Except for a brief uptick this summer, steel prices have been on the decline since March and breached the $500 per ton level this month—a psychological line in the sand that leaves steel buyers wondering how much further prices can slide. Steel Market Update estimates the average price for hot rolled is now down to […]
Mill capacity utilization by U.S. mills has leveled off in the high 70 percent range. Raw steel production for the week ending Oct. 12 totaled 1,821,000 net tons at a mill utilization rate of 78.7 percent, up 0.9 percent from the previous week but down 3.0 percent compared with the same week last year, reported the […]
By CRU Senior Economist Yizhe Daniel Xie The two-day trade negotiations between the U.S. and China ended last Friday. China promised to purchase $40-50 billion worth of agricultural products from the U.S., liberalize its financial market, and take steps to address U.S. concerns on intellectual property and the RMB exchange rate. In exchange, the U.S. […]
By CRU Analyst Alexander Ordosch Last week, Turkish scrap import prices increased by $8 /t to $233 /t CFR for HMS 80:20, based on one 40 kt deal from the U.S. Following a number of weeks of sizable deal volumes, the market quietened. This increase comes despite sharp falls in the U.S. domestic market again for October buys. The […]
Steel Market Update’s Buyers Sentiment Index declined again this week to its lowest levels since 2013. Both Current and Future Sentiment have been trending steadily downward since April. The Current Sentiment reading of +26 is half the +52 recorded just one month ago and more than 40 points below levels at this time last year. […]
Steel Market Update’s canvass of the market this past week reveals that many buyers are leaning pessimistic about their prospects for the fourth quarter. The majority responding to SMU’s questionnaire expect demand to continue weakening, prices to continue declining and growth to remain flat into the fourth quarter and possibly beyond. Demand SMU asked: At […]
U.S. steel mills shipped 8,472,088 net tons for the month of August, a 4.4 percent increase from the 8,115,103 net tons shipped in the previous month, July 2019, and a 0.4 percent increase from the 8,441,597 net tons shipped in August 2018, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington. Shipments year-to-date totaled 64,810,436 […]
More than nine out of 10 steel buyers responding to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week agree that mills are willing to negotiate spot prices on all types of steel products to secure orders in the current, difficult market environment. In the hot rolled segment, 96 percent of respondents said the mills were […]
Mill lead times for all flat rolled sheet products continued to see slight shortening over the past month. The average lead time for hot rolled is now down to nearly three and a half weeks, cold rolled is less than five and a half weeks and coated steels are less than six and a half […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores The North American sheet market has taken a turn for the worse. At a time when sheet demand and prices have already been stunted by a weaker trend of industrial growth and sheet demand, two recent events are only now starting to affect sheet prices: an on-going strike at […]
Lack of demand for ferrous scrap, especially in the Ohio Valley and Chicago market, forced prices down another $30-40/GT for October, on top of a similar decline in September, sources tell Steel Market Update. Scrap prices are their lowest in years, dropping eight out of the last 10 months. Shred prices today are around $215/GT, […]
Raw steel production by U.S. mills has been stuck in the high 70 percent range for the past seven weeks. The last time the utilization rate was above the desired mark of 80 percent was the week ending Aug. 24. Production for the most recent week ending Oct. 5 totaled 1,804,000 net tons at a […]
Worthington Industries has acquired Heidtman Steel Products’ pickling and slitting facility in Cleveland. As part of the sale, the Cleveland operation under Worthington will continue to service Heidtman customers through a toll processing agreement. “Heidtman’s Cleveland operation is a great addition to our steel business, further expanding our value-added steel processing capacity,” said Worthington Industries […]
By CRU Steel Prices Lead Anh Nghiem China returned to the market on Tuesday from their national holidays, but the market remained stable with mixed signals from the China Futures market, i.e. a 1 percent increase in the iron ore futures market while the steel futures market showed a 2 percent decline on the first […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores and Analyst Ryan Smith U.S. Steel has announced a 49.9 percent stock acquisition with an option to acquire the remaining 51.1 percent within the next four years, in smaller rival U.S. flat products new entrant Big River Steel. In its announcement, U.S. Steel labelled this acquisition, alongside its investment […]
