By CRU Research Manager Paul Butterworth Profitability in the steel industry is highly volatile with the last few years particularly seeing a huge swing in profits. Some producers saw margins hit ten-year highs only to see them quickly fall away, with many becoming loss-making in recent months. As steelmakers navigate the ups and downs of […]
By CRU Analyst Alexander Ordosch Last week, Turkish scrap import prices were assessed at $248 /t CFR for HMS 80:20. Only one deal was assessed from Europe, after strong restocking activity over recent weeks. Prices have been rising in recent weeks as sellers have pushed for gains as it had become uneconomic to supply at the lower prices […]
So far, China has held its own in the prolonged trade war with the U.S., but August saw an unexpected decline in exports. China’s exports fell 1.0 percent in August after gaining 3.3 percent in July. Imports declined 5.6 percent, resulting in an overall trade surplus of $34.84 billion, said China’s General Administration of Customs. […]
By CRU Analyst Alexander Ordosch Last week, Turkish scrap prices declined slightly by $4 /t w/w to $290 /t CFR for HMS 80:20, based on one 40 kt deal from the U.S. The Turkish market remains quiet because of the Eid al-Adha (Festival of the Sacrifice) holidays this past week. We consider this new price level of around $285-290 /t […]
By Chris Houlden, CRU Research Manager For the last 40 years, CRU has provided its U.S. Midwest HR coil (HRC) price, or The CRU as it is sometimes called, to the market. We have done this with the sole focus of faithfully reflecting the spot market and with the clear understanding that the market would […]
It is now three weeks to go before the beginning of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta (Aug. 26-28). We want to remind everyone that the CME Group is hosting a Price Risk Management Workshop just prior to the opening of the conference on Monday at 10:30 a.m. Please find the link to […]
It is now three weeks to go before the beginning of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta (Aug. 26-28). We want to remind everyone that the CME Group is hosting a Price Risk Management Workshop just prior to the opening of the conference on Monday at 10:30 a.m. Please find the link to […]
By CRU Prices Analyst Estelle Tran Hundreds of steel executives from around the world gathered in New York City this week to hold meetings and learn about what will drive the steel markets in the second half of the year. The CRU Steel Briefing on Monday, June 17, provided attendees with our views on sheet […]
By CRU Research Manager Chris Houlden, CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores and CME Metals Products Manager Sean Kessler. U.S. Midwest HR coil price volatility has increased markedly in recent months as opaque policy decision-making processes and inelasticity of domestic supply have led to large variations in physical market price. Concurrently, volume and open interest on […]
AK Steel is not too worried about new steel capacity stealing market share. New carbon steel capacity coming on line is still several years away, said President and COO Kirk Reich. Much of it is not “new” but rather older restarted facilities that AK Steel competed with in the past, and some of that capacity […]
US Midwest HRC price volatility has increased markedly in recent months as government policy and inelasticity of domestic supply have led to large variations in physical market price. Concurrently, volume and open interest on the CME’s HRC futures and options contracts, settled on CRU’s US Midwest HRC price (“The CRU”) has surged as physical market […]
Hot-Rolled Coil Price Volatility: Buckle Up As a Steel Market Update member company as well as those on a free trial, you are invited to join CRU and CME for a free steel webinar on hot rolled coil prices on Thursday, April 18. U.S. Midwest HR coil price volatility has increased markedly in recent months […]
By Chris Houlden, CRU Research Manager, Steel CRU has a long-established and proud history of serving the market with its U.S. Midwest HR coil price or “The CRU” as it has become known. Independent market research, including that concluded very recently, has again established that The CRU is used in the determination of the vast […]
Canadian steel company Stelco announced a new CEO and defied U.S. tariffs with a strong earnings report for the fourth quarter. David Cheney, formerly chief business development officer, will assume the mantle of CEO from Alan Kestenbaum who will continue to serve as Executive Chairman. Cheney will have executive responsibility for the company’s day-to-day business, […]
Cleveland Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves is looking forward to the completion of the company’s HBI pellet plant in Toledo, Ohio. The project is on time and under budget and construction has begun on the 400-foot tower that will be completed by the end of 2019. Startup of HBI production is anticipated in mid-2020. The company […]
