West Coast steel mills California Steel Industries (CSI) and USS-POSCO Industries (UPI) announced further flat roll price increases yesterday, Jan. 24. Today, ArcelorMittal USA began advising their flat rolled customers of a change in their minimum base price levels on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steels. CSI told customers that due to changing market […]
ArcelorMittal USA is in the process of changing up production at its Cleveland mill. The company plans to transfer the production of cold-rolled annealed steels produced at ArcelorMittal Cleveland to its operations in East Chicago and Burns Harbor, Ind. The product transfer plan is in development with targeted completion by the end of June. While […]
West Coast steel mills California Steel Industries (CSI) and USS-POSCO Industries (UPI) announced further flat roll price increases yesterday, Jan. 24. CSI told customers that due to changing market conditions it is increasing transaction prices by $60 per ton on Hot Rolled and P&O, $40 per ton on Galvanized and $30 per ton on Cold […]
The trucking industry’s leading trade group is calling on policymakers to back a new 20-cent tax on all transportation fuels, including diesel, gasoline and natural gas, to fund repairs to the nation’s deteriorating roads and bridges. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) is seeking support for its Build America Fund, which would be funded by a […]
Edmunds forecasts that 1,121,932 new cars and trucks will be sold in the U.S. in January for an estimated seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 16.7 million. This reflects a 29.8 percent decrease in sales from December 2017 and a 1.4 percent decrease from January 2017. “In January, automakers are expected to pull the reins […]
The pile of unfinished paperwork on President Trump’s desk just got a little taller with Friday’s delivery of the Section 232 report on aluminum. It joins the Section 232 report on steel that hit the president’s desk on Jan. 11, starting the clock on a 90-day deadline for possible trade action. On Jan. 19, the […]
The fire at AK Steel’s Middletown Works has had little effect on the steel market, at least so far, report service center executives polled by Steel Market Update. Firefighters from four departments rushed to the mill on Saturday morning to find that a ladle had malfunctioned, releasing liquid steel into the facility, igniting a large […]
Steel is a core business for the port in Tampa, Fla., which handled steel and scrap imports and exports totaling about 900,000 tons last year. Hundreds of industry executives will also pass through the port as attendees of the 29th annual Tampa Steel Conference to be hosted by Port Tampa Bay and Ports America on […]
U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Jan. 20 totaled 1,693,000 net tons, a 2.5 percent decrease from the same period last year, and down 0.8 percent from the prior week. The mill capability utilization rate for the week averaged 72.6 percent, down from 73.2 percent the prior week, reports the American Iron and […]
Bill Hickey is taking a step back from his day-to-day duties at Lapham-Hickey Steel and handing over the reins to the fourth generation of family management. Hickey retains the title of company chairman as his two sons step up to more senior management positions. “The next generation is taking over operation of the business, and […]
The pile of unfinished paperwork on President Trump’s desk just got a little taller with Friday’s delivery of the Section 232 report on aluminum. It joins the Section 232 report on steel that hit the president’s desk on Jan. 11, starting the clock on a 90-day deadline for possible trade action. On Jan. 19, the […]
Steel is a core business for the port in Tampa, Fla., which handled steel and scrap imports and exports totaling about 900,000 tons last year. Hundreds of industry executives will also pass through the port as attendees of the 29th annual Tampa Steel Conference to be hosted by Port Tampa Bay and Ports America on […]
Most steel buyers agree that prices are on the increase, it’s just a question of how high and how fast. About 92 percent of the respondents to Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire concur that steel prices are heading higher, while the remainder say they see no clear price direction. Following are some of […]
Is demand strong enough to support the latest wave of mill price increases? The majority (53 percent) of respondents to Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire say demand is unchanged, while 6 percent describe it as declining. Only 41 percent consider steel demand to be improving as the new year begins. Following are a […]
Popular economist Alan Beaulieu of ITR Economics will make another appearance as a keynote speaker for Steel Market Update’s premier event, the 2018 Steel Summit Conference, set for Aug. 27-29 at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta. Beaulieu will offer an insightful overview of U.S. economic trends and their implications for the steel industry. […]
The spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) broke through the $60 level on Dec. 29 for the first time since Dec. 18, 2014. It reached $64.22 on Jan. 12 before falling back to $63.82 on Jan. 16. The total number of operating rigs exploring for oil and gas increased by 15 in the week […]
Future automotive trends reinforce the role of steel, says Greg Ludkovsky, vice president of global R&D for ArcelorMittal. In the following commentary, Ludkovsky contends that steel offers the optimal balance of strength, performance and mass reduction with the least impact on the environment compared to aluminum and other materials: While sales of battery electric vehicles […]
Popular economist Alan Beaulieu of ITR Economics will make another appearance as a keynote speaker for Steel Market Update’s premier event, the 2018 Steel Summit Conference, set for Aug. 27-29 at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta. Beaulieu will offer an insightful overview of U.S. economic trends and their implications for those associated with […]
Future automotive trends reinforce the role of steel, says Greg Ludkovsky, vice president of global R&D for ArcelorMittal. In the following commentary, Ludkovsky contends that steel offers the optimal balance of strength, performance and mass reduction with the least impact on the environment compared to aluminum and other materials: While sales of battery electric vehicles […]
China’s steel production has continued to grow year over year, contradicting all the hoopla about production cuts, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Chinese government data. Once each quarter, we publish the official statistics for Chinese GDP, industrial production, consumer price inflation and fixed asset investment. Many analysts don’t believe these self-serving Party […]
Premium subscribers to Steel Market Update receive reports on imports with macro data broken down by product at the national level. SMU also provides reports that detail the import tonnage received by district of entry and source nation, available here on our website. This new report from SMU takes the analysis even further. Using U.S. […]
Current and future sentiment among flat rolled steel buyers has rarely been higher, according to the latest Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index. The index measures changes in buyers’ optimism levels, which offers insight into their likely decision-making. Nearly eight out of 10 respondents to SMU’s flat rolled steel questionnaire say their company’s chances […]
U.S. service centers shipped 38.779 million tons of steel products in 2017, an increase of 3.8 percent compared with full-year 2016, according to the Metals Service Center Institute’s December Metals Activity Report. Shipments of carbon flat roll and plate saw single-digit increases over the prior year, while shipments of pipe and tube products saw a […]
Mill lead times on flat rolled steel have extended in the past two weeks to levels not seen since the spring of 2017, according to the latest data from Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire. The average lead time for hot roll has hit four and a half weeks, while lead times for cold roll, […]
The mills are clearly trying to collect the price increases they announced on flat roll in December and January, but they appear to be experiencing only some success. About 40 percent of steel buyers responding to the latest Steel Market Update market trends questionnaire say they have found their mill suppliers unwilling to negotiate on […]
Steel Warehouse, South Bend, Ind., has acquired Chicago-based Siegal Steel. The company will continue to operate using the Siegal Steel name under the direction of the current management and operating teams. Further details of the transaction were not released. Founded in 1940, Siegal is a niche steel service center providing heavy-gauge high carbon steel, low […]
Demand is good heading into 2018, mill prices are on the upswing and trade cases promise to keep low-priced imports at bay. So why aren’t distributors who sell galvanized steel products to the HVAC market happier? Members of the Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) reported that market conditions remain highly competitive despite price […]
U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Jan. 13 totaled 1,707,000 net tons, a 1.7 percent decrease from the same period last year, but up 3.5 percent from the prior week. The mill capability utilization rate for the week averaged 73.2 percent, up from 70.7 percent the prior week but down from 74.5 percent […]
Jean Carroll Kemp, a Washington trade and public policy veteran, has joined the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) as Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and Trade Policy. “Jean’s experience and character make her uniquely qualified for this role at the SMA. She is a trade policy expert adept at creating solutions to the sensitive and […]
When Ford surprised the market by introducing an aluminum-bodied F-150 in 2014, cutting the pickup’s weight by a dramatic 700 pounds, many assumed its rivals would have to follow suit to keep pace with the fuel economy savings. Instead, they decided to wait and see if the truck would perform as promised and if it […]