The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) predicts sales of 16.7 million new cars and light trucks in 2018. “We expect 2018 to be a robust year,” said NADA Chairman Mark Scarpelli, a multi-franchise dealer near Chicago. NADA’s sales forecast, while down from 2017, is indicative of a stable and healthy market for new vehicles this […]
Both the steel and aluminum sectors have made major strides in supplying automakers with new, strong-but-light materials to take weight out of vehicles and boost their miles per gallon while lowering harmful tailpipe emissions. But to meet the current federal requirements for 2025, which call for a fleetwide average of over 50 mpg, the auto […]
United Steel Supply, Austin, Texas, has acquired Paramount Coils, Inc., and Alpine Building Materials, LLC. The acquisition of the two companies gives United Steel Supply coast-to-coast coverage and distribution in the United States. The two brands will assume the United Steel Supply name. Paramount Coils has locations in both Springdale, Ark., and Kingsbury, Ind., while […]
Premium subscribers to Steel Market Update receive reports on imports with macro data broken down by product on the national level. SMU also provides reports that detail the import tonnage received by district of entry and source nation. This new report from SMU takes the analysis even further. Using U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) data, […]
The tug-of-war between steel and aluminum for a greater share of the lucrative automotive materials market will be on full display beginning this week at the North American International Auto Show. The Detroit auto extravaganza will run from Jan. 13-28, showcasing the latest and greatest in automotive design as carmakers strive to wow consumers and […]
A handful of carbon steel plate mills have followed Nucor’s lead and announced price increases of $50 per ton today, effective immediately on all new or unconfirmed orders. All extras will remain unchanged. Evraz North America increased transactional prices on all carbon, HSLA, Hot Rolled Coil, Normalized, and all Quenched & Tempered products including Armor […]
A handful of carbon steel plate mills have followed Nucor’s lead and announced price increases of $50 per ton today, effective immediately on all new or unconfirmed orders. All extras will remain unchanged. Evraz North America increased transactional prices on all carbon, HSLA, Hot Rolled Coil, Normalized, and all Quenched & Tempered products including Armor […]
Anticipation is building over the Commerce Department’s Section 232 report, which is finally due to the White House in the next few days. Will its recommendations to the president on trade action to protect the national security prove to be a bombshell or a bust? Proponents of new tariffs or quotas on steel imports have […]
U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Jan. 6 totaled 1,649,000 net tons, a 5.0 percent decrease from the same period last year, but up 0.7 percent from the prior week. The mill capability utilization rate for the week averaged 70.7 percent, up from 70.2 percent the prior week but down from 74.5 percent […]
Nucor’s Sheet Mill Group has informed customers of a change in the index used to calculate scrap and raw material surcharges. It could affect steel pricing beginning with the January 2018 index settlement price, which determines the February 2018 Nucor surcharge for some customers. See the letter below:
The Nucor Plate Group has increased transaction prices on all new orders for carbon, alloy and heat-treated plate by $50 per ton, effective immediately on any new or unconfirmed orders. Nucor’s Jan. 5 price hike follows on a $50 per ton increase announced Dec. 6 and a $40 per ton increase announced Nov. 15 on […]
Did your business exceed its goals for 2017? If so, you are among the top one-third (32 percent) of companies responding to Steel Market Update’s latest flat roll market trends questionnaire. Last year was clearly a good one for most steel suppliers and buyers as another 46 percent reported meeting their business expectations despite the […]
Following on the $40 per ton price hikes by most domestic mills earlier this week, ArcelorMittal USA announced the following minimum prices on its carbon steel sheet products today: hot rolled, $720/ton; cold rolled, $900/ton; and hot-dipped galvanized, $900/ton. The new prices are effective immediately on all new and unconfirmed orders with ArcelorMittal USA and […]
Nucor led the charge of the East Coast flat rolled steel mills in an effort to keep prices moving higher. On Wednesday, Nucor, followed by U.S. Steel, put out announcements advising customers of their intention to raise spot flat rolled prices by $40 per ton. Soon after, NLMK USA and AK Steel followed Nucor’s lead […]
Current and future sentiment among flat rolled steel buyers remains high as the New Year begins, much the same as at this time last year, according to the Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index. The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index measures changes in buyers’ optimism levels, which offers insight into their likely decision-making. Three […]
