In the spirit of the season, Keith Gunter of McElroy Metal offers the following poetic look back at the year in steel: ‘Twas almost Christmas and all through the land, Steel increases were announced but will they all stand? Buyers are wary as steel mills try to pounce, Is this for real, or just […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel may be starting to level out after lengthening week after week since early November. The latest data shows slightly longer lead times for cold rolled and galvanized products, but slightly shorter lead times for hot rolled, Galvalume and plate. Lead times for steel delivery are […]
As flat rolled steel prices rise, it comes as no surprise that negotiations between mills and steel buyers continue to tighten. Responses to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week indicate that mills are less flexible on price as they work to collect three increases announced since late October totaling $110 per ton. In […]
U.S. economic activity expanded modestly from October through mid-November and outlooks generally remained positive, according to the latest Beige Book Report from the Federal Reserve. The Fed surveys the business community eight times each year to track economic conditions in its 12 districts. The Nov. 27 Beige Book Report documents stable to modestly growing economic […]
John Packard is traveling…. With President Trump making more headlines this week with his tweet calling for new tariffs on steel from Brazil and Argentina, the timing seems right to ask the question: Have the Section 232 tariffs helped your business? Your industry? Your country? Obviously, that depends entirely on the criteria each individual selects […]
Early reviews of Cleveland-Cliffs’ decision to acquire AK Steel show mixed opinions among the market observers polled by Steel Market Update. On the surface, the marriage of the producer of value-added iron ore with the long-time steelmaker, its largest customer, seems a natural fit. But merging the two, very different companies may not prove so […]
Raw steel output by U.S. mills dipped again in the week ending Nov. 30, inching below the 80 percent mark for the first time since the week ending Oct. 19. Production totaled 1,835,000 net tons at a capability utilization rate of 79.3 percent, down 1.4 percent from the previous week and down 3.6 percent compared […]
President Trump stunned the market with an early-morning tweet Monday calling for new Section 232 tariffs on steel imports from Brazil and Argentina, which he accused of currency manipulation. No word yet on whether the White House will make the tariffs official, or even if they would be legal. But the prospect of higher priced […]
Nucor’s Sheet Mill Group and Canada’s Algoma Steel have matched last week’s price increases by U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal USA. Nucor informed customers on Monday that is has increased based prices on new orders of hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel by a minimum of $30 per ton ($1.50/cwt). LIkewise, Algoma notified its flat […]
Nucor’s Plate Mill Group informed customers on Monday that it is raising prices on carbon and alloy plate and on heat-treated plate by a minimum of $40 per ton. The increase is effective on new orders accepted for January production. Nucor’s move follows on SSAB’s announcement on Friday that it was increasing transaction prices for […]
In what will be seen as supportive of higher domestic steel prices, ferrous scrap prices are expected to jump by $30 per ton or more in December on tight supplies and improving demand in the U.S., following on a similar increase in November. “Going into December and year end , the U.S. scrap market has […]
Ferrous scrap prices settled up $30-40/GT in December for most regions and most grades, on top of the $15-20/GT increase in November, lending further support to rising finished steel prices. Not only did prices find support from seasonally tighter scrap supply, but mill demand was stable or higher month over month for most regions, said […]
Stelco’s strategy to get into the merchant pig iron (MPI) market is getting high marks from the experts. As one of the Canadian steelmaker’s strategic growth initiatives, it plans to construct a new pig iron making facility at its Lake Erie Works to coincide with a blast furnace reline scheduled for Q2 2020. Stelco claims […]
Raw steel output by U.S. mills dipped again in the week ending Nov. 23, but stayed above the 80 percent mark. Production totaled 1,861,000 net tons at a capability utilization rate of 80.4 percent, down 0.8 percent from the previous week and down 2.2 percent compared with the same week last year, reported the American Iron […]
Editor’s note: The following commentary in support of the Trump administration steel tariffs was contributed by Barry Zekelman, chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, the largest steel pipe and tube manufacturer in North America. We often hear that the Trump administration’s steel tariffs are hurting the U.S. economy. News commentators certainly think so. They talk […]
