Flat rolled steel prices, and the momentum associated with steel price movement, have been stuck for quite some time as you can see by our SMU Price Momentum at the top of the table below. As a result, our benchmark hot rolled price average is $3 per ton higher than what we reported at the […]
Benchmark hot rolled slip a little this past week according to Steel Market Update and CRU, while Platts kept their hot rolled number the same (they haven’t moved in over a month). SteelBenchmarker reported prices and their hot rolled number was up $4 per ton. When all of that was said and done the average […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), iron ore and financial futures markets was written by Andre Marshall, CEO of Crunch Risk LLC and our Managing Price Risk I & II instructor. Here is how Andre saw trading over the past week: Financial Markets: Well we did indeed put in […]
Flat rolled steel prices saw little movement this past week in benchmark hot rolled but, we did see some cracks in the “shadow” effect as the spreads between CRU and the other indexes started to widen. These small gyrations in the numbers in any one week may be due to what is being collected and […]
On Friday, Steel Market Update (SMU) adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Higher to Neutral. Now why did we go and do that? We have been stuck in a very tight trading range on most flat rolled steels since late April of this year. Benchmark hot rolled, which is used by most in the […]
Stability is perhaps the most frightening for steel buyers and sellers alike. At least there is an expectation of good times (or bad) when prices are moving on a weekly basis in one direction or the other. What we have seen since the middle of May is a slight “jiggle” as prices bounce up and […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), iron ore and financial futures markets was written by Andre Marshall, CEO of Crunch Risk LLC and our Managing Price Risk I & II instructor. Here is how Andre saw trading over the past week: Financial Markets: No Grexit worries are going to […]
Up, down and sideways is how to describe the various flat rolled price indexes this past week. Hot rolled prices averaged $465, down $1 from the week prior. However, the SMU index was up $5 per ton to $470, CRU was down $7 per ton to $461 and Platts remained stationary at $465 per ton […]
Since SMU did not publish on Sunday evening we wanted to get the information regarding flat rolled steel price indices from last week. We saw prices tighten up amongst the various indexes which reported pricing last week (SMU, CRU and Platts). However, as with the week before, price momentum was flat going into the 4th […]
June ended the same way it started with our SMU Price Momentum Indicator pointing toward higher flat rolled steel prices. This is now the second month in a row where our Momentum Indicator has been pointing up. Our Future Steel Buyers Sentiment Index averaged +61.5 for the month of June. However, the last report we […]
Benchmark hot rolled prices remain stuck at $465(ish) according to the four flat rolled steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Platts rose $3 last week and reported $465 per ton HRC as did Steel Market Update, which was unchanged from the prior week. CRU was down $3 per ton to $460 per ton and […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), iron ore and financial futures markets was written by Andre Marshall, CEO of Crunch Risk LLC and our Managing Price Risk I & II instructor. Here is how Andre saw trading over the past week: Financial Markets: On the S&P 500 we are […]
Hot rolled coil prices appear to be stuck in the $462 to $465 range. We have seen very little movement on HRC since the move made after the first price increase announcement back on April 28th. Cold rolled, which SMU saw as being up $10 this past week, went nowhere according to Platts and CRU […]
SMU Sentiment Index Jumps Since our last flat rolled steel market analysis and evaluation of how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful both three to six months from now (Future) as well as in today’s economic environment (Current), we have had a second price increase and a dumping […]
With the price increase announcements and the filing of a trade case against coated products we saw galvanized and Galvalume prices move higher by double digits this past week. Galvanized increased by $15 per ton according to SMU and $16 per ton according to CRU. Galvalume prices moved higher by $10 per ton. When looking […]
An executive with a large service center group penned us some thoughts about the market (prior to the SSAB plate price increase) on Wednesday of this past week. “I was surprised at the June import-rate figures, with the forecast/possibility of 3+ million tons. It doesn’t seem like imports are falling as fast as expected for […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), iron ore and financial futures markets was written by Andre Marshall, CEO of Crunch Risk LLC and our Managing Price Risk I & II instructor. Here is how Andre saw trading over the past week: Financial Markets: We continue to be the best […]
Flat rolled steel prices have stabilized over the past couple of weeks, according to our analysis of the various steel indexes we follow on a regular basis. The expectation is with the increase in scrap prices and the filing of the anti-dumping suit against China, South Korea, India, Taiwan and Italy will bring a new […]
Last month, Alfred (Al) Plummer, Sales Manager for Hanwa American Corporation, made a presentation about the steel industry at a regional meeting of the Association of Steel Distributors (ASD). Over the past few days Mr. Plummer has been communicating with Steel Market Update and we thought that the items being discussed should be of interest […]
Today SMU is not only going to discuss where flat rolled steel prices were this past week based on our analysis of steel pricing from our steel index as well as CRU, Platts and SteelBenchmarker, we are also going to discuss price momentum which our SMU Price Momentum Indicator currently points to higher prices over […]
We ended the month of April with the SMU Price Momentum Indicator at Neutral. As the month of May began, the domestic mills announced price increases and managed to move our needle to Higher. As the month ends, our Momentum Indicator continues to point toward higher domestic flat rolled steel prices over the next 30 […]
We saw mixed results this past week as the various indexes attempt to find firm ground for flat rolled steel pricing. Of the three reporting indexes followed by Steel Market Update last week, one (Steel Market Update) saw two of the four products as being lower than the week before. Although, SMU advised that the […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), iron ore and financial futures markets was written by Andre Marshall, CEO of Crunch Risk LLC and our Managing Price Risk I & II instructor. Here is how Andre saw trading over the past week: Financial Markets Well, the last time we spoke […]
First, a quick note to our readers that follow the Steel Market Update (SMU) indices closely, after speaking with dozens of steel buyers of hot rolled products at the Metal Industry Dinner (Boy Scout Dinner) in Chicago we adjusted the lower end of our range to $440 per ton. This resulted in our HRC average […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), iron ore and financial futures markets was written by Andre Marshall, CEO of Crunch Risk LLC and our Managing Price Risk I & II instructor. Here is how Andre saw trading over the past week: Financial Markets: We are last 2118 on the […]
Flat rolled prices have begun to climb out of the hole which has been almost a year in making. Steel Market Update and Platts both saw benchmark hot rolled prices as being up $10 per ton this past week while CRU had HRC up $1 per ton. The HRC average of the three reporting indexes […]
All of the domestic steel mills located east of the Rockies (except U.S. Steel) made flat rolled price increase announcements this past week. The first steel index to note an upward move in pricing was Platts where by the end of this past week had taken their hot rolled index up $5 per ton from […]
Today is the final day of April and, as is our habit, we will review much of the critical data reviewed or created during the month. SMU Price Momentum Indicator remained at Neutral where it had been for the entire month. SMU has been forecasting a change in the momentum pushing prices from lower to […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), iron ore and financial futures markets was written by Andre Marshall, CEO of Crunch Risk LLC and our Managing Price Risk I & II instructor. Here is how Andre saw trading over the past week: Financial Markets: The S&P has retraced from its […]
The slippage in flat rolled steel prices continued this past week but we are seeing signs that the end to the slide “may” be close. Hot rolled prices dropped $3 (SMU) to $5 (Platts and CRU) per ton with only $1 separating the indexes from one another. We normally see the indexes tightening up the […]