By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group Nucor and Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) chose to acquire major metal recycling companies just before the Global Financial Crisis. SDI purchased Omnisource for slightly more than $1 billion in November 2007. Nucor followed suit with its $1.4 billion takeover of The David J. Joseph Co. in March 2008. The […]
Nucor has closed its $400 million deal for a majority stake in California Steel Industries (CSI). “We are excited to officially welcome our CSI teammates to the broader Nucor family,” said Rex Query, Nucor’s Executive Vice President of Sheet and Tubular Products. “This joint venture gives us a strong presence in the Western region and grows our ability to produce […]
The U.S. labor market performed surprisingly well in January, adding 467,000 new jobs in the New Year, well ahead of the expected 150,000. The payroll boost was met by a marginally higher unemployment rate at 4.0%, up from 3.9% in December. The latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that U.S. payrolls […]
NLMK USA posted the best results on record in its fourth-quarter earnings, driven by historically high steel prices despite normalizing demand. The U.S. subsidiary of NLMK Group – Russia’s largest steelmaker – reported earnings of $373 million in Q4, up 5% sequentially and more than tripling the results seen during fourth-quarter 2020. Though U.S. sales […]
Majestic Steel USA CEO Todd Leebow will be the featured speaker on Steel Market Update’s next Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT). We’ll discuss the big issues facing service centers in the face of unprecedented price volatility and technical change. Topics will include: How are service centers […]
Majestic Steel USA CEO Todd Leebow will be the featured speaker on Steel Market Update’s next Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT). We’ll discuss the big issues facing service centers in the face of unprecedented price volatility and technical change. Topics will include: How are service centers […]
Majestic Steel USA Inc. has hired Sean Madigan as Vice President of Sales, Manufacturing. Madigan joins Majestic from Nucor, where he served as the Sales and Marketing Manager for Nucor Steel Arkansas. Madigan’s experience with Nucor was integral to the startup of the company’s new coating line, and he will continue to be a critical part of the […]
U.S. construction spending edged up in December, though monthly outlays were down in nearly a dozen nonresidential subcategories. Construction spending rose 0.2% above the upward revised November figure and 9.0% above the same year-ago period, the Commerce Department reported. The Census Bureau’s report on construction shows spending on private construction projects rose 0.7% in December. […]
Steel prices continue to fall very, very quickly. Where they’ll bottom and when remains unclear. I wrote in an in-print magazine article last month that I hesitated to put pen to paper for fear that any prices I wrote would be out of date by the time the article was on the page. My fear now […]
Algoma Steel Group Inc. has awarded GE Gas Power (GE) the contract to upgrade its natural gas combined cycle power plant to support the power requirements of the steelmaker’s new electric arc furnace (EAF). The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based steelmaker said the upgrade, which includes the installation of two gas turbine packages, is expected to […]
The Ports of Indiana handled more than 11.2 million tons of cargo in 2021, resulting in a 33.6% increase from 2020. Steel and steelmaking materials made up a big chunk of the increase. Major cargo increases last year for the Ports of Indiana overall included a rebound in coal (213%), salt (141%), steel (40%), grain (39%), minerals (23%), oils […]
Nucor Corp. today announced plans to invest $290 million to upgrade its Crawfordsville, Ind., steel sheet mill. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker will expand the mill’s product capabilities by adding a 300,000 tons per year (tpy) construction-grade continuous galvanizing line and a 250,000 tpy prepaint line, the company said. The project, which company executives alluded to during […]
January marked the fifth consecutive month of declining steel prices, following a year-long streak of continuous price increases. Hot rolled prices declined $200 per ton throughout the month, with the SMU index averaging $1,335 per ton ($66.75 per cwt) as of Tuesday, Jan. 25. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator for sheet products remains at Lower since its mid-October adjustment. January […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor, Jan. 26 Steel sheet prices in the U.S. sank by about 9% w/w as they continued to fall towards the global average. CRU’s weekly HR coil assessment in the U.S. was $126 /s.ton lower than the prior week, and high inventory levels relative to […]
I don’t want to lead prices down, but I don’t think it’s any secret at this point that sheet prices are falling fast. “The prophecies have been borne out,” is how one mill executive put it. What does that look like in practical terms? Some mills are offering hot-rolled coil at about $1,200 per ton […]