U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal USA raised flat rolled by an additional $30 per ton ($1.50/cwt) on Friday as the mills seek to maintain the upward momentum on steel prices. Other mills are likely to follow suit. The latest announcements follow on two earlier increases of $40 per ton in late October and early November. U.S. […]
U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal USA raised flat rolled by an additional $30 per ton ($1.50/cwt) on Friday as the mills seek to maintain the upward momentum on steel prices. Other mills are likely to follow suit. The latest announcements follow on two earlier increases of $40 per ton in late October and early November. U.S. […]
Steel buyers’ sentiment has been trending up for the last six weeks along with steel prices, which is a positive development. But like the prices, sentiment has yet to really take off and prove it has sustained strength, according to Steel Market Update’s latest Steel Buyer’s Sentiment Index. The goal of the index is to […]
Steel buyers are clearly split on whether demand is sufficient to support the recent mill price increases or whether the market can expect another dead cat bounce. Following are results from this week’s Steel Market Update market trends questionnaire.(Note that the following responses were gathered prior to the mill price increase announcements on Friday.) Dead […]
Pricing from the mills is considerably tighter than it was a month ago, when virtually every deal was open to negotiation. Yet Steel Market Update data indicates the flat rolled mills are still surprisingly flexible when it comes to spot prices even as they work to collect two $40 price increases announced in the past […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel have lengthened by roughly a week following the mills’ price increase announcements over the past month. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level. Thus, this data indicates the mills have gotten busier as buyers step up to place […]
The Association of Steel Distributors has named Bill Hickey, chairman of Lapham-Hickey Steel Corp. in Chicago, as its 2019 Steel Executive of the Year. Hickey served as president of the family-owned service center for 40 years, growing the company to 10 locations and 700 employees before stepping back from day-to-day management. Son Brian now serves […]
CRU has underlined its commitment to ensuring “The CRU,” its U.S. Midwest HRC price, remains the most reliable and trusted reference in the industry by initiating a second audit of its data providers. The audit will be conducted by third-party audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC). It has been in planning for some time as a […]
The mills may have announced two increases in flat rolled steel prices in the past month, but you couldn’t tell from comments by members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. The distributors of galvanized steel to the HVAC sector report little impact on prices so far, though demand remains healthy despite some […]
Raw steel output by U.S. mills increased slightly in the week ending Nov. 16, taking the average mill utilization up to 81.1 percent from 80.5 percent the week before. Production totaled 1,876,000 net tons last week, up 0.8 percent from the previous week but down 1.4 percent compared with the same week last year, reported the […]
Chicago-based UPG Enterprises LLC (formerly Union Partners LLC) plans two big changes to the footprint of its Contractors Steel division, which it acquired in May 2018. UPG announced that it is consolidating Contractors Steel’s Livonia, Mich., service center into its Van Buren, Mich., facility to help streamline production and eliminate duplicate inventory. Equipment from the […]
It’s not too soon to save the date for next year’s SMU Steel Summit 2020, set for Aug. 24-26 in Atlanta. Just click the image below for details. We are delighted to announce details of the 10th SMU Steel Summit, which will again be held in Atlanta in 2020. Widely regarded as the premier steel […]
As of mid-November, steel prices appear to be moving upward following price increases announced by the major flat rolled and plate mills. How high and for how long is the subject of much debate and speculation. The market is clearly split between those in a buying mode in anticipation of sustained higher prices and those […]
This early look at U.S. steel imports in November, projecting Commerce Department license data out through the end of the month, suggests that imports are trending down considerably. Most of the difference is in imports of semifinished steel, on track to total less than 500,000 tons this month. This drop-off was to be expected following […]
ArcelorMittal reported a third-quarter net loss of $539 million—its second quarterly loss in a row as the global steel and mining company faced lower shipments and weak steel prices in markets all over the world. “As anticipated, we continued to face tough market conditions in the third quarter, characterized by low steel prices coupled with […]