A much-anticipated bleeding in US flat-rolled steel prices has begun. On the hot-rolled coil side, we’ve been losing approximately $20-25 per ton per week since mid-April. That’s a boo-boo. Steel might need a Band-Aid. Does it become a wound that needs a tourniquet? I ask that question because the high end of our HRC price […]
Sheet price continued to decline this week on increased supply, shorter lead times, and aggressive pricing from some domestic mills. Also pressuring steel prices were expectations of lower scrap prices and import competition. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price now stands at $1,070 per ton ($53.50 per cwt), down $35 per ton from $1,105 per ton last […]
Flack Global Metals (FGM) founder and CEO Jeremy Flack will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat on Wednesday, May 17, at 11 am ET. The webinar is free. You can register here. We’ll talk about the increased volatility that has characterized the steel market since 2020. Remember when hot-rolled coil used to […]
First, the important stuff: May the fourth be with you! Second, steel market participants tell us that several domestic mills have become significantly more aggressive on prices of late. I’m not sure of a Star Wars analogy for that. Prices being slashed with light sabers? I’m open to suggestions. Let’s say it takes tens of […]
Our hot-rolled coil price slipped modestly again this week. That wasn’t a surprise given the trends we’ve outlined in our newsletters over the last few weeks – shorter lead times, increased domestic output, and mills more willing to negotiate lower prices. Declines often aren’t modest for long. Could we see bigger drops in two weeks […]
US hot-rolled coil prices slipped for a third consecutive week as market participants debated whether and when the declines might accelerate. Another big question: where the new floor for HRC might be? SMU’s hot-rolled coil price dipped to $1,105 per ton ($55.25 per cwt), down $15 per ton from last week and down $55 per […]
Feelings are running high with prices inflecting downward from historically high levels. I’ve had producers say that we’ve written too negatively about higher prices. I’ve also had consumers say that we’ve written too positively about higher prices. For the record: SMU doesn’t have a position on prices. We aim to report what’s happening in the market […]
Sheet prices are coming down now. The question isn’t one about market direction anymore. Instead, the question is whether the declines will be “managed” by a more consolidated group of sheet mills or whether it will be more precipitous, akin to what we saw last fall. We won’t release full results of our steel market […]
Sheet prices fell across the board this week on the heels of shorter lead times, higher-than-anticipated inventory levels, and potential import competition. Some market participants predicted that further declines would be “managed” by a more consolidated flat-rolled steel industry. Others said they feared that prices could come down quickly given how sharply they rose in […]
We’ve written in SMU about “green” steel and whether steel consumers, including market-leading OEMs, will pay a premium for it. What about the potential for premiums in scrap too? Maybe not for green scrap. But what about for “prime grade” or prime-equivalent shredded scrap? Shred that transforms into prime – maybe we could call it […]
Hot-rolled coil prices edged downward for the first time since late November, according to SMU’s latest check of the market. The dip in HRC prices comes after we saw lead times contract slightly, an uptick in the number of mills willing to negotiate lower prices, and a modest increase in sheet inventories. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price […]
I sometimes think of Steel Market Update as an early-warning system for big market moves, and our most recent survey data clearly points to a market inflection. Take these three slides from our latest steel market survey. SMU Steel Market Survey Highlights For starters, nearly half of respondents to our latest survey think lead times […]
Remember the forecasts about 2023 being a normal year for steel? Instead, we find ourselves in a third consecutive year of “unprecedented” volatility. But I wonder whether we’re seeing a rough redux of 2022 when it comes to sheet products. Namely, sheet prices shooting sharply higher in Q1 only to correct lower in early Q2. […]
Hot-rolled coil prices marked a third consecutive week of very modest gains amid questions about whether the market was at or near a peak. Steel Market Update’s hot-rolled coil prices stands at $1,160 per ton ($58 per cwt), up $5 per ton from last week. HRC prices have risen only $20 per ton since March […]
Steel Market Update will be taking time off in observance of Passover and Easter. Our offices will be closed on Friday, April 7, and we will not publish our Executive issue on Sunday, April 9. Our weekly pricing service will not be impacted. We will resume our regular publication schedule on Monday, April 10, and […]
Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) is proceeding with a plan that would see the company sold to a group of investors, according to a filing with the Mexican Stock Exchange. Under terms of that deal, the Mexican steelmaker is expected to receive an initial infusion of $200 million to pay for working capital and labor obligations. AHMSA makes […]
What should we make of Cleveland-Cliffs’ price increase, and will it stick? We’ve asked some of you to weigh in on that, and we’ll publish your feedback on Thursday. Here is some initial reaction I’ve received in the meantime. Some market contacts stress that a spot price increase from a company not heavily involved in the […]
Sheet prices moved slightly higher as domestic steelmakers held to previously announced price increases and as Cleveland-Cliffs rolled out another round of price hikes. Cliffs had been inching prices above $1,200 per ton ($60 per cwt) before the price hike was announced, some sources noted. It’s not clear whether other producers will follow Cliffs’ move. […]
This pre-holiday steel market feels a little like the one before Thanksgiving – albeit at approximately double the price. Back in November, hot-rolled coil prices had crashed to around $600 per ton ($30 per cwt), and there were questions about whether and when mills might push to increase prices to more sustainable levels. Now, HR […]
Ternium SA and its affiliates aim to take a majority stake in Brazilian flat-rolled steelmaker Usinas Siderúrgicas de Minas Gerais SA (Usiminas). The Latin American flat-rolled steelmaker said it and related companies had agreed to pay $111 million in cash for 57.7 million in ordinary shares of Usiminas. The shares will be purchased from Japan’s […]
SMU’s hot-rolled coil price posted its smallest week-over-week (WoW) price gain since mid-January. Some sources said the market might be at or near a peak. But others said it might be taking a break ahead of domestic mills rolling out another round of price hikes. Our average hot-rolled coil price stands at $1,145 per ton ($57.25 […]
Josh Spoores, principal analyst at CRU, will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, April 5, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available for free to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about CRU’s forecast for fourth quarter HRC prices and […]
We haven’t had a price increase since March 13, the Monday after Silicon Valley Bank collapsed. It’s entirely possible we’ll get another round of price hikes should mills decide the market will support it or should they want to reverse any bearish sentiment before it gains traction. It’s also possible that we won’t see another […]
This week started without a price increase. Not that we needed another. Still, it felt weird after so many consecutive weeks of them. Prices continue to move up even without increases and lead times continue to extend. But the pace has moderated. Our hot-rolled coil price stands at $1,140 per ton ($57 per cwt) this […]
Ken Simonson, chief economist for The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, March 22, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available free to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about the outlook for […]
US Steel has restarted the No. 8 blast furnace at its Gary Works in northwest Indiana. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said it restarted the furnace in early March in response to improving demand and rising prices. The company had idled the No. 8 furnace in September, citing difficult market conditions and competition from imports. It hinted […]
Ken Simonson, chief economist for The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, March 22, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available free to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about the outlook for […]
What’s perhaps most shocking about Cleveland-Cliffs starting the week up $100 per ton ($5 per cwt) on sheet and targeting $1,200 per ton for hot-rolled coil (HRC) is that many of you didn’t find it shocking. In early February, we got used to prices going up by $50 per ton from one week to the […]
Gerdau Long Steel North America aims to increase prices for most merchant, structural, miscellaneous beams, and piling product by $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt). The move is effective with new orders as of Monday, March 13, the steelmaker said in a letter to customers the same day. But orders confirmed as of the close […]
Cleveland-Cliffs aims to increase spot market prices for hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and coated flat-rolled steel by at least $100 per ton ($5 per cwt) effective immediately. The Cleveland-based steelmaker also said its new minimum base price for hot-rolled coil (HRC) was $1,200 per ton in a press released on Monday, March 13. That’s up from the […]