'Tis the season for fall maintenance outages
Fall is coming in North America, and with it, steel mills' regularly scheduled fall maintenance outages.
Fall is coming in North America, and with it, steel mills' regularly scheduled fall maintenance outages.
Steel buyers continue to report short mill lead times for both sheet and plate products, according to SMU's latest canvass of the market. Lead times for hot-rolled and plate products marginally increased from our late July survey, likely due to limited restocking in anticipation of upcoming mill outages for scheduled maintenance.
US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices are nearly even with prices for offshore material on a landed basis as domestic tags continue to inch up.
The European Commission has initiated a trade case investigating allegedly dumped hot-rolled coil imports from Egypt, India, Japan, and Vietnam. The European Steel Association (EUROFER) filed the complaint in June, according to an Aug. 8 notice in the Official Journal of the European Union.
I asked in a prior Final Thoughts where some of you thought Nucor’s weekly spot HR price would land. One opinion: $720 per short ton (st). That would allow the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker to one up competitor Cleveland-Cliffs and to re-establish its position as a market leader.
The Court of International Trade (CIT) has ruled against BlueScope Steel and its affiliates' challenge of a sunset review of the antidumping duties on hot-rolled (HR) steel flat imports.
US hot-rolled (HR) coil remains cheaper than offshore material on a landed basis despite domestic tags inflecting upward lately. But the spread between domestic and foreign HR has tightened on the heels of price hikes by US mill over the past two weeks. (Visit SMU’s price increase calendar to keep track of the latest mill price announcements).
SMU’s sheet price was largely flat this week, an unusual sight for the better part of the past four months. The same trend was seen for tandem products and plate as well.
Nucor has raised its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil to $675 per short ton (st), up $25/st from last week.
Both iron ore and coking coal prices fell this week because of resistance from buyers. Iron ore prices have continued to fall throughout the past week, following sharp declines in steel prices in China, given no new policy announcement from the ‘Third Plenum’ meeting.
Summer is here, and a familiar sentiment has hit the hot-rolled coil (HRC) futures market. Prices continue to decline in both the spot market and the futures market, with expectations of sub-$800 prices for the remainder of the year.
High levels of steel imports, especially from China, in recent months are worrying steel makers in India and Vietnam.
SMU’s sheet price ranges slid again this week. But the declines were more pronounced on tandem products whereas prices for hot-rolled coil held roughly steady.
Sheet steel buyers continue to report that mills are willing to talk price on new orders, according to our most recent survey data collected this week.
The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices narrowed for the third consecutive month, hitting a level not seen since 2020, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.
SMU’s hot-rolled coil price fell to $640 per short ton (st) on average on Tuesday. That’s down $10/st from last week and marks the lowest point for HR prices since December 2022, according to our pricing archives. SMU’s HR price is now $5/ton below 2023’s low of $645/st, which occurred against the backdrop of a United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike.
Flat Rolled = 60.9 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 59 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel supply remained high at the end of June at 60.9 shipping days of supply, according to adjusted SMU data. This translates to 3.05 months of supply in June. At the end of May, […]
Nucor dropped its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled coil to $650 per short ton, down $20/st from last week. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker also said base prices for HR from CSI, its subsidiary in California, would be $720/st. That’s a $30/st decrease from $750/st a week ago.
Flat-rolled steel prices have been largely falling since the beginning of the year. Even after a slight bump in early April when mills tried to halt the downtrend, the decrease resumed.
US sheet prices saw a similar pattern this week, customary for much of the year – new week, lower prices. Domestic tags moved lower this week, aligning with the typically slower summer period – but maybe a further indication of dwindling demand.
Nucor has kept its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil flat this week.
After celebrating the July 4th holiday, let’s have a look back at the first half of 2024.
Sheet steel buyers found mills more willing to negotiate spot pricing this week, according to our most recent survey data.
US sheet prices moved lower again this week, continuing a trend seen since early April. The slowdown aligns with the typical summer doldrums, when lax demand and shorter lead times often take center stage. The current market is also characterized by ample supply and concerns about restocking – especially with few signs of a bottom […]
Nucor Corp. announced that its plate mill group would cut prices for as-rolled, discrete, and normalized plate with the opening of its August order book.
Nucor lowered its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil by another $10 per short ton (st) for the first week of July. The steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Monday that its CSP base price for the week will be $670/st for all of its sheet mills with the exception of California Steel Industries (CSI).
This chart of the rolling second-month CME hot-rolled coil (HRC) future dating back to the start of 2022 has been as volatile as a herd of “Wild Horses.”
US sheet prices continued to drift lower this week on lackluster demand, short lead times, and ample supply. SMU’s hot-rolled (HR) coil price now stands at $670 per short ton (st) on average, down $15/st from last week. Hot band is down $175/st from a recent high of $845/st in early April. It is also […]
ArcelorMittal Mexico said it's on the brink of severing labor relations with striking members of the local mining union. This serious move comes as an illegal strike and the resulting mill outage persist into their second month, posing a significant threat to the continuation of the mill’s operations.
Nucor's weekly hot-rolled (HR) coil price registered a notable decline this week.