John Packard of Steel Market Update and Josh Spoores, Principal Analyst and Editor of the Steel Sheet Monitor for CRU, are hosting a webinar tomorrow. Spoores will discuss the CRU steel forecast for 2020-2021, if mill reductions are enough to adjust to forecast demand and, if time permits, maybe a few comments on the HRC […]
By CRU Analyst Iris Speelmanns, from CRU’s Steel Monitor As the Covid-19 pandemic spreads across the world, its effects on the steel industry are growing. In this weekly report, we will be closely monitoring developments in the steel industry with a focus on disrupted hot metal production and capacity utilization and these will feed into […]
By CRU Senior Cost Analyst Ross Cunningham, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Covid-19 has spread across the world at alarming rates. As of March 28, the pandemic has reached 177 countries and shows little sign of letting up. When fighting a global health and economic crisis unlike anything ever seen before, there will be no winners—only […]
What is accurate today will not be tomorrow. Just last week I was writing about the cancellation rumors at the domestic mills as perhaps being a bit overblown. As we collected pricing data for tonight’s flat rolled and plate index, we also asked our data providers to comment on whether they were pushing out and/or […]
On Wednesday, April 8, SMU will host our first SMU Community Chat webinar. The webinar will be hosted by SMU President & CEO John Packard and will feature Josh Spoores, CRU Principal Analyst and Editor of the CRU Steel Sheet Monitor. Packard and Spoores will chat for about 30 minutes on CRU’s just released steel […]
Steel buyers surveyed by Steel Market Update this week report that demand is plunging and they expect steel prices to continue declining right along with it for at least the next 30 days. The majority believe that efforts by the mills to cut production and match supply with demand will not be enough to establish […]
CRU is forecasting that North American steel sheet prices will find a bottom sometime this summer, but will remain volatile while supply and demand gradually rebalance as the coronavirus crisis subsides. CRU projects steel consumption will decline by 22 percent this year as a result of virus-related shutdowns in automotive and other key manufacturing industries. […]
The global impact of Covid-19 has been profound. Lockdowns of countries and regions are now the norm. Uncertainty about the ultimate economic cost of this health crisis has fuelled financial market volatility and prompted unprecedented government support. CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen joins Doug Hilderhoff, principal analyst for aluminium, and Josh Spoores, principal analyst for […]
There is going to be a rush of bad news flooding televised and online media. Here at Steel Market Update, we and our parent company The CRU Group will do everything we can to keep readers advised with the most accurate and timely information possible. This is one of the reasons we are beginning our […]
The latest SMU comparison of foreign and domestic hot rolled prices shows that U.S prices continue to remain advantageous over foreign imports, according to SMU and CRU indices released earlier this week. The price gap between domestic HRC compared to German and Italian products has widened to over $100 per ton since our previous price […]
By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson, from the CRU Steel Monitor As expected, sheet prices in the U.S. Midwest market have fallen. Prices today, reflective of transactions booked last week, fell by $13-26 /s.ton w/w. For all sheet prices, we continue to hear of lower priced offers and expect that transaction prices will continue to […]
Zooming – sounds like a new drug, doesn’t it? We will be hosting another SMU Community Chat Webinar on Wednesday, April 22, at 11:00 a.m. ET (and I promise to hit the “start” button on time this week). Speaking with me will be Bernard Swiecki of the Center for Automotive Research (CAR). We will discuss […]
By CRU Credit Research Analyst Eduardo Tinti, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor Last week iron ore prices increased, supported by news of mining bans in Canada and South Africa before being pulled down due to the worsening global demand outlook after the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic led governments around the world to adopt […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen, from CRU’s Global Economic Outlook Overview March 2020 The global impact of Covid-19 has been profound. Lockdowns of countries and regions are now the norm. Uncertainty about the “end game” has fueled financial market volatility and prompted unprecedented government support. CRU is now forecasting a global recession in 2020; […]
By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson, from CRU’s Steel Monitor In the U.S. Midwest market, sheet prices were split this week. The price of HR coil fell $21 /s.ton to $561 /s.ton while CR and HDG coil prices fell by only $1-$3 /s.ton to $770 and $747 /s.ton, respectively. The spread between HDG coil and […]
