Negotiations between steelmakers and steel buyers continue to tighten. Responses to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week indicate the mills are slightly less flexible on price for most products as they work to collect four increases announced since late October totaling $150 per ton. In the hot rolled segment, the majority of buyers […]
Flat rolled steel and plate prices remained range-bound this week. The latest price moves by the domestic steel mills (+$40/ton on flat rolled) did not have time to move the needle and take prices higher. As we enter the Christmas and Hanukkah Holidays, we anticipate minimal spot trades over the next couple of weeks. SMU […]
After declining for much of 2019, steel prices have moved up substantially in the last two months. Will the trend continue into 2020? Flat rolled steel producers raised prices three times during October and November for a total of $110 per ton. (Editor’s note: ArcelorMittal USA announced an additional $40 flat rolled increase on Friday. […]
In October, demand for sheet products declined by more than the seasonal norm. Demand for long products is softening as construction expenditures decline. This analysis by Steel Market Update is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import-export data from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC). The […]
This Steel Market Update report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products and 16 subcategories. Since January, there has only been one month when the import market share of total sheet products exceeded 15 percent. The import share of HRC has been below 10 percent since January. The most striking result […]
Flat rolled steel prices increased by $15 per ton or more in the past week, depending on the product, while plate prices rose by $10 per ton, as the mills continued trying to collect their recent price increases. Price momentum is pointing to likely higher prices in the weeks to come as the mills try […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel may be starting to level out after lengthening week after week since early November. The latest data shows slightly longer lead times for cold rolled and galvanized products, but slightly shorter lead times for hot rolled, Galvalume and plate. Lead times for steel delivery are […]
As flat rolled steel prices rise, it comes as no surprise that negotiations between mills and steel buyers continue to tighten. Responses to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week indicate that mills are less flexible on price as they work to collect three increases announced since late October totaling $110 per ton. In […]
November’s licensed import volume of total rolled steel products was the lowest since February 2010. Year over year, total rolled product imports in November were down by 27.4 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This follows the 17.7 percent decrease in October and 15.5 percent decline in September on the same basis. This […]
Benchmark hot rolled coil rose this week as we saw the lower end of the range move much higher compared to what we collected last week. We found most data points on HRC between $540-$570. We continue to see high base price spreads between hot rolled and cold rolled/coated steels. Cold rolled, with its $175 […]
Steel prices had upward momentum in November following multiple price increase announcements by the mills on flat rolled and plate products. Steel Buyers Sentiment moved upward along with the prices as service centers and OEMs anticipated a strengthening market. After bottoming in mid-October at around $480 per ton, the benchmark price for hot rolled steel […]
This morning President Trump tweeted that due to the decline in the Brazilian and Argentinian currencies, he intends to place 25 percent tariffs on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum from both countries. His tweet has created a great deal of confusion in the U.S. steel markets. Steel Market Update is attempting to […]
This morning President Trump tweeted that due to currency manipulation by Brazil and Argentina, he intends to place 25 percent tariffs on steel from both countries, and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum. His tweet has created a great deal of confusion in the U.S. steel markets. Steel Market Update is attempting to help calm […]
Last week U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal USA announced a third round of price increases. This week Nucor and Algoma followed suit. Not every mill has followed their lead, however. As a result, there are still some holes out there. Where, why and from whom are the questions of the day, which we can’t answer at […]
The following article is written by John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update On Sunday, SMU published in my Final Thoughts the following: “There has also been discussion about U.S. Steel in the marketplace as to whether the mill has decided to concentrate on auto, appliance, energy and electrical markets and perhaps move away […]
Pricing from the mills is considerably tighter than it was a month ago, when virtually every deal was open to negotiation. Yet Steel Market Update data indicates the flat rolled mills are still surprisingly flexible when it comes to spot prices even as they work to collect two $40 price increases announced in the past […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel have lengthened by roughly a week following the mills’ price increase announcements over the past month. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level. Thus, this data indicates the mills have gotten busier as buyers step up to place […]
Benchmark hot rolled coil average pricing is up again this week as both the lower and upper ends of our range have increased compared to one week ago. We are still seeing some lower pricing which gives us pause, and we continue to seek more information on where prices are heading. The SMU Price Momentum […]
As of mid-November, steel prices appear to be moving upward following price increases announced by the major flat rolled and plate mills. How high and for how long is the subject of much debate and speculation. The market is clearly split between those in a buying mode in anticipation of sustained higher prices and those […]
Demand for steel sheet products declined by more than the seasonal norm in September. This analysis by Steel Market Update is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import/export data from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC). The analysis summarizes total steel supply by product from 2003 […]
The price hikes by the mills on flat rolled and plate are beginning to take hold, as the average price of hot rolled is up $30 per ton, galvanized is up $5 and plate is up $15, according to Steel Market Update’s latest canvass of the market Here is how we see prices this week: […]
As flat rolled steel prices move higher, we need to remember that prior to the price increases there was an abnormally large spread between hot rolled based prices and those of cold rolled and coated. Instead of being $100-$140 per ton, they had been running as high as $180-$200 per ton. The spread was created […]
Not surprisingly following the mills’ $40 price increase announcements Oct. 24-25, negotiations between steelmakers and steel buyers have tightened somewhat. What is surprising is that roughly two out of three buyers still report mills actively negotiating spot prices on hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized, as well as plate. In the hot rolled segment, 62 […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled showed early signs of lengthening in the first week of November following the $40 per ton price increase announcements Oct. 24-25. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level. Thus, this data suggests the mills are getting busier as buyers […]
Flat rolled prices are beginning to shift gear and are slowly rising after the recent $40 per ton price increase announcements by the domestic steel mills. SMU continues to see a wide variety of pricing in our survey this week, but our channel checks are providing details of prices firming (although some mills appear to […]
I have noticed many articles in the mainline press over the past few days slamming the Trump administration’s Section 232 tariffs as not helping the steel industry. Most of the articles point to the recent loss announced by U.S. Steel as proof, along with minimal to no job gains in the industry. I don’t think […]
The market is just starting to react to the $40 price increase announced by the flat rolled mills late last week, making it a little tricky to settle on the price ranges in this issue of Steel Market Update. Generally speaking, it appears flat rolled prices are leaning upward, though SMU’s Steel Price Momentum Indictor […]
Steel Market Update’s negotiations data showed just a hint of tightening in price talks between the mills and their customers this past week, perhaps in anticipation of the $40 price increase on flat rolled steel announced by the mills on Thursday and Friday. The data, gathered by SMU prior to the price increase announcements, shows […]
Mill lead times for flat rolled products continued to shorten slightly over the past few weeks. The average lead time for hot rolled is now down to three and a half weeks, cold rolled is less than five and a half weeks and coated steels are just six weeks. Plate lead times remain around four […]
Over the past couple of weeks, Steel Market Update has been suggesting flat rolled steel prices were at a bottom and the domestic steel mills would soon announce price increases. Today, ArcelorMittal USA began advising customers of their intention to raise prices by $40 per ton. By the end of the workday, NLMK USA had […]