Mill lead times for most flat rolled steel products continue to see a slight shortening, according to the latest Steel Market Update data. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level. The shorter the lead time, the less busy the mills, and the more likely they are to discount […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores U.S. plate prices have fallen to a new cycle low and threaten to move lower. Prices here were assessed at $687 /s.ton, a $16 /s.ton fall w/w. This is now the lowest price recorded since early 2018. Price momentum of the plate market has taken a negative turn for […]
Last week, President Trump revoked the federal waiver that had allowed California to set vehicle emissions standards that are more restrictive than the federal standards. California and 22 other states quickly sued the Trump administration in federal court over the states’ rights to protect their own air quality. The president’s move sets in motion a […]
Steelmakers had a good run, keeping their mills running at 80 percent capacity or better for 30 weeks this year. But the market has shifted and the trend has reversed. Raw steel production by U.S. mills saw another small decline last week, taking the industry’s average capability utilization rate down to 77.7 percent. Mill utilization […]
BY CRU Analyst Alexander Ordosch For the week ending Sept. 20, Turkish scrap import prices fell for the seventh consecutive week to $228 /t CFR for HMS 80:20, down $11 /t w/w. We assessed two deals from the UK totaling 37 kt of scrap. The current price is the lowest in the weekly price assessment on record and the lowest level […]
Scrap prices are heading down and could dip below the $200/GT mark as the gap between scrap supplies and demand continues to widen. With mill operating rates declining under 80 percent and scrap export markets dropping drastically, expect steel prices to follow suit, said scrap consultant John Harris, CEO of Aaristic Services. Scrap is the […]
By CRU Analyst Jordan Permain The mismatch between seaborne coal supply and demand deepened during the week, causing CRU to assess the Premium HCC $17 /t lower w/w at $128 /t, FOB Australia. Demand for seaborne coal in China, India and Europe was weak in the past week. The macroeconomic environment in India continues to […]
Domestic steelmakers managed to reverse the year’s long downtrend in steel prices for a few weeks in July and August, but the turnaround was short-lived. As of mid-September, Steel Market Update’s Price Momentum Indicator is pointing firmly lower for hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steel prices, as well as for steel plate, as the […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: On Friday, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative published three notices in the Federal Register announcing new exclusions from the China-related tariffs imposed beginning in July 2018. As you will recall, there are four published lists of goods […]
By CRU Principal Economist Lisa Morrison The Fed cut interest rates at the conclusion of its meeting on Sept. 18, 2019, lowering the Federal Funds rate by 25bp to a range of 1.75 to 2.00 percent. This reduction in the Fed Funds rate was widely anticipated by markets and follows a 25bp rate cut in […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce has released an enhanced version of its popular interactive Global Steel Trade Monitor. Improvements to the monitor now allow users to create graphs and charts to compare changes in trade patterns between two steel trading countries or two groups of steel products at one time. Having the ability to conduct […]
The strike by 48,000 members of the United Auto Workers against General Motors extended through its fourth day on Thursday with reports of some progress, but much negotiation still to come. Suppliers to the nation’s largest automaker are reportedly starting to feel the effects of cancelled deliveries and lost sales, with some announcing layoffs and […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary August ended on a bearish note as weak economic data from the USA signaled that the U.S. economy had slipped into contraction territory and European manufacturing data confirmed ongoing contraction. These data, coupled with ongoing rmb weakness, heightened concerns over metal demand going forward and helped push zinc’s price to […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments, reported earlier this week to data providers and Premium subscribers, shows flat rolled inventories of 55.8 days of supply, and plate inventories of 52.1 days, as of the end of August. Service center flat rolled inventories remained elevated, while plate saw a reduction […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments, reported earlier this week to data providers and Premium subscribers, shows flat rolled inventories of 55.8 days of supply, and plate inventories of 52.1 days, as of the end of August. Service center flat rolled inventories remained elevated, while plate saw a reduction […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments shows flat rolled inventories of 55.8 days of supply, and plate inventories of 52.1 days, as of the end of August. Service center flat rolled inventories remained elevated, while plate saw a reduction in supply last month to the lowest level seen all […]
Raw steel production by domestic steelmakers declined for the third week in a row, taking the industry’s average capability utilization rate down by another full percentage point to 77.8 percent. The last time the utilization rate was above 80 percent was the week of Aug. 24. Mill production has dipped by nearly 3 percentage points […]
Editor’s note: This story is still developing. Since this reporting, Saudi Arabian officials claim they have already restored 50 percent of their lost production and that they expect oil output to fully recover within weeks. On Tuesday, oil prices corrected back down by about 6 percent on the news that Saudi production would recover more […]
Oil prices spiked by nearly 20 percent Monday on the news that a drone attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities had knocked out more than 5 percent of the global oil supply. Prices corrected back down by about 6 percent today following reports that Saudi production would recover more quickly than originally anticipated. The Wall […]
Steel Market Update’s Steel Buyers Sentiment Index saw a slight uptick this week, but not one big enough to indicate a significant change of direction. Industry sentiment has trended downward for much of the year and has been stuck in a mediocre range for the last few months over concerns about demand and pricing. Buyers’ […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Last week, in the latest news on dispute settlement proceedings in the WTO concerning the Section 232 “national security” tariffs and quotas, the WTO panelists announced that a panel report would not be circulated to the parties to […]
By CRU Analyst Ryan McKinley Domestic scrap prices in the U.S. fell by $30-40 /l.ton in September depending on region and grade—by about $20 /l.ton lower than was generally expected by the market. The steeper-than-expected decline was caused by a confluence of factors including ample supply, mill outages and a weakening export market. Obsolete prices were […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Chris Asgill The pervasiveness of steel market weakness came to the fore this month, particularly for steel long products, leading to a sharp drop in scrap prices in almost every market we assess. Consequently, the CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) dropped by 8.3 percent m/m to 209.4 (see chart), the lowest level since November […]
The pendulum appears to have swung back in buyers’ favor as service centers and OEMs report most mills willing to negotiate to secure spot orders of all types of steel products. In the hot rolled segment, 82 percent of respondents to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week said the mills were open to […]
Mill lead times saw a small uptick following the mill price increases announced in late June and July, but have since reverted back to relatively short levels. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level. The shorter the lead time, the less busy the mills, and the more likely […]
By CRU Analyst Ryan Smith Operating costs for flat-rolled minimill producers have dropped in 2019 as weaker steel markets have pulled down metallics prices. This has meant that operating costs for minimills are now in line with integrated producers in the USA. However, the current cost level is not expected to be maintained. (See related […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan Smith Most people believe that minimills, which remelt scrap in electric arc furnaces, have a big cost advantage over integrated mills, which feed ore and coking coal into giant blast furnaces. But such conventional thinking is an oversimplification of the cost comparison. Based on site costs alone, and where steelmaking […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum continues to dominate the service center market, ranked No. 1 once again in the just-released Metal Center News Service Center Top 50 with $11.5 billion in revenues. In total, North America’s Top 50 metals distributors accounted for a record $61.1 billion of the industry’s sales last year. Sixteen of the companies […]
Marion Britton, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Russel Metals, has announced her plans to retire next year after more than three decades with the Toronto-based metals distributor. Britton will remain with Russel during 2020 to ensure a smooth transition, as the company now begins a search for her replacement. Britton began her […]
Following on a small $20 increase in August, ferrous scrap prices for September are down $30 to $40 per ton as U.S. mills adjusted to lower demand and planned for upcoming fall shutdowns. “Prices fell this month amid a confluence of factors including ample supply, a weakening export market and mill outages,” reported CRU North […]