Japan’s number one steelmaker Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp (NSSMC) announced it has begun discussions to buy fourth-ranked rival Nisshin Steel. The target date for the proposed acquisition is March 2017. The global imbalance of steel supply and demand led Nisshan to consider rationalizing its iron and steel making by shutting down operations at […]
Dealers are predicting (positioning?) that ferrous scrap prices will move sideways as we move into the month of February. We have been told Turkey is not buying much scrap as they have scaled back production levels to about 70 percent. The current market is a supply driven market (as opposed to demand from the steel […]
China’s economy, the second largest in the world behind the U.S., grew at 6.9 percent in 2015. That was pretty close to its target of 7 percent for the year but also the slowest rate since 1990. Data released by the Chinese government shows fourth quarter growth at 6.8 percent. As recently as 2007 China’s […]
The following article is normally produced for our Premium level members, but we wanted to share it with our Executive level members as we think it is important and interesting as the world is flooded with excess steel capacity. If you find this article interesting you may be interested in upgrading your membership from Executive […]
On Tuesday, January 19, the Baltic Dry Index hit its lowest point ever, dropping to 363 points. The BDI tracks shipping rates for dry bulk cargos like iron ore, coal and grain and is considered a barometer for global steel trade. To put things in perspective, six months ago, on August 8, 2015, the Index […]
There are zombie factories in China. No, they are not making zombies but the factories themselves are the equivalent of the walking dead–steel mills hanging on by a thread, not making money, reducing workforces, but clinging to life when they are all but dead. The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) is painting a grim […]
According to the latest data released from the US Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute, apparent steel supply for the month of November 2015 was 7,710,331 net tons. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished US steel imports and subtracting total US steel exports. Foreign steel […]
Figure 1 shows historical gas and oil prices since January 2000. The daily spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) closed at $31.42 on January 11th, down from $36.31 on December 14th, according to the latest daily figure available from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). There have been reports in the press that oil broke […]
This report compares domestic mill shipments and total supply to the market. It quantifies market direction by product and enables a side by side comparison showing the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Department of Commerce with analysis by SMU. Table 1 shows both […]
Net imports equals imports minus exports. We regard this as an important look at the overall trade picture and its effect on demand at the mill level. Figure 1 shows that net sheet product imports on a three month moving average (3MMA) basis at 546,093 tons in November continue to be more than double that […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce issued their Preliminary Determination on countervailing duties (CVD) of hot rolled coil from Brazil, Turkey and South Korea. Affirmative results were found against Brazil with CSN and Usiminas both receiving subsidy rates of 7.42 percent. All other Brazilian mills not named also received 7.42 percent subsidy rates. Turkey and South […]
The last couple of days have been hectic as we worked through the articles seen in tonight’s newsletter as well as numerous articles that we are working on various topics. The two headline articles are, of course, the next round of flat rolled price increases. The Nucor $20 hot rolled and $30 cold rolled and […]
In the first eleven months of 2015 bulk scrap exports were 11,762,000 tonnes for an annual rate of 12,831,000 tonnes, down by 17.5 percent from the first eleven months of 2014. The tonnages shown in Figure 1 are based on three month moving averages (3MMA) for 2015 and on the annual monthly average for previous […]
The following article is by contributing writer Damon Sun of Daido International. The Asian markets were anticipating the elimination of China’s export tax rebate, which has not happened yet. Likely, it will not happen. Anticipation of the elimination of China’s export tax rebate would have an impact of 9-13 percent increase in China’s exports of […]
Manufacturing ended the year with general global slowing as production and new orders declined. The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI registered 50.9 in December, down from 51.2 in November. The global PMI average for 2015 failed to surpass the average reading for the prior two years. PMI indices for China, India, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia and […]
A quick note about December import license data reported as of this evening: Vietnam for December has requested 63,932 net tons of import licenses. Of those 42,114 net tons are cold rolled and 11,787 net tons are galvanized.The average for cold rolled and galvanized exports from Vietnam over the past twelve months was less than […]
The flat rolled steel price roller coaster did not do the steel mills or companies holding inventory any favors this past year. We saw hot rolled prices drop from just below $650 per net ton (average) at the beginning of the year to the low point of $360 per ton achieved the week of December […]
The China Iron and Steel Association reported that Chinese steel mills suffered losses of approximately $8.18 billion dollars in the first eleven months of 2015. Revenue fell 19.3 percent year over year for the 101 large and mid-sized steel mills that CISA tracks. With falling steel demand at home, China steel exports surged in the […]
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the third estimate of Q3 2015 Annual Revision of the National Income and Product Accounts on Monday. The annualized growth rate in the 3rd estimate of the 3rd quarter was 1.99 percent, down from 3.91 percent, in the 3rd estimate of Q2. GDP is measured and reported in […]
Figure 1 shows historical gas and oil prices since January 2000. The daily spot price of West Texas Intermediate closed at $36.31 on December 14th, down from $45.91 on October 17th, according to the latest daily figure available from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Brent closed at $36.51 on December 14th. WTI was down from […]
Chinese steel trade data was recently released for the month of November 2015, providing updated data on iron ore imports, scrap imports, and flat rolled imports and exports. Chinese imports of iron ore in November were 82,130,000 metric tons, an increase of 8.8 percent from the previous month and an increase of 21.9 percent from […]
The following article is normally produced for our Premium level members, but we wanted to share it with our Executive level members as we think it is important and interesting as the world is flooded with excess steel capacity. If you find this article interesting you may be interested in upgrading your membership from Executive […]
On July 28, 2015 the U.S. steel mills filed antidumping and countervailing duty trade suits on cold rolled steels against China, Brazil, Russia, India and Korea. Of the countries named, China was by far the largest exporter of cold rolled steel to the United States and the country with the biggest target on its back. […]
According to the latest data released from the US Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute, apparent steel supply for the month of October 2015 was 8,868,427 net tons. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished US steel imports and subtracting total US steel exports. October supply […]
This report compares domestic mill shipments and total supply to the market. It quantifies market direction by product and enables a side by side comparison showing the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Department of Commerce with analysis by SMU. Table 1 shows both […]
In the first ten months of this year bulk scrap exports were 10,889,000 tonnes for an annual rate of 14,519,000 tonnes, down by 15.6 percent from the first ten months of last year. The tonnages shown in Figure 1 are based on three month moving averages (3MMA) for 2015 and on the annual monthly average […]
Chinese exported 101.7 million metric tons, or 112 million short tons, of steel in the first 11 months of 2015, according to customs data reported by Bloomberg. Exports increased by 22 percent year over year, almost as much as the total annual capacity of U.S. steel mills of 120 million tons. As China’s economic slowdown […]
AISI and eight other steel associations met with government officials in Paris on December 1 to present arguments against granting China Market Economy status. The press release from AISI follows: PARIS – The American Iron and Steel Institute, the Steel Manufacturers Association, the Canadian Steel Producers Association, CANACERO (the Mexican steel association), Alacero (the Latin […]
The following letter to the editor was received over the weekend from Peter Brebach, CEO of Iron Angels of Colorado, in response to an article written about the Chinese Iron and Steel Association (CISA) who recently complained about the Chinese mills being pointed at as being responsible for the steel industry woes in the rest […]
Global manufacturing was lackluster in November according to the Global Manufacturing PMI produced by JP Morgan and Markit Economics. The headline index registered 51.2, barely changed from 51.3 in October. Commenting on the survey, David Hensley, Director of Global Economic Coordination at JP Morgan, said: “The global manufacturing PMI survey registered a second consecutive improvement […]