference on Aug. 21-23 at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in Atlanta. Join more than […]

Join SMU’s next Community Chat webinar with Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries – the largest independent steel pipe and tube manufacturer in North America. The webinar will be on Wednesday, July 26, at 11 a.m. ET. It’s free for all to attend. A recording will be available to SMU members. You […]

I’d halfway expected to see hot-rolled coil prices come down this week. A few of you made the case for price declines. The logic: softer demand meeting increased domestic supply and higher import volumes. Some of you also noted that lead times, while not bad, were hardly strong enough to support another round of price […]

Sheet prices inched up this week on less discounting from major mills and on expectations that activity could improve in the coming weeks as OEMs return to the market following widespread summer shutdowns in early July. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price stands at $890 per ton ($44.50 per cwt), up $10 per ton from last week […]

Join us for SMU’s next Community Chat webinar with Wolfe Research managing director Timna Tanners. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, July 12, at 11 a.m. ET. It’s free for all to attend. A recording will be available to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about what Tanners describes as “the myth […]

It’s the time of year when I’m going to be banging the drum about Steel Summit – even in the lede to Final Thoughts 🙂 We’ll get to the latest steel market trends in a moment. But first I want to highlight that hotels are still available near the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in Atlanta, where […]

Thomas Carlisle Graham passed away on July 3, 2023, in Naples, Fla., at the age of 96. He is survived by his devoted wife of 75 years, Irene Wallace Graham, and four children – Susan Scheessele, Naples, Fla.; Thomas Graham Jr., Mason, Ohio; John Graham, Bloomington, Ind.; and Sara Balough, Los Angeles. Tom was born […]

Sheet prices were little changed this week amid typically slower activity around the Fourth of July. Market participants said that another round of sheet price hikes might come later this week or early next to shore up an initial round of price increases announced in mid-June. In the meantime, some of the heavy discounting that […]

SMU will be celebrating Independence Day along with the rest of you, so we won’t have an issue on Tuesday, July 4. I’ve highlighted three things to think about in the meantime whether you’re traveling to visit friends and family, stocking up on fireworks, or planning a quiet BBQ. Have Prices Found a Floor? We’ve […]

Steel Market Update’s offices will be closed for Independence Day. We will send out survey invitations on Monday, July 3. We will not publish an issue on Tuesday, July 4. Our weekly pricing service will continue. We typically update prices on Tuesday. Next week, however, we will update them on Wednesday, July 5. We will […]

Join us for SMU’s next Community Chat webinar with Wolfe Research managing director Timna Tanners. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, July 12, at 11 am ET. It’s free for all to attend. A recording will be available to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about what Tanners describes as “the myth […]