The dollar has been trading in a range for eight weeks and on April 13 had the same value as it did on Feb. 14. Since its recent peak on Jan. 3, 2017, the dollar has weakened by 8.9 percent and in 2018 is down by 1.0 percent through April 13. Please see the end […]
Mill lead times on flat rolled steel continue to inch out as supplies tighten and the mills scramble to fill orders. One of the key indicators tracked by Steel Market Update, lead times reflect the activity at the mills and the order levels they are seeing from their customers. SMU’s latest data indicates that the […]
With President Trump’s steel tariff set to kick in on Friday, domestic steelmakers remain in a strong pricing position. Buyers responding to this week’s SMU market trends questionnaire reported most mills unwilling to bend much when it comes to steel product prices, except in some cases for large orders. By market segment, 91 percent of […]
As importers rush to get steel into the United States, unloaded and customs released prior to the March 23 tariff deadline (tomorrow), the trend for March is for imports to exceed 3 million net tons. This would be a big month considering the tapering off we saw in January and February. With the deadline for […]
Flat rolled steel prices continue to March higher and are expected to continue to do so for weeks, if not months, due to the Section 232 tariffs on foreign steel and the tightening of supply. Most domestic steel mills are operating on an inquire or controlled order entry basis. Mills like California Steel and NLMK […]
We saw another surge in flat rolled and plate steel prices last week as steel buyers deal with closed order books, allocation and uncertainty. With the Section 232 tariffs set to go into effect on Friday of this week (March 23) buyers are scrambling to make sure they are covered. This has allowed the steel […]
Flat rolled sheet prices, as well as plate prices, surged this week as steel mills moved to allocation or totally withdraw from the market pending further examination of the Section 232 ruling and how it will impact each mill’s ability to produce sheet and plate products. SMU is hearing of offers on hot rolled as […]
Mexico, Canada, Australia … (Europe, Russia, Turkey?) … which will be the next countries to negotiate directly with President Trump, who appears to be less interested in building steel jobs than getting trade concessions (or personal acknowledgement) out of many of our allies. With President Trump, you need to review his Twitter account should you […]
Imports’ shares of the major steel product markets are all on the decline, reveals a new report on imports from Steel Market Update. The report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products and 18 subcategories of these product groups. We think the introduction of this analysis is timely as a way […]
With the final announcement of Section 232 steel tariffs, we saw steel prices spike (again) with double-digit gains on most products followed by Steel Market Update. The prices referenced in the table below are through the week ending March 10, 2018. Hot rolled prices surged with Platts recording their average as $850 per ton by […]
Mill lead times on flat rolled steel orders continue to extend as supplies tighten and buyers scramble to replenish inventories ahead of the next price increase. One of the key indicators tracked by Steel Market Update, lead times reflect the activity at the mills and the order levels they are seeing from their customers. About […]
With foreign steel offers largely on hold as the market awaits President Trump’s final decision on steel tariffs, domestic steel mills are in a strong bargaining position and are taking full advantage of it. Nine out of 10 steel buyers responding to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week say the mills are unwilling […]
Last week, President Trump let it slip of his intention to place a 25 percent tariff on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum coming from foreign sources, including our NAFTA partners. Over the weekend, countries around the world have pledged to respond to any tariffs on steel and aluminum with tariffs of their […]
Flat rolled steel prices surged this past week on all of the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Benchmark hot rolled reached the $800 per ton mark ($40.00/cwt) on Platts with SMU’s HRC index close behind at $790 per ton. SteelBenchmarker, which only produces its index twice per month, was trailing way behind, raising […]
Most service centers are raising spot prices to their end customers following President Trump’s announcement that he plans to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports this week. But some are taking a more wait-and-see approach to spot business. Following are some insightful comments from the marketplace: • “Absolutely we’re raising prices!” • “Inventory […]
The market is moving very quickly now as issues of supply begin to raise their ugly heads. The issues at California Steel Industries (CSI) have spooked the market and steel mills are abondoning the process of announcing price increases prior to raising prices. In reality, prices have already gone up $50 per ton from the […]
We had another week of “up” pricing as everyone tries to grapple with the impact of Section 232 tariffs. One thing does appear to be a certainty – the laws of supply and demand are now clearly in the hands of the U.S. government. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: […]
Mill lead times on flat rolled steel orders continue to stretch as buyers replenish inventories in the first quarter. One of the key indicators tracked by Steel Market Update, lead times reflect the activity at the mills and the order levels they are seeing from their customers. About 9 percent of respondents to this week’s […]
Steel prices have been on the rise for the past four months, so it’s no surprise that steel buyers are reporting mills less willing to negotiate. More than 60 percent of respondents to Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire say mills are holding firm in price negotiations. About 10 percent say they still find […]
We saw mixed results depending on which index you are following. SMU believes the variance is due to quotes vs. actual orders and the fact that many buyers who are reporting prices may not have actually bought flat rolled steel products in the spot market (from mills) over the past week. We are well aware […]
Foreign steel import licenses picked up over the past week and the February trend moved up to 2.5 million net tons from the low 2-million-ton level suggested last week. The trend is very similar to what we saw during the month of December when the U.S. imported 2,450,286 net tons. Our focus, however, is on […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices remain strong, and many buyers are eixpecting prices to move higher from here. Hot rolled, which has been on a tear for a number of weeks, took a breather remaining at $745 per ton as an average. Other products, however, did move higher expanding the spread, which in the […]
Flack Global Metals has partnered with First American Resources in a joint venture that will offer prepainted products to the market later this year. The deal is a bit of a departure for FGM, which is now the minority investor in an enterprise that is installing high-end coil coating equipment. FGM has achieved $350 million […]
Flack Global Metals has partnered with First American Resources in a joint venture that will offer prepainted products to the market later this year. The deal is a bit of a departure for FGM, which is now the minority investor in an enterprise that is installing high-end coil coating equipment. FGM has achieved $350 million […]
Flat rolled steel prices had a mixed week as benchmark hot rolled came close to $750 per ton for the first time since Jan. 17, 2012. We are seeing a shrinking of the spread between spot base prices for hot rolled and those of cold rolled and coated steels. Hot rolled prices rose on all […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices have been on the rise and are expected to continue climbing in the coming weeks. Yesterday, Nucor announced a new $50 per ton ($2.50/cwt) base price increase on plate. Steel Market Update anticipates flat rolled sheet prices will soon follow. With the latest Nucor announcement on plate the total […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices have been on the rise and are expected to continue climbing in the coming weeks. Yesterday, Nucor announced a new $50 per ton ($2.50/cwt) base price increase on plate. Steel Market Update anticipates flat rolled sheet prices will soon follow. With the latest Nucor announcement on plate the total […]
Steel prices continue their march higher, and we are seeing a very strong market on hot rolled coil right now. With the strength of HRC, we are seeing a return to more normal price spreads between hot rolled, cold rolled and coated base pricing. Prices appear to be heading to even loftier levels with steel […]
Total rolled steel imports declined by 15 percent in the three months through January compared to the previous three-month period, August through October. Sheet product imports declined by 17.3 percent on the same basis, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of U.S. Department of Commerce data released Feb. 6. The data is reported within the […]
According to at least one steel index, hot rolled prices surged higher this past week. Steel Market Update saw the markets as being higher with coated making the largest weekly move. When it came to benchmark hot rolled, Platts moved their pricing up by $28 per ton (actually $27.50 but we rounded to $28) as […]