We’ve concluded the second day of our Steel Summit conference in Atlanta, and I thought I’d leave you with five things I learned today. So here they are in no particular order: Say Hello to ADI, Say Goodbye to Section 232 (as we know it) It’s not official yet. But Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) president […]
Keynote speaker Paul Lowrey presented at the SMU Steel Summit Conference today, explaining his market thoughts through data on US steel market capacity, steel mill consolidation, and the scrap market. As president of Steel Research Associates (SRA) with a career spanning 30 years, Lowrey opened his segment explaining, “I’ve been labeled by some as a […]
Here’s the Steel Summit program for Wednesday, Aug. 24, at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta: 7:30 a.m. – Doors open at GICC. All-day beverages sponsored by Felux and pastries sponsored by Ratner Steel 8:30-8:45 a.m. – Opening Remarks by SMU President and CEO John Packard and Senior Editor Michael Cowden 8:30-9:30 a.m. – […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.’s chairman, president and CEO Lourenco Goncalves joined Steel Market Update senior editor Michael Cowden in the first fireside chat of this year’s SMU Steel Summit conference Monday afternoon in Atlanta. The Cliffs executive educated and entertained conference attendees with the unreserved honesty and candidness he has become well-known for in his long-term career […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this new Premium content—an index comparing lead time and demand data—with Executive members. For information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Apparent demand for flat-rolled steel in the US was sideways in our mid-August reading. The lack of change in the index highlights the current state of […]
End use market demand is mixed as mid-year shipment data is reported The recession, inflation, and interest rates remain hot topics for aluminum producers and consumers. As new economic data is announced, both bright spots and points of concern emerge. First, this month’s report on inflation showed a drop month-on-month (MoM) and may signal that […]
North American auto assemblies declined by 17.3% in July after expanding repeatedly in the prior two months. Though the market remains supply constrained due to ongoing parts and supply shortages, production in July was largely impacted by scheduled downtime for summer breaks and model-year changeovers. July’s results were ahead of the same year-ago period. Disruptions […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. US light vehicle (LV) sales were largely unchanged in July, coming in at 1.13 million units, unadjusted. But last month’s total was an 11.6% decline year-on-year (YoY), the US Bureau of Economic Analysis […]
Flat Rolled = 54.7 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 63.8 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat rolled inventories declined slightly in July as service centers worked to align inventories with slowing demand. At the end of July, service centers carried 54.7 shipping days of supply, down from 55 shipping days […]
North Star BlueScope is “substantially complete” with a $700 million expansion that will provide the Delta, Ohio, EAF sheet mill with additional annual capacity of nearly 950,000 short tons (850,000 metric tonnes). The mill produced the first coil from its expansion in June and has begun the 18-month process of ramping up the facility to […]
Underlying price function stops sliding and may have found basis for strengthening The London Metal Exchange (LME) may have found a floor to stop the slide it has experienced since April. Topping out near $3,400 metric tons earlier this year, the price of aluminum drifted lower steadily in the second quarter and into the third […]
SMU contributor Bryan Tice is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. He and the firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients. They also provide process and analytical support. Before joining Metal Edge Partners, Bryan held commercial leadership roles involving purchasing, sales, and risk management […]
United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai addressed the 2022 United Steelworkers (USW) Constitutional Convention on Wednesday, Aug. 10. The USW Constitutional Convention is a meeting of delegates from local unions, representing steelworkers from around North America and allowing them to discuss and vote on a variety of topics. Upwards of 5,000 delegates were in attendance, according […]
The US economy added 528,000 new jobs in July despite downbeat expectations, nearly doubling earlier estimates, according to data from the US Department of Labor. Hiring last month was far better than expected, defying multiple other signs that the economic recovery is losing steam. The unemployment rate declined to 3.5%, now back to its pre-pandemic […]
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) recently conducted hearings on the future of the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum as well as on the Section 301 tariffs on imports from China. Congress mandated the ITC investigation in response to calls for the tariffs to be reduced or eliminated to fight inflation. Unlike the […]
