With other periodicals calling a top or “peak” to flat rolled prices, the pressure has been put on Steel Market Update to clear up the muddied waters. From our perspective, the peak is usually identified when one of the domestic steel mills breaks ranks and starts cutting deals at numbers less than what they were […]
The main issue driving steel prices during the month of July was supply and the constraints in supply related to production issues at the North American steel producers. U.S. Steel Lake Erie Works continued to be on lockout throughout July. The 2.5 million ton a year slab and hot rolled mill was first locked out […]
From Steel Market Update perspective there are a number of keys to watch during the month of August: • Scrap prices: Shredded scrap prices are forecast to be down $10-$20 per gross ton due to oversupply. Other scrap grades such as cut grades and prime are forecast to be sideways to down $5 per […]
By Sandy Williams Russel Metals reported second quarter earnings of $20 million on sales of $758 million, as compared to $23 million on sales of $719 millions in 2012. Revenues dropped 13 percent in the metals service center segment and 29 percent in the steel distributors segment due to lower demand levels and pricing. Energy […]
SMU doesn’t normally publish obituaries. I found the one about Berthod Beitz former Chairman of Krupp Steel especially touching and important to acknowledge. For the younger generation the idea of death camps and the world at war must be quite foreign. Even those of us born after World War II have only faded memories of […]
Written by: John Packard SMU thought our readers might be interested in what the domestic mills are “publishing” as lead times as of Monday of this week for new orders placed at that time. We have a number of mill lead times for you to review. AK Steel has informed their customers that their Middletown […]
Written by: John Packard Are we seeing early signs of prices weakening? The combination of our survey, which began on Thursday of last week and concluded earlier today, and our channel checks with both manufacturing and distributors produced a wider range in pricing than we had been seeing in recent weeks. Is this the beginning […]
Written by: John Packard Steel Market Update has been conducting our twice monthly steel surveys for approximately five years now. When we started, we chose people and companies with whom we trusted and had worked with knowing we could depend on the quality of the information gathered. Having worked within the industry for over 30 […]
Lead times continue to be quite short on all but Galvalume. Hot rolled lead times retreated to —- weeks based on the results from our ongoing SMU steel survey. Cold rolled and galvanized lead times remained relatively stable compared to the beginning of the month. According to our survey responders, mills are more willing to […]
The domestic steel mills continue to struggle to keep the flat rolled steel averages (indices) above benchmark levels. Hot rolled coil, which according to our index rose during the previous two weeks to $615 per ton (average), is now struggling to hold its gains. Other flat rolled items are having their issues and this was […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Metalforming companies are expecting business to be steady for the next three months according to the March 2013 Precision Metalforming Association Business Conditions Report. Optimism has been rising since November and has flattened out in February and March. Incoming orders are not expected to change much in the next three […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has been speaking to a number of service centers regarding their spot sales and especially those sales which are made between service centers or brokers. A number of service centers have been commenting about their spot warehouse business being off over the past three months. Lisa Goldenberg of Delaware Steel told […]
Our SMU Price Momentum Indicator continues to be at Neutral and has been for 14 weeks. We do not yet see enough momentum to cause prices to rise or fall quickly. The market appears to be in a slightly over-supplied basis and demand – at the moment – is flat. Not dead by any means, […]
The domestic mills are trying to collect increases – some are a little more adamant than others – but there does appear to be an effort. Lead times continue to be relatively short for this time of year. Demand levels are inconsistent with a number of service centers reporting slower shipments than anticipated for the […]
Batting average is around .500 – Half Stick, Half Don’t Remember the good old days when the domestic steel industry would announce price increases based on the flow of business – when order flows increased to a point where mill books were strained and lead times became extended and industry prices moved higher? The “new […]
SMU asked those taking this week’s steel survey if the latest price announcement stood a better chance of having at least some of the increase being collected than the one announced six weeks prior. We presented the percentages in our last issue of Steel Market Update (SMU 3/6) and now we would like to provide […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Day one of the SMU Steel 101: Introduction to Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals workshop ended by rubbing shoulders with our mill hosts at a cocktail party at our hotel. This was my first opportunity to speak to the General Manager of the Severstal Columbus plant as well as a number of […]
Mill lead times grew only fractionally since the price increase announcements which began on Tuesday of this past week. Based on our SMU steel market survey results, hot rolled lead times went from 3.15 weeks to 3.28 weeks; cold rolled actually declined from 4.97 weeks to 4.65 weeks; galvanized rose slightly from 5.14 weeks to […]
Written by: Bradley Clark, Director of Steel Trading, Kataman Metals Well it certainly is beginning to feel like déjà vu all over again. Last week’s price hike announcements come during the same last week of the month as they did the previous month. They came after the spot price was trending down and after deals […]
Optimism waned this week as steel buyers and sellers toiled over price announcements, demand questions and a heightened sense of insecurity regarding their company’s ability to be successful in the current market environment. Based on the results from our just completed steel market survey, SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index dropped 6 points to +15 from […]
Large steel buyers with whom Steel Market Update had direct contact with over the past few working days paint a picture of the domestic mills still uncomfortable leading on pricing. Although that may be changing as word starts to spread on the newest scrap pricing. We saw a widening of the range on hot rolled […]
On Monday Steel Market Update will begin our next steel market survey. This will be the first for the month of March. Invitations should go out at approximately 8 AM ET. This will be an interesting week as we watch scrap prices, mill lead times and for evidence that the domestic mills will be serious […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Activity in the manufacturing sector continued to improve in February according the latest Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Report on Business. The February PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) registered at 54.2, indicating growth in the manufacturing sector for the third consecutive month since its drop below the neutral point to 49.9 in […]
The Chicago Purchasing Managers reported the Chicago Business Barometer rose again, up 1.2 points to 56.8, its highest level since last March. There was improvement in New Orders, Order Backlogs, and Supplier Deliveries while Production and Employment expanded at a slower pace. New orders reported its third consecutive monthly gain and 11-month high while order […]
Written by: Andre Marshall, Crunchrisk LLC So far on the SP we have made it as high as 1532 on Feb 19th only to have retrace back to 1490 area before rebounding the last two days to 1515-1520 area. The market is becoming a bit more volatile. Poor fundamentals and money chasing returns will provide for […]
Frustration appears to be running high as buyers and sellers try to hold on to the gains (or to the floor) made a few weeks ago. Despite their order books being weak, domestic mills do not seem willing to go below (or in many cases match) their previous deal. However, if they are not willing […]
Split on Increase, Lead Times, Sentiment for Sideways Pricing – Market has Little Direction Steel Market Update (SMU) continues to set a new record each week we hold our Price Momentum Indicator at Neutral. The longest previous record for a Neutral indication for market price direction was five weeks (back in late May/June 2011) for […]
Written by: John Packard, Publisher An important piece of the value behind Steel Market Update is based on the relationships I developed during my 31 year tenure in the flat rolled steel business. Over that period of time I interacted with hundreds of companies in various capacities but primarily in a sales or management function. […]
Based on the results of this week’s survey, lead times on hot rolled and cold rolled slid slightly compared to where they were at the beginning of the month. We found aluminized to have dropped by slightly more than half a week from 6.40 weeks down to 5.83 weeks while galvanized lead times actually increased […]
The HARDI wholesalers who participate in the distribution of galvanized steel into the HVAC industry held their monthly conference call this morning to discuss the steel market. At the time of the last call held in late January, AK Steel had just announced a $40 per ton price increase and the HARDI members were waiting […]