NLMK USA has announced new, higher base prices for steel sheet. The steelmaker said the higher prices were effectively immediately on all new spot orders and justified by “strong demand and extending lead times,” in a letter to customers on Wednesday, Feb. 22. NLMK USA said that its new minimum base price for hot-rolled coil was […]
Total US mill shipments of steel products declined in December, easing for the second straight month after fluctuating up and down for much of the year. December was the lowest mill shipment total for 2022, falling to the lowest total since February 2021. Shipments totaled 7.27 million tons in December, a 1% decrease from November’s 7.34 […]
Sheet prices are up again. By a lot. For the third time this month. And it’s not over yet! Nucor alone is up more since Thanksgiving ($310/per ton) than they were after the invasion of Ukraine ($275/ton), according to our price increase calendar. We had obvious drivers for the last two big rallies. The snapback […]
Sheet prices increased this week as another blitz of price hikes – this time $100 per ton ($5/cwt) – spurred the market higher. The latest announcements from the likes of Nucor, Cliffs, US Steel, and ArcelorMittal, all setting a new base price for hot band of $1,000 per ton, are yet to be reflected in […]
ArcelorMittal has followed three major domestic mills in increasing sheet prices by at least $100 per ton ($5 per cwt). Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, one of the world’s largest steelmakers, also said it was targeting a minimum base price of $1,000 per ton for hot-rolled coil (HRC) effective immediately. That echoes new HRC base prices announced earlier […]
US Steel has joined competitors Nucor and Cleveland-Cliffs in raising base prices for steel sheet by at least $100 per ton ($5 per cwt). The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said the price hike was effective immediately for all new spot orders in a letter to top sales staff dated Tuesday, Feb. 21. The company said the increases […]
Cleveland-Cliffs didn’t take long to join Nucor in increasing spot prices for steel sheet by at least another $100 per ton ($5 per cwt). The Cleveland-based steelmaker, like Nucor, is also targeting a base price of $1,000 per ton for hot-rolled coil (HRC). Cliffs said the increase was effective immediately and applied equally to all […]
Nucor Corp. is pushing its hot-rolled coil price up by at least another $100 per ton ($5 per cwt), its third sheet price hike in a matter of three weeks. The Charlotte, N.C.-based company, the largest steelmaker in the US, said the move was effective immediately for base prices on new orders. Nucor made the […]
The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices has widened in February, according to Steel Market Update data. Prices for both products increased in February month over month. Our hot-rolled coil price average rose $15 per ton week over week to $825 per ton per net ton ($41.25 per cwt) as of Feb. 14. […]
BlueScope Steel said earnings at its North Star operations in Delta, Ohio, tumbled on lower steel prices in the six months of its fiscal year 2023. The Australian steelmaker reported underlying ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of $173.4 million in its 1H FY2023 at North Star, down 81% from $925.3 million last year, […]
Sheet prices continue to push higher even as buyers contacted by Steel Market Update remain divided about the state of demand. Hot-rolled coil lead times now stand at 5.41 weeks, up from 4.94 weeks in our prior survey and marking the first time this year that HRC lead times have broken out significantly above five […]
As US sheet prices continue the rally that began in late November, overall import levels remain relatively low. But lead times have extended and so too have mill asking prices. US mills are now asking for $900 per short ton ($45 per cwt) for hot-rolled coil. Market contacts in Europe note that exports from India […]
Domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) kept its competitive price advantage over imported steel – now on a 16-week run. However, it has continued to lose momentum over the past four weeks, according to Steel Market Update’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis. US HRC is approximately 2.2% cheaper than foreign prices this week, down from 3.4% […]
The “new normal,” we have heard that a whole lot since the pandemic took hold. Are we really seeing a paradigm shift? Or is it just a trendy phrase? But, first, let’s talk about price hikes. If three’s a crowd, then what’s five – a herd? The week got off to a quick start early […]
Sheet prices rose again this week as a blitz of $50-per-ton ($2.50/cwt) price hikes spurred the market higher. Steel Market Update’s hot-rolled coil price now stands at $825 per ton, up $15 per ton from last week and nearing the highest levels we’ve seen since late July. The difference: HRC prices were on their way […]
