Mercury Resources CEO Anton Posner will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, July 13, 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 global supply chain, why it’s still snarled and how […]
A second local United Steelworkers (USW) chapter at Algoma Steel has voted to authorize a strike. Local 2274 held a vote on the matter late last week, and 95.1% voted in favor of a strike mandate, according to an update to union members. Algoma, a Canadian sheet and plate mill, is represented by two unions: […]
There has been a broad consensus that wherever the current market bottoms will be higher than pre-pandemic norms. But as our latest survey results indicate, estimates of where that bottom is keep moving lower. About half of respondents to our latest survey think prices will be $800-899 per ton two months from now. In late […]
Mercury Resources CEO Anton Posner will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, July 13, 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 global supply chain, why it’s still snarled and how […]
Mercury Resources CEO Anton Posner will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, July 13, 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 global supply chain, why it’s still snarled and […]
Is this a case of the summer doldrums or something more serious? That might be a more important question to answer than where the bottom is and when we might hit it. But first let’s start with a recap of where prices landed this week. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price is now at $955 per ton ($47.75 […]
The local United Steelworkers (USW) chapter representing hourly workers at Algoma Steel has voted nearly unanimously to authorize a strike. Local 2251 held a vote on the matter on Monday, July 4, and 99% voted in favor of a strike mandate, according to an update to union members. Algoma, a Canadian sheet and plate mill, […]
Contract talks covering more than 22,000 dock workers at 29 West Coast ports will continue past the expiration of a current agreement on July 1 at 5 p.m. PST. That’s according to a joint statement released on Friday afternoon ahead of that deadline by the International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacific Maritime […]
ArcelorMittal SA has completed a deal to acquire an 80% stake in a south Texas hot-briquetted iron (HBI) plant built by Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine. The Luxembourg-based steelmaker said the deal was finalized following the receipt of customary regulatory approvals on Thursday, June 30. The agreement, announced in April, values the HBI plant – located near […]
The United Steelworkers (USW) is preparing to start master contract bargaining with Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. in mid-July, according to communications sent to union members. Local union chapters will send representatives to the master negotiations, which are being held in Pittsburgh. The USW’s current labor pact with the Cleveland-based steelmaker expires on Sept. 1. Talks will focus […]
Approximately 950 jobs could be lost at US Steel’s Granite City Works near St. Louis once the mill stops making steel, a company spokeswoman confirmed. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker currently employs approximately 1,500 people at the mill. There would be an estimated 550 employees when the shift to pig iron production happens in 2024. “There is […]
The union representing Stelco’s Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, Ontario, said labor talks would continue past the expiration of the current contract on Thursday. United Steelworkers (USW) Local 8782 said that the terms of the old contract, which expires on June 30, would remain in effect as negotiations continued. “Members are required to continue to […]
President Joe Biden has increased tariffs on some Russian and Belarussian steel, ferroalloys, and aluminum products to 35%, according to a presidential proclamation signed earlier this week and related documents. That’s a significant increase from already higher duties on some products that went into effect earlier this year when Russia and Belarus were stripped of […]
It’s going to be a long, hot summer. I was thinking we might start to see the “summer doldrums” ahead of the long Independence Day weekend. Instead we’ve gotten a barrage of news on prices, US Steel and labor contract talks. Let’s start with prices. Our average hot-rolled coil price fell below $1,000 per ton […]
A second United Steelworkers union local has voted to authorize a strike at Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Stelco. USW Local 8782, which represents the company’s steel mill in Nanticoke, Ontario, said 99.1% of its members voted on Monday in favor of the strike mandate. The moves comes after USW Local 1005, which represents Stelco’s Hamilton Works, earlier […]
US Steel plans to stop making steel at its Granite City Works near St. Louis in the second half of 2024, a company spokeswoman told Steel Market Update on Tuesday. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker expects that the mill’s blast furnaces will switch over to pig iron production as part of a deal with SunCoke Energy Inc., […]
Wolfe Research managing director Timna Tanners will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, June 29, at 11 a.m. ET. Don’t miss it! You can register here. The live webinar is free for all. A recording will be available free only to SMU members. We’ll talk about Tanners’ outlook […]
Wolfe Research managing director Timna Tanners will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, June 29, at 11 a.m. ET. Don’t miss it! You can register here. The live webinar is free for all. A recording will be available free only to SMU members. We’ll talk about Tanners’ outlook […]
Most respondents to SMU’s latest survey think that hot-rolled coil prices will be below $1,000 per ton ($50 per cwt) two months from now. That’s a big change from earlier this month, when we did our last full survey and when those who thoughts tags would dip below the $1,000-per-ton threshold this summer were in […]
I mentioned in my last Final Thoughts that you should keep your eyes open for potential catalysts for higher prices even amid all the signs that tags probably have nowhere to go but lower. It turned out we found one hiding in plain sight. It’s contract talk season in the US, with labor pacts between […]
Canadian flat-rolled steelmakers Stelco and Algoma face looming summer contract expirations with the United Steelworkers (USW) union. That’s well ahead of US mills, whose contracts with the USW don’t expire until Sept. 1. Here is where things stand now: Stelco The most pressing deadline is at Hamilton, Ontario-based Stelco, whose five-year agreement with the USW […]
Worthington Industries reported sharply lower profits for both its fiscal 2022 fourth quarter and its full fiscal year ended May 31, 2021. The Columbus, Ohio-based manufacturer and service center said the drop resulted partly from inventory holding losses at its steel processing division. All told, Worthington reported net earnings of $80.3 million in its fiscal […]
I’m running out of ways to write about steel prices going down because I’ve been doing it since late April. There are the usual reasons plus a few new ones. There had been hopes that China would come out of Covid lockdowns, that Beijing would roll out stimulus, and that Asian HRC prices would set […]
Wolfe Research managing director Timna Tanners will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, June 29, 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 Tanners’ outlook for steel prices, raw materials costs, […]
Wolfe Research managing director Timna Tanners will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, June 29, 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 Tanners’ outlook for steel prices, raw materials costs, […]
There have been some interesting developments in the plate market lately if you’ve been paying close attention. Let’s start with Nucor’s price decrease on cut-to-length (CTL) plate. For starters, let’s be clear that it’s only CTL prices that were dropped. Prices for discrete plate are unchanged. First, a little background. CTL plate refers to material […]
Sheet prices are falling at the fastest clip we’ve seen since before the war in Ukraine. Let’s call it the great rewind. But where are we rewinding to – earlier this year or 2019, the last “normal” market we had before the disruptions caused by the pandemic and the war? First come context: SMU’s average […]
Olympic Steel CEO Rick Marabito will be the featured speaker on our SMU Community Chat on Wednesday at 11 am ET. The live webinar is free. A recording of it is free only to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about why the sky is not falling even though carbon prices and futures are softening. […]
A growing number of steel market participants think that hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices will fall below $1,000 per ton ($50 per cwt). An increasing number also think that prices won’t hit bottom until the third quarter at the earliest. Check out the charts below. SMU’s HRC price was at $1,190 per ton ($59.50 per cwt) […]
Mills are struggling to fill July order books, and some might still have room in June – that’s the feedback we’re getting from market participants and in our survey. You can check the full details in Brett Linton’s writeup of our latest lead time figures. One consequence of slipping lead times: We’re hearing from more […]