Sheet prices continue to fall, but the pace of declines has moderated on the hot-rolled coil side. SMU’s average hot-rolled coil price now stands at $1,190 per ton ($59.50 per cwt), down $45 per ton from $1,235 per ton last week. This weeks’ drop was less than half the $100-per-ton decline recorded last week. And […]
The U.S. has announced that a deal has been reached with Japan to ease Section 232 national security tariffs on steel imports from the key U.S. ally. The U.S. Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced the deal at around 5 pm Eastern Time on Monday, Feb. 7, as SMU had […]
We are but one week away from the start of the 33rd Tampa Steel Conference. When I checked registrations mid-week last week, we were just a few executives short of 400 attendees. I now anticipate we will exceed my original goal of 300-400 attendees, which would make this the best-attended in-person Tampa Steel Conference since […]
Plate prices have been remarkably steady in the face of sheet price declines of hundreds of dollars per ton. That trend probably can’t hold for much longer, and plate prices are overdue for a correction, according to market contacts and SMU data. For starters, look at the chart below: HRC prices have fallen from $1,600 […]
Steel prices continue to fall very, very quickly. Where they’ll bottom and when remains unclear. I wrote in an in-print magazine article last month that I hesitated to put pen to paper for fear that any prices I wrote would be out of date by the time the article was on the page. My fear now […]
January marked the fifth consecutive month of declining steel prices, following a year-long streak of continuous price increases. Hot rolled prices declined $200 per ton throughout the month, with the SMU index averaging $1,335 per ton ($66.75 per cwt) as of Tuesday, Jan. 25. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator for sheet products remains at Lower since its mid-October adjustment. January […]
U.S. Steel isn’t letting current lower prices get it down after a record year in ’21 and in anticipation of more good times rolling into ‘22. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said it had expected the first quarter would be weaker but that such weakness would to be temporary. “Supply chain issues will ease, inflationary pressures will […]
I don’t want to lead prices down, but I don’t think it’s any secret at this point that sheet prices are falling fast. “The prophecies have been borne out,” is how one mill executive put it. What does that look like in practical terms? Some mills are offering hot-rolled coil at about $1,200 per ton […]
Nucor Corp. crushed annual profit records in 2021 and posted yet another quarterly profit record in the fourth quarter. The trend continues a 2021 pattern among domestic steelmakers of each quarter setting a record compared to that set in the prior quarter. All told, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker posted an annual profit of $6.83 billion […]
Nucor Corp. crushed annual profit records in 2021 and posted yet another quarterly profit record in the fourth quarter. The trend continues a 2021 pattern among domestic steelmakers of each quarter setting a record compared to that set in the prior quarter. All told, the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker posted an annual profit of $6.83 billion […]
The ongoing correction in steel prices is not a reflection of demand, which is strong now and is expected to remain so for the balance of 2022, Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) executives said. Hot-rolled coil prices are roughly in line with published price ranges of $1,300-1,400 per ton ($65-70 per cwt), although a limited number […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) posted record fourth-quarter earnings to finish a year of unprecedented profitability for domestic steel mills. And the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker predicted that it would benefit from increased steel consumption in 2022 compared to 2021 levels. The company did not directly address a steep drop in prices that occurred in the […]
NLMK USA sales slipped in the fourth quarter on expectations of lower steel prices driving buyers to the sidelines. It was not only lower consumer activity that pushed NLMK USA sales volumes and prices lower, so too did the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) agreement with the European Union – which is expected to result in additional […]
SMU’s latest prices are out, and hot-rolled coil is down by $55 per ton while galvanized prices are down a comparatively modest $25 per ton. That’s been the trend for a while now – that galvanized prices have been “stickier” than hot-rolled coil prices on the way down. I wrote last week in Final Thoughts […]
U.S. Steel is mulling a sale of its USS-UPI LLC subsidiary in Pittsburg, Calif. – potentially to a developer without long-term interest in running the mill, according to market participants. Some employees have been told that the mill could stop operating in late 2023, they said. Nothing has been officially announced, none will be until […]
