Cleveland Cliffs and the United Steelworkers have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year labor contract that is effective as of Oct. 1, 2018. Lourenco Goncalves, Chairman, President and CEO, stated, “We are pleased to reach a new labor contract that is fair and equitable to both parties and provides Cliffs a competitive cost […]
In the last month, eight of the 16 currencies that Steel Market Update tracks were down against the dollar and eight were up. This was a dramatic change from the May-August period when few of the 16 appreciated against the dollar (just one in May, two in June, three in July and two in August). […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Director of Risk Management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
Cleveland Cliffs has filed a lawsuit over mineral rights in Nashwauk, Minnesota. The iron ore company has filed suit against the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, MDNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr and Mesabi Metallics, to prohibit Mesabi Metallics from mining iron ore on properties owned or controlled by Cleveland Cliffs. Cliffs purchased surface and mineral rights […]
Our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop will be held in Toledo, Ohio on December 11 & 12, 2018. We will be touring the North Star BlueScope steel mill. The NSB mill produces steel from scrap, pig iron and other iron units in their EAF (electric arc furnace). SMU would […]
Steel Market Update’s next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop will be held in Starkville, Miss., on Jan. 29-30, 2019. We will be touring the Steel Dynamics Columbus steel mill. The SDI mill produces steel from scrap, pig iron and other iron units in their EAF (electric arc furnace). SMU would […]
Table 1 summarizes the August prices of the five materials considered in this report and the month/month, three months/three months and year/year change. In the last month, coking coal FOB Australia’s East Coast eked out a small gain as the other four experienced price declines. At the Jackson Hole meeting of the Fed on Friday, […]
Recent price changes have been mixed for steelmaking commodities. In the last three months, coking coal and iron ore have trended up as pig iron, scrap and zinc have trended down. Table 1 summarizes the September prices of the five materials considered in this report and the month/month, three months/three months and year/year change. Iron […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Director of Risk Management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
Chinese steel trade data was recently released for the month of July 2018, providing updated data on iron ore imports, scrap imports and flat rolled imports and exports. Chinese imports of iron ore in July totaled 89,960,000 metric tons, an increase of 8.1 percent from the previous month, and an increase of 4.3 percent from […]
Editor’s note: The following report on China was contributed by the CRU Group. A power shortage is causing steel production reduction in China’s Hebei province, while in Shandong provincial authorities have ordered a new round of capacity cutbacks across the steel, aluminum and coal sectors. To ensure power for residential use, leading electricity supplier, the […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Director of Risk Management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
Iron ore prices have jumped from about $62 to $66 per ton in the past month, but the change is only temporary, said CRU senior analyst Erik Hedborg. “Ore prices are slightly higher in July, but we expect them to continue to fall for the rest of the year.” Hedborg attributes the July bump to […]
Some quick comments I received as I moved around the market today talking about steel prices: JSW Ohio (Acero Junction mill) just got in 50,000 tons of slabs and is in the market. Credit issues are becoming an issue for companies as their customers are reaching their limits sooner due to the high cost of […]
Gaurav Chhibbar is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this new role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategy for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Gaurav’s previous role, he was a Trader at Cargill spending time in Metal […]
Steel Market Update’s latest look at commodity prices shows pig iron up, iron ore and zinc down, and coking coal and scrap stable in recent trading. Table 1 summarizes the current prices of the five materials considered in this report and the year-over-year change. Iron Ore The price of 62% fines delivered North China was […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. announced on Monday that the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware reaffirmed the company’s 2017 acquisition of land located in Nashwauk, MN. The ruling resolved the land dispute in favor of Cliffs and Glacier Park Iron Ore Properties LLC (“GPIOP”). Cliffs hopes to develop a financially stable plan for the site […]
Cleveland Cliffs reported consolidated revenues of $714 million for the second quarter of 2018. Revenues jumped 52 percent from first quarter revenue of $471 million. Net income for the quarter was $165 million, which included a $64 million loss from discontinued operations, primarily associated with the sale of the company’s Asia Pacific Iron Ore assets. Adjusted […]
Nucor’s consolidated net earnings in the second quarter of 2018 jumped to $683.2 million, the second highest quarterly earnings in the company’s history. In comparison, earnings were $354.2 million in the first quarter and $323 million in Q2 2017. Nucor’s Chairman and CEO John Ferriola attributed the successful quarter to an upturn in the steel […]
The U.S. dollar is continuing to surge. Through July 6, the strength of the dollar was up by 5.7 percent in three months and by 1.1 percent in the previous 30 days. (See the end of this report for an explanation of data sources.) The Broad Index value of the U.S. dollar is reported several […]
In the last months, 14 of the 16 currencies that Steel Market Update tracks were down against the dollar, led by Turkey down by 29.4 percent, and Russia and South Africa both down by 8.5 percent. The Chinese yuan has declined by 7.9 percent in the last three months. Please see the end of this […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Director of Risk Management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
U.S. treasury yields are surging and this is contributing to the recent advance in the value of the dollar on foreign exchange markets. The dollar has strengthened by 4.5 percent in the last three months and also by 4.5 percent since Jan. 2. Please see the end of this report for an explanation of data […]
U.S. scrap exports expanded by 31 percent in the first four months of 2018, while total global scrap trade has been trending up since Q1 2016. Steel Market Update performs this analysis quarterly to help readers understand the gyrations of the domestic scrap market and where the U.S. stands as a global player. This data […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Director of Risk Management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
I spent all day on Wednesday of this week in the Pittsburgh offices of the CRU Group. I was impressed with the people working out of Pittsburgh and was even more impressed with the size and scope of the company here in the United States and across the world. The company indexes all kinds of […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Director of Risk Management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
Cleveland Cliffs will no longer have a stake in Australian iron ore mining. The company announced on Tuesday that it will sell all of the assets of its Asia Pacific Iron Ore business to Australian mining company Mineral Resources Limited. The sale continues Cliffs’ strategy to concentrate on assets in the United States. The transaction […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Director of Risk Management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
The American iron and steel industry supports nearly two million jobs and contributes more than $520 billion to the U.S. economy, when considering the direct, indirect (supplier) and induced impacts of related commerce, claims a study released last week by the research firm John Dunham & Associates. The study also shows that the iron and […]