Six months ago, Steel Market Update began collecting inventory data from a select group of flat rolled and plate steel service centers. Over time, the number of participating distributors has grown and we have been able to expedite the gathering of information from most (not all) of the service centers involved. Our initial goal is […]
Mill lead times on flat rolled steel extended a bit last month, but defied expectations and returned to prior levels despite mill price hikes in December and January, according to the latest data from Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire. Lead time for hot roll remains slightly over four weeks, for cold roll slightly over […]
Despite price increases by the major mills in December, followed by additional increases this week, the majority of buyers of flat rolled steel report mixed results in their negotiations with mill representatives. About 53 percent of respondents to the latest Steel Market Update market trends questionnaire report that some mills are firm and some still […]
Editor’s note: Following is a letter to the editor by Richard Chriss, president of the American Institute for International Steel, responding to comments by Thomas Graham, a long-time steel executive and now consultant with T.C. Graham Associates, published by American Metal Market. In his Nov. 29 AMM commentary on Chinese President Xi’s role in China’s […]
AK Steel and NLMK USA raised spot market base prices on all carbon flat-rolled steel prices by $40 per ton today, matching similar $40 hikes on hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel products yesterday by Nucor and U.S. Steel. All four companies said the increase is effective immediately on new orders and will not […]
Strengthening its position as a supplier of high-value-added metals to the aerospace sector, Toronto-based Samuel, Son & Co. has acquired Metal Spinners Holdings. Metal Spinners will operate as a separate group within Samuel’s manufacturing division. The group will include Missouri Metals of St. Louis, Mo., and Metal Spinners’ production facilities in Angola, Ind., Rock Falls, […]
Starting the New Year with a new price, California Steel Industries (CSI) and USS-POSCO Industries (UPI) announced $30 per ton price increases today, Jan. 2. In a letter to customers, CSI stated it is increasing transaction prices on hot rolled, hot rolled pickled and oiled, cold rolled and galvanized flat roll by $30 per ton, […]
Olympic Steel’s commitment to ethical behavior is as much about how employees should treat each other as it is about how the company should conduct business with the outside world, says company Chairman and CEO Michael Siegal. Employees communicate periodically with customers and vendors, but they interact with each other every day, so what happens […]
U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Dec. 30 totaled 1,637,000 net tons, a 1.9 percent increase from the same period last year, but down 4.7 percent from the prior week. The mill capability utilization rate for the week averaged 70.2 percent, down from 73.7 percent the prior week but up from 67.8 percent […]
Current and future sentiment among flat rolled steel buyers improved further in December, according to the Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index, mirroring the pattern at this time last year that heralded a strong first quarter. The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index measures changes in buyers’ optimism levels, which offers insight into their likely […]
With demand fairly strong and prices rising, two out of three respondents to this week’s Steel Market Update market trends questionnaire feel there is no longer any need for President Trump to act on Section 232 ahead of the mid-January deadline. Earlier this year, the Trump administration instructed the Commerce Department to investigate whether low-priced […]
In addition to the tax overhaul passed by the Republicans this week, President Trump has promised a trillion-dollar infrastructure overhaul. Given the possible $1.5 trillion cost of the tax cuts, will the public have the stomach for another big bill to fix the nation’s aging roads and bridges? Respondents to Steel Market Update’s market trends […]
Mill lead times have inched up slightly in the past two weeks following price hikes announced by the major mills earlier this month, according to the latest data from Steel Market Update’s flat roll market questionnaire. One of the key indicators tracked by SMU, lead times reflect the activity at the mills and the order […]
Buyers of flat rolled steel report that more mills are holding the line on pricing following the price increases announced earlier this month. Mill order books are firm and there’s no negotiating for a better price, according to 28 percent of respondents to SMU’s latest steel market questionnaire. About 22 percent say they still find […]
More than nine out of 10 respondents to Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire see steel prices heading higher in the first quarter. Seven percent say they see no clear direction for prices. Virtually no one expects prices to decline in the wake of price hike announcements by the major mills earlier this month. […]