Evraz North America has taken an approximately one-week unplanned outage at its plate mill in Portland, Ore., market participants said. The downtime was needed because of problems with a reheat furnace, they said. The steelmaker has also scheduled a weeklong planned outage at the Portland plate mill in March, sources said. A company spokeswoman confirmed that […]
Total mill shipments of steel products fell 3.3% in November to 8.334 million tons, slipping for only the second time in eight months. Apparent supply rose fractionally in November, up 0.2% after eroding successively the prior two months. This analysis is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import-export […]
The bubble is bursting. Not just any bubble. We’re talking the bubble that is ridiculously wide spreads between hot-rolled coil prices and base prices for cold rolled and coated products. Case in point: SMU’s hot-rolled coil price stands at $1,480 per ton, and our cold-rolled and galvanized base prices are at $1,880 per ton – […]
South Korean mills are out with new lower prices for steel sheet and steady prices for plate, according to recent offers reviewed by Steel Market Update. The trend is important because U.S. mills are increasingly willing to compete with imports, meaning that the latest import offers give an indication of where domestic prices are headed. […]
By Principal Analyst Josh Spoores from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor, Jan. 22 Trends in the North American sheet market have picked up where 2021 left off, particularly a continued decline in sheet prices. Various supply pressures have overwhelmed demand and led to lower sheet prices in all North American markets. In the U.S. Midwest […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Producer prices expanded by 0.2% in December, seasonally adjusted, maintaining their upward climb since reaching the most recent bottom 21 months ago, reports the U.S. Labor Department. The unyielding trend continues to highlight […]
Producer prices grew by 1.0% in January, seasonally adjusted, maintaining a 22-month growth run since reaching the most recent bottom in April 2020, reports the U.S. Labor Department. Wholesale prices jumped by twice the expected level in January as inflation pressures were unabated to start the year. The Labor Department said that its Producer Price […]
Nucor Corp. has confirmed that its greenfield, $2.7 billion electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill will be built in West Virginia. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said the mill, expected to have capacity of three million tons per year, would be located in Mason County along the Ohio River. Additional sites in northern West Virginia are […]
Flat-rolled steel prices continue to fall, but the market participants I spoke to today were taking the news in stride. SMU’s average hot-rolled coil price now stands at $1,480 per ton ($74 per cwt), down $55 per ton from $1,535 per ton a week ago and down $475 per ton from a 2021 high – […]
Where will hot-rolled coil prices be at the end of the first quarter? That’s what we asked respondents to SMU’s latest survey. And the short answer is that they’ll be lower – but there is little consensus on just how much lower. We asked this: “Hot-rolled coil prices averaged $1,600 per ton at the end […]
Steel prices declined for the fourth consecutive month in December, following a year-long streak of continuous price increases. Hot-rolled coil prices declined $130 per ton throughout the month, with the SMU index averaging $1,600 per ton ($80.00 per cwt) as of Tuesday, Dec. 21 (SMU did not published updated prices on Dec. 28). The SMU Price Momentum […]
There’s surprisingly little consensus among market participants about where steel prices will be next year, even though 2022 is just around the corner. That’s a big departure from the last 12 months, when respondents to Steel Market Update surveys were roughly in agreement on where prices would be in the future – or at the very least […]
Steel Buyers Sentiment, as measured by Steel Market Update, has not reacted much to declining steel prices. Perhaps because prices remain well above historical averages even after big declines – more than 18% when it comes to hot-rolled coil – over the past three months. Indeed, 2021 was a record year for many companies, leaving […]
First the takeaway: Don’t overthink it on the way down. Prices are falling, like it or not. The good thing, demand is still good – so don’t let falling prices ruin your holidays. Now, let’s overthink it a little. We’ve seen some chunky declines in recent weeks: SMU’s hot-rolled coil price fell $70 per ton […]
It’s not just domestic steel prices that are falling rapidly, so too are prices abroad. Case in point: South Korean steelmaker Hyundai. Its latest offer for hot-rolled coil for February-March shipment to the West Coast is $1,450 per ton DDP to Los Angeles-area ports. That’s down significantly from prior offers of $1,600-1,640 per ton, according […]