US vehicle sales in February were the strongest for that month in 15 years with a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of 17.5 million units, up from 16.4 million in February last year. Figure 1 shows auto and light truck sales since January 2006. Auto sales have been essentially flat for four full years as […]
Worthington Industries reported net sales of $647.1 million for third quarter 2016, ending February 29. Sales were down from second quarter and year over year as a result of lower volume in Pressure Cylinders and Engineered Cabs, combined with lower average selling prices in Steel Processing due to a decline in the market price of […]
As we head into the Good Friday and Easter weekend holiday we want to wish everyone an enjoyable time with family and friends. Steel Market Update will not publish a newsletter on Sunday so our next official publication will be on Tuesday evening of next week. Even so, that should not prevent you for communicating […]
There have been four price announcements on flat rolled steel beginning in early December 2015. The first increase was for $40 per ton followed by a succession of $30 per ton announcements. The total of the four announcements is $130 per ton or, $6.50/cwt. Looking at the galvanized markets, when the first price increase was […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel continue to smile when asked about their company’s ability to be successful both in the current market environment as well as looking out into the future three to six months. The result has taken the SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index higher and we are approaching record levels in […]
Steel Dynamics anticipates stronger earnings results in first quarter 2016 due to higher steel shipments. A significant increase in flat rolled product volume is expected due to better aligned customer inventories and a decrease in import volumes. Lower average realized steel product pricing will more than offset savings from lower ferrous scrap costs, said SDI. […]
US Steel Canada continues to lose money due to low steel prices said Court Monitor Alex Morrison in the 22nd monitor’s report. January steel shipments at the CCAA protected steel mill increased by 9 percent to 150,878 tons. Revenue was *$79.0 million resulting in an average selling price per ton of $524. Selling price was […]
Nucor guidance for first quarter 2016 came in below analyst consensus. Nucor expects first quarter results in the range of $0.20 to $0.25 per diluted share compared to $0.21 in Q1 2015 and adjusted net earnings of $0.45 per diluted share in Q4 2015. Analysts polled by Reuters expected earnings results of $.29 per share. […]
Steel prices continued their three month hike higher as SMU benchmark hot rolled price index (average) for the month was $408 per ton. Even with some minor stumbles noted in hot rolled and cold rolled during the second half of the month, our Price Momentum Indicator is still pointing toward higher prices over the next […]
Automotive sales for February are expected to increase as much as 8 percent year over year for the highest February volume in 15 years. GM estimates the seasonally adjusted annual rate will be 17.7 million units while WardsAuto predicts 17.5 million. Most automakers are posting positive gains for February sales. GM sales slipped 1.5 percent […]
ArcelorMittal USA has closed the aluminizing line at Indiana Harbor West. Workers have been transferred to a galvanizing line that restarted after being idled near the end of 2014. The closing has been in the works for more than a year and was actually expected in December. ArcelorMittal has been in talks with the USW […]
US vehicle sales in January exceeded expectations and came in at 17.6 million units on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis. This was up by 300,000 from December and by 5.4 percent year over year. Light truck sales contributed 10.1 million units and autos 7.4 million. This month we decided to examine the long term […]
“We will follow the market,” is what Mark Bula, Chief Commercial Officer at Big River Steel, told SMU during a phone interview late last week. We asked Bula to outline the progress of the mill and when they anticipate beginning production. We learned that with the strength of the cold rolled markets, Big River Steel […]
Metalforming companies in the U.S. and Canada are expecting slightly improved business conditions in the next three months. Surveyed members of the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) reported average daily shipping levels in February were higher than three months ago and anticipate steady order activity for the next three months. Companies reporting workers on short time […]
Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The index had an all-time high of 107.9108 in December 2014 but on a month over month basis has declined for nine of the last thirteen months. January was a welcome respite with an increase of 0.92 percent, which is huge, and […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum reported net income of $68.8 million for fourth quarter of 2014, down 25.7 percent from fourth quarter 2014 but up 33.5 percent from third quarter. Total sales for Q4 were $2.03 billion down 21.4 percent year over year and down 11.4 percent from third quarter 2015. Total tons sold were down […]
