Tag: demand

What are steel buyers saying this week about prices, demand, the import market, the evolving tariff situation, and more?

SMU’s Buyers’ Sentiment Indices both declined this week but remain strong. This indicates buyers are still optimistic about their companies' ability for success.

Buyers responding to our latest market survey reported longer lead times this week on all of the sheet and plate products SMU tracks.

On 4 March, new 25% blanket tariffs across all products exported to the USA from Canada and Mexico are now in effect. The only exception is Canadian energy products, which will be assessed a 10% tariff.

The Manufacturing PMI registered 50.3% in February. That’s 0.6 percentage points lower compared to the 50.9% recorded in January.

The company said 79 workers will be impacted.

US plate prices have moved up at a sharp clip over the past three weeks. The gains come on the heels of a unified mill pricing blitz, bolstered by the threat of looming tariffs and the expectation of sharply higher scrap prices. Prices hit their lowest level in more than four years in late January, […]

It won't be so easy to restart idled aluminum production in the US, AMU says.

Reliance noted that it is about 95% domestically sourced.

Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.

SMU’s inaugural ferrous scrap market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the pricing and analysis tab and look under the “survey results” section for “latest survey results.” Past flat-rolled survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, or […]

The number of active drill rigs operating in the US and Canada increased this week, according to Baker Hughes

Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.

The majority of steel buyers we canvassed this week continue to report that mills are willing to negotiate prices on new spot orders, though not as much as they were in early-January.  

Sheet and plate prices remained in a holding pattern this week as the market awaited more specifics on potential Trump administration tariffs.

Recent Federal Reserve data indicates that the US manufacturing sector remains healthy and stable. The strength of the manufacturing economy has a direct relationship to the health of the steel industry.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.

And just like that, we’re wrapping up the last SMU newsletter of 2024. We’re closing out our 19th year and looking with wide-eyed anticipation to what 2025 will bring.

The number of oil and gas rigs operating in the US remained unchanged this week for the second consecutive week, while Canadian activity declined, according to the latest data released from Baker Hughes.

This CRU Insight discusses a few key topics our clients have been asking about as 2024 comes to a close and 2025 begins. This piece introduces these topics briefly now before we discuss them in more detail in a webinar in January 2025. In previous years, we have published a year-end Insight on our ‘Top […]

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.

As my colleague Ethan Bernard noted in our most recent Final Thoughts, I don’t think many of us thought uncertainty would be mounting four weeks out from 2025. If anything, the general theme post-Steel Summit and into Q4 was that election night would be the turning point. And whatever had been keeping the steel market from building would finally get the jump-start it needed.

US plate prices are at their lowest level in nearly four years and mills continue to do what they can to limit the bleeding. Domestic prices are now just a fraction of their all-time high of $1,940 per short ton (st) reached in May 2022, and trending lower.

Steel Market Update’s Steel Demand Index recovered by nearly 10 points last week, though it still remains in contraction territory.

US rig activity has remained in multi-year low territory since June. Drilling in Canada has edged lower across the last few weeks but remains historically strong.

With climbing imports and falling consumption, the Latin American steel industry has had a challenging 2024, according to an Alacero report.

So far, nearly $570 billion in funding has been announced for over 66,000 projects and awards.

Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events. Rather than summarizing the comments we collected, we are sharing some of them in each buyer’s own words.

Another presidential election cycle has come to an end. If you’re anything like me, part of you is just happy you no longer need to unsubscribe or “text STOP to opt-out” from the onslaught of political text messages this cycle produced.  

US counts have hovered in this territory since June, just above multi-year lows. Canadian counts have trended lower since early October but remain historically high.