Nucor Corp. crushed annual profit records in 2021 and posted yet another quarterly profit record in the fourth quarter. The trend continues a 2021 pattern among domestic steelmakers of each quarter setting a record compared to that set in the prior quarter. All told, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker posted an annual profit of $6.83 billion […]
Calling 2021 “the safest and most profitable year in the company’s history,” Nucor executives sounded “a consistent drumbeat on demand” in their outlook for 2022 during their fourth-quarter conference call with analysts and investors today. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker posted record earnings of $6.83 billion in 2021 on sales of $36.5 billion. Sixteen of its […]
Nucor Corp. crushed annual profit records in 2021 and posted yet another quarterly profit record in the fourth quarter. The trend continues a 2021 pattern among domestic steelmakers of each quarter setting a record compared to that set in the prior quarter. All told, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker posted an annual profit of $6.83 billion […]
Construction employment in December remained below pre-pandemic levels in more than half of U.S. states as firms struggle to find enough workers to hire, reports the Associated General Contractors of America in its latest analysis of government data. AGC hopes that this week’s decision by the Biden administration to withdraw its emergency vaccine mandate will ease […]
The ongoing correction in steel prices is not a reflection of demand, which is strong now and is expected to remain so for the balance of 2022, Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) executives said. Hot-rolled coil prices are roughly in line with published price ranges of $1,300-1,400 per ton ($65-70 per cwt), although a limited number […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) posted record fourth-quarter earnings to finish a year of unprecedented profitability for domestic steel mills. And the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker predicted that it would benefit from increased steel consumption in 2022 compared to 2021 levels. The company did not directly address a steep drop in prices that occurred in the […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group One of the hot topics resonating through commodity market forecasts is the risk to demand from a faltering Chinese real estate market. The well-publicized financial difficulties of Evergrande have raised fears that the property markets could destabilize. Other developers such as Kaisa and Sinic Holdings have also struggled to […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), scrap and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Hot Rolled For obvious reasons 2021 was a very active year for HR futures – the runaway rise in prices helped bring […]
Demand for design services from architecture firms in the U.S. improved for the 11th straight month in December, according to the latest report from the American Institute of Architects. AIA’s Architecture Billings Index rose from 51.0 in November to 52.0 in December. The ABI expanded each month in 2021 except for January. The index for […]
Distributors who sell galvanized steel products to the construction and HVAC sectors are counting on demand remaining healthy this year to get them through a difficult period of inventory adjustments amid sharply declining steel prices. “One positive, demand is still pretty strong. We’re coming off heights we’ve never seen before,” said one member of the […]
Builder confidence slipped in January, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). Growing inflation concerns and ongoing supply-chain disruptions snapped a four-month rise in home builder sentiment even as consumer demand remains robust. January’s HMI reading moved one point lower to a reading of 83. “Higher material costs and […]
Monthly Key Market Indicators continued their shift to a neutral position throughout December, according to the latest analysis by Steel Market Update. Positive indicators held for the first time in seven months, while negative indicators eased. Ongoing economic dynamics such as an underperforming job market, supply-chain bottlenecks, rising inflation and producer prices, as well as a […]
The Dodge Momentum Index declined 3% in December to a reading of 166.4, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. Though the year ended on a down note, 2021 was a good one for construction with the index rising by 23%, its strongest annual gain in 15 years. Both components of the construction index also declined from November […]
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. Producer prices expanded by 0.2% in December, seasonally adjusted, maintaining their upward climb since reaching the most recent bottom 21 months ago, reports the U.S. Labor Department. The unyielding trend continues to highlight […]
Producer prices grew by 1.0% in January, seasonally adjusted, maintaining a 22-month growth run since reaching the most recent bottom in April 2020, reports the U.S. Labor Department. Wholesale prices jumped by twice the expected level in January as inflation pressures were unabated to start the year. The Labor Department said that its Producer Price […]