Service center chain Olympic Steel posted record quarterly sales and the second-most-profitable quarter in the company’s history during the second quarter. Both net income and sales were 27% higher year-on-year at $37.6 million and $709 million, respectively. “The continued strength of our three business segments in the second quarter drove another record-breaking performance for Olympic […]
We’ve got a full issue tonight, so I’ll keep my final thoughts brief. If you’re looking for reasons to be bearish, there are still plenty out there. When it comes to sheet prices, nearly all respondents to our survey report that mills are willing to negotiate lower. When it comes to geopolitics, the war in […]
Ternium executives provided an update on the company’s new Pesquería hot strip mill and plans for a greenfield electric-arc furnace in North America on the company’s second quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday, August 3. Weak demand and falling prices are impacting the company, but it remains positive on its plans moving forward. Updates on […]
While the rest of us are melting from the heat of the sun, Nucor announced it will build a new melt shop at its bar mill in Kingman, Ariz. The $100 million investment will create approximately 140 new full-time jobs and have the capacity to produce around 600,000 tons a year. Construction is expected to […]
As it reported strong second quarter results, Ternium said it expects falling steel prices and high raw materials costs to negatively impact the third quarter. The current “significant” declines in steel prices are due to the normalization of the global steel market after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of this year. They are also the […]
Steel prices continued to fall in each week of July, following declines in May and June. Hot rolled prices were $955 per ton ($49.75 per cwt) the first week of July, slipping between $35 and $45 per ton each week to reach $840 per ton as of last Tuesday. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator for […]
ArcelorMittal SA has agreed to buy Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderúrgica do Pecém (CSP) from Brazilian iron ore miner Vale SA and shareholders. The deal is worth $2.2 billion and is expected to be completed late this year. CSP is a joint venture between Vale, which holds a 50% stake in the company, and South Korean steelmakers […]
US Steel is trying to keep a stiff upper lip despite lower flat-rolled steel selling prices, continued supply chain problems, and an uneven economic outlook. “Let’s face it. There’s a lot of uncertainty. Some people say more uncertainty than ever before,” company president and CEO David Burritt said. “I’m not so sure that’s true. But […]
US Steel recorded modestly lower profits in the second quarter of 2022 compared to the same quarter last year. But the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker remains optimistic about its long-term prospects thanks to the diverse end markets it serves. “We are bullish on US Steel’s future and confident in our ability to execute,” company president and CEO […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. “delivered an exceptional second quarter with record-setting financial performance and outstanding operational execution,” CEO Jim Hoffman said in the service center’s second quarter results release. Reliance reported record second quarter net income of $572.8 million on sales of $4.68 billion. The company’s top results were driven by “ongoing healthy demand” […]
The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index collapsed last week to the lowest reading we have had since the early days of the pandemic. Current Sentiment, which is how companies feel about their ability to be successful in the current market environment, came in at +43 compared to the +60 recorded just two weeks ago. The […]
We have seen a flurry of activity as we begin the countdown to the start of the 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center on August 22-24. I want to commend Jill Waldman and our events team for the work they have done to date, and for […]
Backward physical integration comes to the aluminum rolling industry SDI’s decision to “jump the fence” and enter the aluminum rolling sector was, in and of itself, blockbuster news. However, the repercussions on the aluminum scrap market may be even more profound. CRU has argued for some time that the big aluminum rolling mills would eventually […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. plans to have the No. 5 blast furnace at its Cleveland Works back up and running at full capacity in August, company executives said on a second quarter earnings conference call on Friday, July 22. Along with a furnace reline, the company took advantage of the downtime to perform other important repairs and […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. saw strong profit in the second quarter and double free cash flow versus the prior quarter while predicting that even better days were ahead thanks to fixed-price contracts resetting at higher numbers. That projection comes largely because automakers, which typically buy steel on contract terms, are seeing backlogs grow because of supply chain […]