Twice per month Steel Market Update canvasses the flat rolled and plate steel markets as we look to identify key market metrics. One of those is whether the steel mills are working with their steel buying customers and are they willing to negotiate steel pricing for orders placed this week for delivery based on existing […]
GFG Alliance’s purchase of Keystone Consolidated Industries this week was the latest move by British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta to become a leading producer of both long and flat steel products in the United States. GFG Alliance has been buying up steel, aluminum and energy assets around the world. On Monday, its Liberty Steel USA division […]
By the CRU Group Economics Team The meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Trump on Dec. 1 turned out to be better than expected. According to the White House press release and Chinese official reports, tariffs will not rise from their current levels over the next 90 days. Both sides agreed to enter immediate […]
Beaver Steel Services, Inc., Carnegie, Pa., has joined the North American Steel Alliance as its 124th service center member. NASA is a member-owned purchasing cooperative serving the metals distribution industry. Beaver Steel provides flat-rolled carbon steel to manufacturers, fabricators and job shops within a 300-mile radius of Pittsburgh. With a focus on value-added processing, the […]
Cleveland-based Majestic Steel USA, Inc., has acquired Titan Metal Service, Inc., a Tampa, Fla., service center and processor. The acquisition expands Majestic’s business in the coated flat-rolled market and extends its reach in the Southeast, particularly the growing Florida market, the company said. “We are happy to welcome Titan Metal Service to the Majestic Steel USA […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: On a very busy weekend, two major developments (potentially): USMCA Signed in Buenos Aires The new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) was signed by the leaders of all three countries on Friday. The agreement modernizes NAFTA in some areas and […]
Andy Gross is placing a big bet on his company and on a new community—a wager he is confident will pay off. The president of Alliance Steel is making a $19 million investment to move his service center operation some 40 miles east from Chicago’s south side to Gary, Ind. He hopes to be operational […]
Both Steel Market Update and the CRU Group forecast lower steel prices next year. With a new North America free trade agreement soon to be signed, the U.S. is likely to lift or modify the Section 232 tariffs on Canada and Mexico, opening the borders to more imports and adding to the downward pressure on […]
Editor’s note: The following global perspective was contributed by the CRU Group’s international team of steel analysts. Steel sheet prices are trending downward in most parts of the world. North America Sheet prices in the U.S. Midwest market continued to decline with HR and CR coil prices falling the most. Declines have come alongside weak […]
Pacesetter and Nippon Steel & Sumikin Bussan Americas are joining forces to build a new, world-class steel service center in Houston. The strategic partnership will strengthen NSBA’s and Pacesetter’s position in key growth markets in the Southwestern U.S. and Mexico. The partnership is a strong strategic fit, said the companies, leveraging their respective strengths. NSBA […]
After rising in October and November, ferrous scrap prices are expected to move sideways in December with the possibility of a small $10 per ton increase for some grades. But weakness overseas complicates predictions longer term, say Steel Market Update sources. “December is generally a month when scrap prices rise,” said CRU North America Steel […]
Few of the steel buyers canvassed by Steel Market Update this week expect flat roll prices to rise significantly in the first quarter. Most anticipate prices stabilizing or continuing to trend downward, especially if the Trump administration lifts the Section 232 tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. The promise of increased supplies from the […]
In response to widespread concerns about the pace, transparency and fairness of the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariff exclusion process, a bipartisan group of senators has requested that the Government Accountability Office conduct an independent review of the Commerce Department’s performance. In a Nov. 26 letter to the GAO, U.S. Senators Doug Jones (D-Ala.), […]
Lead times for most flat rolled steel products are at or near their shortest of the year. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level—the shorter the lead time, the less busy the mill. The less busy the mill, the more likely they are to negotiate on price. Responses […]
Steel mills remain open to price negotiations on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated products, but not plate, report buyers canvassed by Steel Market Update this past week. Steel Market Update tracks how buyers and sellers of flat rolled and plate steel characterize price negotiations with the mills. The steelmakers’ greater willingness to compromise on […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: On Nov. 21, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body conducted its regular monthly meeting. The DSB is composed of all WTO members and oversees cases brought under the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding. That is one of the 23 WTO […]
