Flat rolled steel prices continue to move lower as benchmark hot rolled broke through $500 per ton and is now averaging $490 per ton. We were relatively conservative in our range this week as we did capture at least one order placed for moderate tonnage at $440 per ton and we are hearing that the […]
We believe that misinformation about regional import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis of tonnage by district of entry is to describe in detail what is going on in a company’s immediate neighborhood and thus provide a negotiating advantage for our premium subscribers. We are now publishing monthly […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued their swoon this past week, according to the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Benchmark hot rolled declined by $10 per ton ($.50/cwt) on our own HRC index average and $15 per ton ($.75/cwt) over at Platts. Both indexes have hot rolled averaging $500 per ton and the expectation […]
Licensed data for September was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on October 4th. An explanation of the methodology that we at SMU use to analyze the trade data is given at the end of this piece. All volumes in this analysis are reported in short tons. Total rolled […]
Lead times continue to be at, or slightly below year ago levels. Steel Market Update conducted our flat rolled steel market trends analysis over the course of this week. As part of our questionnaire, submitted to almost 550 companies, we ask questions regarding lead times for new orders out of the domestic steel mills by […]
With the short lead times we reported earlier in this issue, the buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel are almost unanimously reporting the steel mills as willing to negotiate hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steel prices. We found 97 percent of those responding to our survey reporting mills as willing to negotiate […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued their swan dive with hot rolled and cold rolled moving $10 per ton lower and galvanized/Galvalume moving lower by $20 per ton. For the first time in quite awhile SMU picked up information regarding HRC offers down to $460 per ton (with tons). Most buyers, however, were reporting $480 to […]
Flat rolled steel prices took a nose dive this past week according to the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. We saw large double digit drops in hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, Galvalume and plate. Benchmark hot rolled continues its march toward sub-$500 per ton averages. We lowered our average by $15 per ton […]
When looking at hot rolled coil prices U.S. buyers need to remain aware of what is going on with the rest of the world. Prices in Europe are rising and as one trader put it to us on Friday of this past week, “The Turks aren’t idiots.” Prices for HRC in the Turkish market are […]
Every Tuesday Steel Market Update publishes our flat rolled steel price ranges and index averages. Throughout the week we analyze information gathered from steel buyers from around the country. At times we spot a trend developing but don’t have enough price points to justify fully adjusting either the lower or upper end of our range. […]
The number of active steel buyers has definitely slowed over the past few weeks. Buyers are holding back as business has slowed for some, inventory levels are OK (and in some situations rising) and lead times are pulling back making the need to buy less urgent. When taking into consideration lead times, we are also […]
Steel Market Update spoke with two sources regarding the most recent complaint filed by the domestic mills against Vietnam and China for circumvention of duties (China) on cold rolled and CORE (corrosion resistant steels such as galvanized and Galvalume) products. One of the tenants behind the accusations made by the domestic steel mills is the […]
Steel Market Update spent a good portion of our day today talking with steel traders and end users who have exposure (orders on the books not yet delivered) to Vietnamese cold rolled and/or galvanized/Galvalume steels. We were trying to determine how the importers of record were handling any orders on the books. What we found […]
On Monday of this week the US Department of Commerce released Preliminary Census Data for August foreign steel imports. Based on the latest data August came in a smidgen below 3.0 million net tons. The DOC has August foreign steel imports as totaling 2,988,724 net tons. This is 277,325 tons fewer than the month of […]
Flat rolled lead times continued to slip, according to those responding to last week’s Steel Market Update flat rolled market trends analysis survey. Lead times are very close to where they were at this time last year when benchmark hot rolled was being reported at $660 per ton (September 16, 2015) and then proceeded to […]
Spot steel prices are now negotiable on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume according to those responding to our mid-September 2016 flat rolled steel market trends survey. Hot rolled continues to be (almost) unanimous with 97 percent of our respondents reporting spot prices are being negotiated by their mill suppliers. At the beginning of […]
On Thursday, September 22, 2016 four steel mills: ArcelorMittal USA, Nucor, AK Steel and US Steel submitted petitions asking the US Department of Commerce to review imports of cold rolled and corrosion resistant steels (galvanized and Galvalume) arriving in the United States from Vietnam as actually being a way for China to circumvent antidumping and […]
Two of the indexes followed by Steel Market Update (actually one index followed and our own) saw flat rolled steel market prices differently this past week. Our indices were relatively calm this past week having moved dramatically the previous week. Platts indices were all down by double digits and, in the case of hot rolled […]
Steel Market Update reached out to trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz and to review the Vietnam CORE (corrosion resistant steels = galvanized and Galvalume) filing by California Steel and Steel Dynamics. The filing was made by the law firm Schagrin Associates. I only have time for a brief response after quickly reviewing the Schagrin filing asking […]
Earlier today California Steel and Steel Dynamics filed a Request for Circumvention Ruling with the U.S. Department of Commerce against Vietnam. One of the trading companies Steel Market Update spoke to this afternoon termed the complaint a “game breaker” for steel trading companies importing foreign steel who will now shy away from any country that […]
License requests for steel coming from foreign sources are continuing at a pace where steel imports for the month of September will exceed 3 million tons. On Tuesday the U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest license data. The data is indicating a rising trend in total foreign steel imports (all products), hot rolled, cold […]
There have been two complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Commerce for circumvention of duties by Vietnam. One is on CORE (corrosion resistant steels like galvanized and Galvalume) and the second one is on cold rolled. Steel Market Update has seen the CORE complaint but we have not yet seen the cold rolled one. […]
After making a big move this past week, spot flat rolled steel prices out of the domestic steel mills remained range bound with only minor adjustments as steel buyers try to digest what they need to do next. Steel buyers have been telling Steel Market Update that there is a disparity between the mini mills […]
Late on Thursday evening we received the following letters to the editor, both from executives with flat rolled steel service centers: Great articles tonight, full of very useful info. There was a lot of space dedicated to HR imports, spreads to domestic, etc. With HR having been in excess for some time, it’s not surprising […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued to fall by double digits this past week on all of the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. As the pace of the slide has accelerated the spread between the indexes have increased. We have seen this same phenomena in the past which is caused by the differences in […]
Australia has initiated a review of antidumping measures on imports of Aluminum Zinc Coated Steel from China. Jiangyin Zongcheng Steel Co. and Angang Steel Co. applied to the Antidumping Commission to review the import duties assessed on August 5, 2013. Angang Steel currently has AD duties of 5.8 percent and Jiangyin 18.1 percent. The review […]
Whoops, who left the door open? It seems like all the hot air has been sucked out of this steel market, at least for the time being. Flat rolled steel prices have been moving dramatically lower over the past few weeks. Steel buyers are telling SMU that the domestic steel mills are anxious to negotiate, […]
Much has been made about the number of shutdowns there will be at various steel mills due to planned maintenance outages. Steel Market Update has been working with a number of our buyer sources to come up with a tentative schedule of the various projects due in the 4th Quarter 2016. This is our “best […]
This report summarizes total steel supply from 2003 through July 2016 and year on year changes. It then compares domestic mill shipments and total supply to the market. It quantifies market direction by product and enables a side by side comparison of the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued their move lower with Platts taking their hot rolled and cold rolled averages down by $10 and $25 per ton, respectively. Steel Market Update (SMU) did not move our hot rolled and cold rolled prices on Tuesday of last week but we did make minor adjustments to galvanized and Galvalume […]