Cleveland-Cliffs swung to a loss in the fourth quarter of 2022 but predicted better times ahead in 2023. Cliffs chairman, president, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said that optimism comes because the economy in general is on a much better footing in 2023 than had been feared in late 2022, when hot-rolled coil prices fell into […]
Algoma Steel said lower production volumes and steel selling prices, as well as the jump in the price of key inputs, hit its fiscal Q3 earnings as the company swung to a loss. The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based steelmaker posted a net loss of Canadian $69.8 million ($52.3 million USD) in its 3Q ended Dec. […]
ArcelorMittal and NLMK USA have followed three major domestic steelmakers in increasing sheet prices by at least $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt). Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal said it was targeting a minimum base price of $900 per ton effective immediately, echoing moves first announced by Nucor and Cleveland-Cliffs. “The increase is applicable to all new spot […]
US Steel Corp. got in on the action and increased spot prices for carbon steel sheet by at least $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt). The move is effective immediately, the company said in a letter to customers dated Monday, Feb.13, and joining Nucor and Cleveland-Cliffs in their efforts to boost sheet tags. The latest price […]
Nucor Corp. is pushing hot-rolled coil price up by at least another $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt), its second sheet price hike in ten days. The Charlotte, N.C.-based company, the largest steelmaker in the US, said the move was effective immediately for base prices on new orders. Nucor made the announcement in a letter to […]
ArcelorMittal executives think that the global steel market should rebound in 2023 as the destocking period that characterized 2022 ends. “I believe the worst conditions of these cycles have passed,” Lakshmi Mittal, executive chairman of the Luxembourg-based steelmaker, said in a conference call with analysts last week. Mittal made the prediction after the company – […]
SMU’s hot-rolled coil price has cracked $800 per ton ($40 per cwt), and so have prices on the futures market. The question of whether the $800-per-ton threshold would be breached has been answered. But it’s still unclear to me whether that threshold was breached by solid underlying demand or by momentum (buying ahead of the next […]
The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and galvanized coil base prices have been in holding pattern. The spread has been hovering around the $200 per ton ($10 per cwt) since the end of November. Figure 1 shows both SMU’s hot rolled and galvanized prices. SMU’s HRC price averaged $810 per ton as of Tuesday, Feb. 7, an […]
Domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) continues its competitive price advantage run over imported steel – now 15 weeks running – though it did lose some momentum week on week (WoW), according to Steel Market Update’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis. US HRC is approximately 3.2% cheaper than foreign prices this week, down from 7.4% last […]
Sheet prices continue to rise, extending a rally that began the week after Thanksgiving. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price is now above $800 per ton ($40 per cwt) for the first time since early August, roughly six months ago. At $810 per ton on average, HRC prices are up $30 per ton from $780 per ton […]
US plate prices have been largely stable since the beginning of December after tags fell by $140 per ton following Nucor’s price cut notice at the end of November with the opening of it January order book. A move that caught many by surprise at the time. But since then, plate prices have varied by […]
Nucor Corp. has joined the push to increase sheet prices by at least another $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt). The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker, the largest in the US, said the move was effective immediately for base prices on new orders. The company made the announcement in a letter to customers dated Friday, Feb. 3. […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has rolled out another $50/ton ($2.50/cwt) sheet price increase just a couple of weeks after doing the same in mid-January. The Cleveland-based steelmaker has also announced a target base price of $850 per ton for hot-rolled coil, up from the $800 per ton announced in mid-January. NLMK USA almost immediately upped the ante, […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active […]
NLMK USA has joined Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. in raising sheet prices by at least $50 per ton ($2.50 per ton), effective immediately. The steelmaker is also seeking a base price of $875 per ton for hot-rolled coil, $25 per ton more than the $850 per ton Cleveland-Cliffs is aiming for. “Orders received and not yet confirmed […]