Editor’s Note: Not a Premium-level subscriber to SMU? See the sample Premium report below: Hot-rolled coil imports in the first four months of the year increased by 38 percent nationally, but saw big variations regionally. Imports can vary significantly from one region to another. Steel Market Update has produced import reports by product at the […]
U.S. Steel finished 2017 on a strong note with net sales of $3.13 billion and net earnings of $159 million in the fourth quarter. Steel shipments for the quarter totaled 3.8 million tons. Commenting on U.S. Steel’s results, President and CEO David Burritt said, “We finished the year with three solid quarters as investments in […]
U.S. Steel is undertaking a massive asset revitalization program to reduce unplanned outages and improve profitability and competitiveness. The company plans to invest approximately $1.2 billion from 2017 through 2020 on repairs and upgrades. By 2020, slab production capability at Gary Works, Great Lakes Works and Mon Valley works will be increased by 1 million […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Steel It has been a very active trading week in HR futures along all portions of the curve as over 83,000 ST […]
Ryerson Holding Corp. turned in a strong performance in Q2 despite conflicting business and industry conditions, said President and CEO Eddie Lehner. Margins took a hit as steel import levels rose and nickel and carbon hot rolled prices moved lower. “Ryerson saw some mix-shift impact to margins,” said Lehner, “as sheet and stainless related demand […]
US Steel stunned analysts and the financial community on Tuesday/Wednesday when the company announced a large loss when the street was expecting the company to make money. During the conference call the mill advised that they essentially need to upgrade their facilities in order for the company to remain competitive. The stock price dropped 25 […]
Steel Dynamics announced net income of $20 million for fourth quarter 2016. Company net sales totaled $1.9 billion, down from $2.1 billion in third quarter. Operating income decreased to $239.5 million from $338.7 million in the previous quarter. Steel shipments for the quarter totaled 2.2 million; fabrication shipments totaled 131,186 tons. Average selling price for […]
Turkish steel producers have filed new antidumping and countervailing duty petitions on hot-rolled coil imports from China, Russia and Ukraine. An AD investigation was previously initiated in January 2015 on HRC imports from China, Japan, France, Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Slovakia in January 2015 but was terminated by the Turkish Economy Ministry after petitioners withdrew […]
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 […]
Nucor Corporation announced today that it has agreed to acquire Independence Tube Corporation (ITC), a leading independent manufacturer of hollow structural section (HSS) steel tubing, for $435 million, or approximately 6x average EBITDA over the 2013-2015 period. “Independence Tube is a natural fit with Nucor. Their business model is similar to ours with extremely efficient […]
Essar Steel Algoma issued layoff notices to approximately 70-85 employees just before the Labor Day weekend citing low demand and pricing for steel plate. Plate demand is down in the energy, rail and agricultural markets and is coupled with prices below hot-rolled coil due to low priced and dumped imports. Said Brenda Stenta, spokesperson for […]
Steel Dynamics announced second quarter 2016 net income of $142 million on net sales of $2.0 billion. In comparison, net sales in Q1 totaled $1.7 billion with net income of $63 million and year ago sales were $2.0 billion with adjusted net income of $53 million. A decline in imports of flat rolled steel and […]
The following article was written by SMU founder and publisher, John Packard with the assistance of Platts Content Director, Metals Americas, Joseph Innace. Shortly after Steel Market Update (SMU) became a real company I understood the need for the flat rolled steel industry to have an pricing index which was independent and not tied as […]
The following article was originally produced by the Wall Street Journal on March 14, 2016. The U.S.’s biggest iron ore miner Monday said it would restart a key mine in Minnesota, a positive sign for the battered U.S. steel industry following a small uptick in prices and new import tariffs on foreign steel. Cleveland-based Cliffs […]
The following is a reprint of an article by Dr. Mark J. Perry in response to the Wall Street Journal article about the duties imposed on imports of cold-rolled steel from China that SMU publisher John Packard was quoted in. Dr. Perry is a Scholar at The American Enterprise Institute and Professor of Finance and […]