Steel Market Update spent an extraordinary amount of time on today’s price ranges and averages. There has been a lot written recently about demand supporting prices and the lack of supply supporting prices. However, the deeper we dug the more questions we began to ask about what is real and what is a little murky. […]
Steel Market Update participated in the monthly galvanized steel conference call sponsored by HARDI. Once per month, HARDI (Heating, Air-conditioning, Refrigeration, Distributors International) conducts a call amongst the HVAC wholesalers and supporting companies about the status of the hot dipped galvanized sheet and coil markets. The very first thing which needs to be mentioned is […]
According to industry sources, SSAB Americas announced a price increase on plate products as well as hot rolled coil. The price increase was referenced at $30 per ton ($1.50/cwt) and are effective immediately. Nucor and ArcelorMittal advised their customers after the SSAB announcement was made supporting the $30 per ton move. SMU learned from multiple […]
“No-one should doubt that steel remains the material of choice for the automotive industry,” asserted ArcelorMittal Chairman and CEO Lakshmi Mittal at the annual Steel Success Strategies conference in New York. “I want to stress that steel can provide all the weight reduction that auto producers require to satisfy the new fuel efficiency standards; for […]
ArcelorMittal has agreed to pay a $90 million settlement in an antitrust lawsuit brought in the US District Court of the Northern District of Illinois. The class action lawsuit, filed in 2008 by Standard Iron Works on behalf of direct purchasers of steel products, alleged that eight U.S. steel producers violated federal antitrust laws by […]
Trying to keep up with steel prices and production is proving to be quite an exercise. As we were preparing to publish we were chasing a story about AK Steel having issues with their Ashland blast furnace. At the same time we are gathering data from large buyers that is taking the lower end of […]
According to SMU sources, last week ArcelorMittal USA raised the minimum selling price on secondary grades of steel to approximately $500-$520 per ton ($25.00/cwt-$26.00/cwt). This has caused some concern within the industry with one fabricator who has been involved with secondary steel for the past 15 years reporting to Steel Market Update, “…I have been […]
SMU Price Momentum Indicator Adjusted to Lower from Neutral: Steel Market Update conducted our early June flat rolled steel market analysis this past week. The results of our survey, coupled with information being gathered independently of our survey have prompted SMU to revise our SMU Price Momentum Indicator to Lower from Neutral. We now believe […]
Steel Market Update sources confirmed that the two Severstal North America (NA) steel mills are for sale. At 7.0 million tons of steelmaking capacity, Severstal NA is the fourth largest flat rolled steel producing mill in the United States. Rumors of the possible sale of the Dearborn and Columbus facilities had been circulating around the […]
Late this afternoon an ArcelorMittal USA customer advised us that AM had opened their August order book. They received a note from the mill which included the following comments: Current demand for light flat rolled products has extended our lead times at all of our Northern producing locations. July order acceptance is now closed for […]
I was asked a number of times today – in a couple of different ways – why Steel Market Update has not adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral where it has been for about one month to Lower. The reality is we have been watching spot flat rolled pricing quite closely to see at […]
For those of you who are paying attention to our website you might have noticed we added a new sub-menu under the Resources tab. The new menu is called “The Truth About Selling Steel” and we have attempted to split out those articles associated with sales from our Steel Buyers Basics series of articles many […]
Ferrous scrap price negotiations are beginning with at least one deal getting done in Detroit within the past few days at down $22 per gross ton. However, as one scrap dealer explained to us earlier today, scrap prices are all over the board. There are steel mills who are bringing furnaces back online and others […]
As quickly as repaired blast furnaces come back online at US Steel and ArcelorMittal we are seeing them taking down more steelmaking equipment. SMU received word that ArcelorMittal Cleveland Works restarted the C-5 blast furnace early Monday morning, May 26. The C-5 blast furnace has been down for a couple of weeks resulting in the […]
There has been a debate which goes back to the 1930’s regarding what “Buy American” means when it comes to steel products. The issue is whether those mills who do not make steel, such as NLMK USA (in their Pennsylvania plant) and California Steel Industries as well as the former ThyssenKrupp plant in Calvert, Alabama […]
