By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Iron ore prices continued to decline in the past week as margins in the Chinese steel industry continued to decline on weak steel demand and high production levels. On Tuesday, Aug. 20, CRU has assessed the 62% Fe fines price at $88.30 /t, a $2.00 /t decline w/w. The […]
By CRU Analyst Iris Speelmanns Last week, Turkish scrap prices slid further, dropping by $9 /t w/w to $281 /t CFR for HMS 80:20, based on one 40 kt deal from Europe. This new price level is the lowest level since the brief drop in mid-June and before that the distinct, though brief, weakness last winter. Weaker global […]
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 […]
ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor has the honor of providing the steel for the first U.S.-flagged Great Lakes bulk carrier to be built in more than 35 years. Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding held a ceremony at its shipyard to celebrate cutting the first sheet of steel to be used in the construction of the vessel for Interlake Steamship […]
SMU contributor Gaurav Chhibbar is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Gaurav’s previous role, he was a trader at Cargill spending time in […]
By CRU Analyst Michelle Liu Rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China have driven one of the largest w/w falls in iron ore prices, a drop of $21 /t w/w to $98 /t. The U.S. president’s threat of imposing 10 percent tariffs on the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese imports last Friday has escalated trade […]
By Josh Spoores, CRU Principal Analyst Sheet prices have continued to rise, but the bullish trend is clearly fading. Overall volume of spot transactions last week was the lowest recorded all year. Furthermore, manufacturing is now in recession based on the last two quarters of IP activity, while recent PMI data shows weakness in new […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Iron ore prices continued to decline in the past week as international steel prices continued to fall on a weak demand outlook for steel in the coming month. On Tuesday, Aug. 13, CRU assessed the 62% Fe fines price at $90.30 /t, down $7.70 /t w/w. Steel prices in […]
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 Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Iron ore prices were steady in the past week as mills in China continue to demand spot cargoes while inventories at ports and mills remain low. Seaborne supply has, although somewhat improved, remained relatively weak as we conclude the month of July, a month that typically has lower Australian […]
By CRU Analyst Chris Bandmann CRU is launching weekly Turkish HR coil export prices, enhancing the existing suite of weekly Turkish long product and scrap prices. This Insight being offered for these other markets has now been brought to flats – and offers a window into the world of Turkish hot rolled coil exports. Turkey […]
The surge in the price of iron ore and the decline in the price of scrap continued through mid-July, benefiting the EAF producers in the U.S. over the integrated mills Table 1 summarizes the price changes through July of the five materials considered in this analysis. It reports the month/month, 3 months/3 months and 12 […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores U.S. sheet prices continue to be supported by new mill price announcements as HR coil gained $5 /s.ton, rising to $553 /s.ton. This price assessment reflects transactions taking place last week. On Monday of this week, ArcelorMittal led the third round of increases since late June, signaling $630 /s.ton […]
By CRU Analyst Jordan Permain Ironmakers are continuously seeking ways to increase production efficiency and reduce costs but, particularly when profitability is good, productivity is a focus area. To achieve this, ironmakers can increase their usage of metallics in the blast furnace (BF), and benefits include not only increased productivity but also a lower coke […]
Cleveland Cliffs reported a dramatic increase to $249 million in adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter compared to $21 million in the first quarter of this year. Seasonality and stronger than expected demand resulted in shipping volumes of 6.2 million long tons. The full year pellet forecast remains at 20 million long tons despite reduced […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores and CRU North America Analyst Ryan McKinley U.S. domestic scrap prices fell by $10 /l.ton m/m in the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley for most grades prior to the Independence Day holiday, but dealers the following week pushed back on the price decline, with some successfully securing little to […]
SMU contributor Gaurav Chhibbar is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Gaurav’s previous role, he was a trader at Cargill spending time in […]
In this report, we examine the change in currency values of the 16 preeminent global steel and iron ore trading nations. The currencies of these 16 don’t necessarily follow the Broad Index value of the U.S. dollar. In fact, at any given time, some are always moving in the opposite direction. The latest value of […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Iron ore prices jumped back in the past week as Chinese iron ore demand remained steady while weak seaborne supply from Australia has kept port inventories at a low level. On Tuesday, July 16, CRU has assessed the 62% Fe fines price at $122.00 /t, a $4.00 /t increase […]
NLMK USA’s second-quarter sales dropped 3 percent from the previous quarter to 580,000 metric tons due to lower shipments in anticipation of further deterioration of steel prices. Flat steel prices in the U.S. went down by 6-11 percent from first to second quarter and 23-30 percent on a year-over-year basis. Pricing was impacted by steel […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Happy Bastille Day!! On Friday afternoon, which is traditionally the time to bury inconvenient news, the White House announced that President Trump had rejected the advice of the Secretary of Commerce to impose import restrictions on uranium trade. The […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores Sheet price movements have varied across the major markets since mid-June. There were slight gains in China and South East Asia, while prices in Europe were primarily steady m/m. However, for all other markets including North & South America, CIS, India and Japan, prices were lower by 3-9 percent […]
Ferrous scrap prices for July settled down $10 per ton in the Western Pennsylvania/Ohio/Indiana markets, stayed sideways in the southern markets, and saw a combination of the two at points west, reported Steel Market Update sources. “This is a far cry from recent expectations of down $20-30/GT and represents what I believe is the bottom […]
Ferrous scrap prices are widely expected to move up in August anywhere from $10 to $30 per ton, lending support to higher finished steel prices. “Most of the trade on both sides of the aisle are expecting the August market to strengthen, though there is debate on how much,” said one Steel Market Update source. […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg The high volatility in the iron ore market continues. After peaking on June 2, iron ore prices fell sharply at the end of last week before rebounding on Monday and Tuesday. On July 9, CRU has assessed the 62% Fe iron ore price at $118 /t, down $6.00 w/w. […]
Welcome back from the Fourth of July Holiday (at least here in the United States). Steel Market Update gave our employees a couple of days off as we prepare for the next big push all the way to Atlanta and the SMU Steel Summit Conference on Aug. 26-28. A few minutes after I told those […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Iron ore prices continued to climb in the past week as port stocks fell further and the market enters a period of weaker seaborne supply. On Tuesday, July 2, CRU assessed the 62% Fe fines price at $124 /t, up $7.50 /t w/w. Demand in China remains strong as […]
By CRU Analyst Erik Hedborg The iron ore price averaged $106 /t in June, which brings the 2019 year-to-date price as high as $90 /t. However, in the second half of the year, we see a few bearish factors that will contribute to prices being lower than they are today. Those factors include: • Demand contraction […]
Iron ore mine Magnetation is back in the news. Last time we reported on the company, the Iron Range was a hotbed of investment. Magnetation had been rescued from bankruptcy by Tom Clarke of ERP Iron Ore who was also rekindling operations at Mesabi Metallics (formerly Essar Steel Minnesota) with Chippewa Capital Partners. ERP filed […]