By CRU Research Manager Paul Butterworth, from CRU’s Steel Monitor CRU has massively downgraded forecast GDP growth in China to 1-2 percent for 2020 and we now expect the USA and Eurozone to fall into recession. Global GDP growth is now expected to be 1 percent for the year, an effective global recession. While economic […]
In the past week, iron ore saw its biggest drop of the year as prices fell by nearly $10 /t. The main reason for the fall was an escalation of Covid-19 cases outside of China, which caused concerns of iron ore demand in key steelmaking regions such as Europe and northeast Asia. At the same […]
Raw materials prices are poised for a rapid decline as the dollar strengthens and the global economy slumps. Table 1 summarizes the price changes through March 18 of the five materials considered in this analysis. It reports the month/month, 3 months/3 months and 12 months/12 months changes on a percentage basis. This is likely our […]
By CRU/SMU Staffer Jill Waldman It’s true what they say—your kids will be grown in a blink of an eye. That’s why I am not totally unraveled by having my two teenagers at home full time while schools are closed for a global pandemic. I realize it’s just more time I get to spend with […]
By CRU/SMU Staffer Jill Waldman It’s true what they say—your kids will be grown in a blink of an eye. That’s why I am not totally unraveled by having my two teenagers at home full time while schools are closed for a global pandemic. I realize it’s just more time I get to spend with […]
There is no way to plan for this… The stock market was up 2,100+ points today. I don’t know anyone personally who has contracted the COVID-19 virus. My kids are safe, albeit without incomes for the time being. Gas prices are below $2.00 and headed lower. The weather in Florida is perfect, and technically I […]
There is no way to plan for this… The stock market was up 2,100+ points today. I don’t know anyone personally who has contracted the COVID-19 virus. My kids are safe, albeit without incomes for the time being. Gas prices are below $2.00 and headed lower. The weather in Florida is perfect, and technically I […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Matt Watkins, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service Covid-19 is now the major driver of developments in the global steel industry, as indeed it is in the wider economy. Over the past month the virus has spread rapidly outside China and its growth remains uncontrolled. Europe has become a new epicenter […]
Our latest look at foreign versus domestic hot rolled prices shows that U.S prices continue to remain advantageous over foreign imports, according to SMU and CRU price indices released earlier this week. The price gap between domestic HRC compared to German and Italian products has widened since our previous price updates, while the East/Southeast Asian […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary, from CRU’s Zinc Monitor The LME is preparing to move from trading in the ring to electronic settlement pricing as the UK ramps up Covid-19 restrictions on all but essential activities and LME prices continue to take a hammering. While Chinese demand is gradually recovering from the Q1 shock of […]
Since our inception, Steel Market Update employees have not worked in a formal office environment. Right now, our entire staff produces research, articles, edits and publishes our newsletters from home. We plan our workshops and conferences, interact with one another and the CRU offices in Pittsburgh, London and elsewhere around the world all from the […]
Since our inception, Steel Market Update employees have not worked in a formal office environment. Right now, our entire staff produces research, articles, edits and publishes our newsletters from home. We plan our workshops and conferences, interact with one another and the CRU offices in Pittsburgh, London and elsewhere around the world all from the […]
By CRU Research Manager Paul Butterworth, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service Activity in steel end-use sectors in China is recovering as per CRU’s base case, but evidence suggests that demand may start to run ahead of our base case in the near term. Encouraged by government stimulus measures, there is a lot of optimism […]
Steel prices are as unpredictable as the spread of a rogue virus, but one symptom of COVID-19 is likely to be lower steel prices. As of this writing on March 13, the price of flat rolled steel products had yet to see much effect from the global panic over the coronavirus. Steel Market Update’s latest […]
Distributor Kloeckner anticipates its continued drive to sell metals online, along with stable steel prices, will boost operating income this year. Efficiency improvements and cost savings, such as those generated through growing automation of processes through digital applications, will also play their part in raising earnings, the German company said. Kloeckner distributes carbon sheet, long, […]