Two out of three respondents to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week said they remain concerned about the possible negative impacts of trade tariffs on their business and that of their customers. The Section 232 tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum remain a serious obstacle to the new North American free trade […]
Nucor has selected Austria’s Andritz Group to supply the new hot dip galvanizing line at its Hickman, Ark., mill. The new line, announced by Nucor in May, will have an annual capacity of approximately 455,000 metric tons and is designed to produce high-strength steel grades, mainly for the automotive industry. Start-up is scheduled for the […]
Nucor’s $650 million investment to expand the production capability of its Ghent, Ky., mill will transform the former Gallatin Steel plant into an ultra-modern “quality strip production” plant or QSP, claims Danieli, the Italian company that will design and install the new mill equipment. The project will nearly double the annual production capability of Nucor […]
By the CRU Zinc Analysis Team After reaching a 3-month high above $2,700/t on Oct. 24, zinc’s price shed $200/t in a matter of days as a tech stock rout caused shares to plunge in Asia and the USA, compounded by concerns over the outlook for global trade and economic growth. The tide briefly turned […]
Editor’s note: Following is an edited excerpt from the 2019 Gulf Coast Energy Outlook published by Louisiana State University’s Center for Energy Studies and the E. J. Ourso College of Business. The past two decades have seen a dramatic change in the energy landscape along the Gulf Coast with the “revolution” created by unconventional gas […]
Norfolk Iron & Metal Co., a full-line steel service center, and O’Neal Industries Inc. (ONI), the largest family-owned group of metals service centers in the United States, have entered into a definitive agreement in which Norfolk Iron will acquire O’Neal Flat Rolled Metals, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ONI. The companies expect to close the […]
By Lisa Morrison, CRU Principal Economist As of Nov. 15, with votes still to be counted in some districts, the Democrats had won 230 seats, and Republicans 199 seats, in the House of Representatives, where 218 of 435 seats constitutes a majority. Democrats that were elected by flipping a Republican seat are a more varied […]
The North American Steel Alliance, the service center industry’s top buying co-op, has recruited two new members: Texas Iron & Metal and Beaver Steel Services, bringing NASA’s total membership to 124 companies. Texas Iron & Metal in Houston is a family owned company that offers a selection of steel and pipe products to the agriculture, […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Iron ore prices have lifted since last week, primarily due to concerns over BHP suspending operations on its Pilbara network. [Editor’s note: BHP suspended rail operations in Western Australia after it was forced to deliberately derail a runaway ore train on Nov. 5.] This caused iron ore prices to […]
Industrial Metal Supply Co., a full-line metals distributor in the Southwest, has named David Pace as its new president, effective immediately. Pace will have responsibility for the Sun Valley, Calif., company’s strategic direction and growth initiatives and will report directly to owner Neil Sherman. Pace is a 23-year veteran of Industrial Metal Supply and since […]
Steady demand in the HVAC sector is offsetting concerns about declining steel prices, leaving members of the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International hopeful about their prospects in 2019, reported HARDI members during the trade group’s monthly conference call on Tuesday. The distributors of galvanized steel products have seen prices slide by about $5/cwt since […]
The Keystone XL pipeline, which was given the go-ahead by an executive order from President Trump, has been blocked once again by a federal judge in Montana, who ruled that the administration had not considered all the potential impacts of the project as required by law. The decision could further stall the controversial pipeline, which […]
Economic activity expanded across the United States with the majority of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts reporting modest to moderate growth in the September-October period, according to the Fed’s Beige Book released late last month. However, several Districts indicated that firms faced rising materials and shipping costs, uncertainties over the trade environment and difficulties finding […]
Nearly nine out of 10 of the steel buyers responding to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire earlier this week believe the domestic mills will be unsuccessful in their attempts to collect the $40 price increased they announced this time last month. Since those announcements, flat rolled steel prices are little changed, if not down […]