Losses keep mounting at US Steel Canada but cash reserves are keeping the company alive for now. In his 21st report, court Monitor Alex Morrison reported an operating loss of CAD$144 million for US Steel Canada in 2015 compared to a loss of $37.9 million in 2014. Shipments totaled 1.8 million tons, a year-over-year decrease […]
Mill Steel Co., one of the nation’s largest distributors of flat-rolled carbon steel, has acquired certain assets of S&S Steel Services, Inc. (S&S), an Indianapolis/Anderson based supplier of carbon flat-rolled steel service. Terms of the deal, which closed on January 11, 2016, were not disclosed. S&S Steel services manufacturing customers in the Midwest, Mid-South and […]
There seems to be little doubt that there is some strength in the cold rolled and coated products markets. The lead times are extended with ArcelorMittal being into May on galvanized according to one of their automotive service centers. We heard from a couple of the conversion mills who told us their orders books were […]
During their earnings conference call with the financial analysts, ArcelorMittal spoke about excess Chinese steelmaking capacity which needs to be removed from the markets as well as demand outlook which they believe will improve in the United States and Europe during 2016. The following selected comments were taken directly from the ArcelorMittal conference call transcript […]
The year 2015 was a brutal one for the domestic steel mills as well as the distributors who service the end user markets on a spot basis. Many of the service centers who purchase secondary (non-prime or excess) steel have suffered and have had to change the way they conduct business in order to survive. […]
Two fewer selling days and brutal winter weather may have played a part in softer automotive sales in January. GM and FCA sales were up 9 percent and 7 percent, respectively, but Ford sales slipped 3 percent year over year. Toyota and Honda sales were down year over year as were sales for Nissan and […]
Impairment charges contributed to a $62 million net loss for Nucor Corp. in fourth quarter 2015. An impairment charge of $153 million was recorded for the Duferdofin Nucor plant in Italy due to low operating performance. The company also took an $84.1 million non-cash write-down after deciding not to proceed with plans for a blast […]
Total housing starts in December were at an annual rate of 1,149,000 which was down from 1,179,000 in November. Since April total monthly starts annualized have ranged from 1,062,000 to 1,211,000 with the high month being June. In December the three month moving average (3MMA) was 1,133,000 which was down from 1,153,000 in November. August […]
Steel Dynamics’ struggling recycling segment widened the company’s net loss to $253 million in fourth quarter 2015. It was determined that the book value of the metals recycling segment recorded $435 million in non-cash goodwill and other related asset impairment charge. Excluding the metals recycling charges, adjusted net income was $22 million on net sales […]
AK Steel has intentionally been reducing their exposure to the low-priced spot markets and instead they are looking at the higher end value added products going to automotive and other contract customers. AK Steel results exceeded analyst expectations for fourth quarter. The company reported a net loss of $147.1 million for the fourth quarter of […]
In December, vehicle sales in the US eased from the blistering pace of the previous 3 months. Sales fell from 18.2 million in each of the months September, October and November to 17.3 million in December. All numbers quoted here are seasonally adjusted annual rates. For the full year of 2015, sales were 17.3 million […]
The vast majority of the respondents to our latest flat rolled steel market analysis believe that the domestic steel mills will be able to collect “some” of the latest round of price increases which range from $20 to $30 per ton. In our latest assessment of the flat rolled market, we asked whether the domestic […]
AK Steel kept their press release announcing their new flat rolled steel pricing short and sweet: “West Chester, OH, January 13, 2016—AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) said today that it will increase current spot market base prices for all carbon flat-rolled steel products by $30 per ton, effective immediately with new orders.” Here is what their […]
On Tuesday evening ArcelorMittal advised their customers of their intention to raise carbon flat rolled sheet prices. In an email to their customers the mill advised that they would be raising prices on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steels (galvanized and Galvalume). The mill told their customers: “Effective immediately with all new quotations, ArcelorMittal […]