It has been a very busy last 24 hours for Steel Market Update as we try to stay on top of all of the important news items, pricing, conduct our mid-May flat rolled market analysis and work on completing arrangements for our September Steel Conference. We learned that US Steel Gary Works has all of […]
Steel Market Update attended SMDI’s “Great Designs in Steel” conference on May 14. This was the 12th year of the popular GDIS conference, and it was well attended with over 1200 auto steel players. The focus of the conference was on auto light weighting through the use of advanced high strength steels (AHSS). There were […]
On Monday we will begin our next flat rolled steel market analysis. We will be sending out approximately 600 invitations to participate in our survey. If you receive an invitation please click on the link contained in the message and spend a few minutes responding to our inquiries. The ArcelorMittal Cleveland C-5 blast furnace is […]
SMU sources advised us on Wednesday that the steelmaking operations at U.S. Steel Great Lakes (Ecorse) in Michigan had begun. This afternoon, US Steel confirmed that the start-up process was underway with no further elaboration or comment. We anticipate that the mill will begin making prime steel within a few days to a week. Our […]
We have been getting mixed messages regarding the Ecorse or USS Great Lakes steelmaking operations. Our sources have been advising us that there have been plans to bring the furnaces and #2 BOP back up over this past weekend (did not happen) and then again today (still not up). Other sources close to the situation […]
U.S. and Canadian steel mills continue to keep a firm grip on pricing as supply (production) related problems keep lead times extended on most products. We are seeing the impact of foreign galvanized and Galvalume imports influencing at least one coated steel mill in the South. Domestic buyers appear to be accepting the higher prices […]
The C-5 blast furnace at ArcelorMittal Cleveland suffered a breakout at the taphole on Thursday, May 8. A spokesperson at ArcelorMittal says there were no injuries as a result of the incident and the furnace should be fully operational by the week of May 19. In the meantime, the mill will coordinate with other ArcelorMittal […]
ThyssenKrupp posted a positive net income for the first time in seven quarters. After aggressively shedding businesses and employees during the fiscal year, including the sale of the Alabama Calvert plant, ThyssenKrupp appears to have achieved a turnaround. The company hopes to break even for the 2013/2014 fiscal year and expects sales for the year […]
ArcelorMittal losses narrowed in the first quarter of 2014. The company posted a net loss of $200 million in the first quarter compared to $345 million in Q1 2013. First quarter EBITDA was $1.75 billion, an increase of 23 percent from Q1 2013. Sales of $19.8 billion were below Q4 and almost par with Q1 […]
The key highlight of first quarter was the Calvert acquisition, said ArcelorMittal CEO Lakshmi Mittal in the company’s first quarter earnings call. ArcelorMittal’s 50 percent ownership of AM/NS Calvert gives AM the capacity needed to supply AHSS solutions for the auto industry in the US and Mexico. ArcelorMittal has been focusing on light weight steels […]
Steel Market Update sources confirmed that the two Severstal North America (NA) steel mills are for sale. At 7.0 million tons of steelmaking capacity, Severstal NA is the fourth largest flat rolled steel producing mill in the United States. Rumors of the possible sale of the Dearborn and Columbus facilities had been circulating around the […]
In case you missed the special issue we put out on Saturday we have reproduced the article below: Steel Market Update sources confirmed that the two Severstal North America (NA) steel mills are for sale. At 7.0 million tons of steelmaking capacity, Severstal NA is the fourth largest flat rolled steel producing mill in the […]
ArcelorMittal’s Canadian iron ore project may begin production as early as third quarter 2014. Last week the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development gave final approval for Baffinland Iron Mines, a 50/50 venture between ArcelorMittal and Nunavut Iron Ore, to commence operations. The mine is located in the Qikiqtani region of Nunavit, over 300 […]
Iron ore smuggling has become a concern of the Mexican government with the diversification of the Knights Templar drug cartel into mining operations in the western state of Michoacán. Mexican authorities have seized nearly 200,000 tons of illegally mined and shipped iron ore headed for China so far this year. Last week a ship was […]
You can expect to begin to read a lot of articles calling for prices “peaking” or about the subject of where do prices go from here. The expectation is that prices will move lower and everyone will have an opinion or theory as to why this will happen. Others will make the case for sideways […]