The good news is that the Commerce Department has finally approved Priefert Manufacturing’s request to exclude one of its products from the Section 232 tariff. The bad news is that the company still may never see a refund of the $700,000 it has paid out in unfair duties. Priefert Manufacturing is a service center and […]
By CRU Principal Analyst James Campbell The decline of long product prices accelerated this month as demand in many regions around the world failed to ignite after the seasonally slow July-August period. Prices have now unwound to the level before the 2017-18 boom. Sluggish demand and falling scrap prices have turned sentiment bearish and buying […]
More than 80 percent of the steel buyers polled by Steel Market Update in the last 10 days believe steel prices will test the lows reached earlier this year. SMU’s current average hot rolled price is $525 a ton, just $5 above the $520 low hit in late June. Pointing to sketchy demand, some believe […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores Sheet prices in North America have taken another step down this week losing $15-17 /s.ton w/w. Industrial demand remains limited as evidenced by the most recent ISM Purchasing Manager’s Index, which showed another contraction. Adding to this structurally weak demand environment is the ongoing strike at General Motors. This […]
By CRU Analyst Alexander Ordosch After several weeks of steady Turkish scrap, import prices were stable last week at $225 /t CFR for HMS 80:20. We have assessed seven deals totaling about 274 kt, indicating a second week of strong scrap purchasing activity. Turkish scrap import prices have now reached a level that allows Turkish steel mills to export […]
The news today that U.S. Steel plans to purchase a 49.9 percent interest in Big River Steel, with an option to buy the rest within the next four years, surprised the market. But most of the steel buyers polled by Steel Market Update view the pairing of one of the nation’s oldest integrated producers with […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: A natural question came up this week: What impact will the recent launching of an official impeachment inquiry against President Trump have on trade? We can already see some impacts. USMCA (NAFTA 2.0) continues to have rough sledding […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: As Washington continues to descend into trench warfare over Ukraine, Joe Biden, defense aid and subpoenas, the world continues to turn. It seems likely that soon, impeachment will take up all the oxygen and the ordinary business of government […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: These times can try our patience. This week was such a time. It featured a cornucopia of fast-paced events. They will probably end up affecting us all. I want to focus on two big issues: impeachment and foreign […]
With three quarters of 2019 nearly complete, U.S. steel mills have managed to keep capacity utilization above the industry’s target of 80 percent, producing 3.4 percent more steel than they did in the first three quarters of 2018, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute. Through the week ending Sept. 28, domestic steelmakers produced 72,593,000 net […]
By CRU Analysts Ruilin Wang and Kevin Bai China has released a draft emission control policy document for the 2019-2020 winter heating season (WHS). Although the overall target for air pollution control is tighter than last year, it will not lead to greater steel supply restrictions because: • Clear regional targets to meet ultra-low emission standards […]
Steel Market Update’s Buyers Sentiment Index saw a big change this week—and not for the better—with Current Sentiment dropping by 23 points to a reading of +29 and Future Sentiment dropping by 20 points to a reading of +31. Even though the +29 and +31 readings are within the optimistic range of our index, both […]
Steel buyers report flat or declining demand and expect spot steel prices to test the lows reached earlier this year, according to the findings of Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this past week. The consensus view of the economy is more uncertain. Demand Nearly half of steel buyers responding to SMU’s questionnaire reported declining […]
Editor’s note: The Chinese government currently bars exports of ferrous scrap to other parts of the world to assure China of an adequate domestic supply. As this analysis by CRU Principal Analyst Chris Asgill points out, China’s economy will eventually generate a scrap supply that far exceeds its scrap consumption, opening up the doors to […]
It has clearly become a buyer’s market as the vast majority of service centers and OEMs polled by Steel Market Update now report the mills actively negotiating spot prices as necessary to win orders of all types of steel products. In the hot rolled segment, 92 percent of respondents to SMU’s market trends questionnaire earlier […]