I’d halfway expected to see hot-rolled coil prices come down this week. A few of you made the case for price declines. The logic: softer demand meeting increased domestic supply and higher import volumes. Some of you also noted that lead times, while not bad, were hardly strong enough to support another round of price […]
Sheet prices inched up this week on less discounting from major mills and on expectations that activity could improve in the coming weeks as OEMs return to the market following widespread summer shutdowns in early July. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price stands at $890 per ton ($44.50 per cwt), up $10 per ton from last week […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) last week announced a two- to four-week outage on the hot mill at its Sinton, Texas, flat-rolled mill. The company said on Friday, July 7, that the unplanned outage resulted from “caster shear equipment issues” that occurred on July 1, but that it will continue to operate the cold mill and coating lines. Steel Market Update has […]
Steel Dynamics (SDI) announced a two- to four-week outage on the hot mill at its flat-rolled steel mill in Sinton, Texas. The Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker said it expected the hot mill to restart before July 30. The company said in a release on Friday, July 7, that the outage, which was unplanned, resulted from “caster shear equipment […]
The LME aluminum 3-month price is moving down again after the 4th of July holiday and was last trading near $2,130 per metric ton (as of the writing of this article on July 7). The fact that the price resumed sharp declines and is not challenging the next resistance at $2,200 per metric ton shows […]
Lead times were broadly stable this week, with sheet products rising modestly and plate unchanged from SMU’s market check two weeks ago. More meaningful movements in lead times should be seen in the coming weeks as buyers return to the market after the Fourth of July holiday. Should the mills’ recent sheet price hikes take […]
Sheet prices were little changed this week amid typically slower activity around the Fourth of July. Market participants said that another round of sheet price hikes might come later this week or early next to shore up an initial round of price increases announced in mid-June. In the meantime, some of the heavy discounting that […]
SMU will be celebrating Independence Day along with the rest of you, so we won’t have an issue on Tuesday, July 4. I’ve highlighted three things to think about in the meantime whether you’re traveling to visit friends and family, stocking up on fireworks, or planning a quiet BBQ. Have Prices Found a Floor? We’ve […]
It’s been a wild ride in the HRC futures market since we last wrote this column. The chart below shows the CME Futures curve at our last publication at the beginning of June (yellow) and the last three weeks since Nucor’s initial price announcement (blue). A month ago, the physical market was in the doldrums. […]
US hot-rolled coil (HRC) remains at a premium to offshore product, even as recent price declines have brought domestic hot band to its lowest mark since mid-February, according to SMU’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis. HRC tags stateside are down $285 per ton since peaking at $1,160 per ton back in mid-April, and are […]
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects, including steel prices, demand levels, and import offers. Rather than summarizing the comments we received, we are sharing some of them in each buyer’s own words. We want to hear your thoughts, too! Contact david@steelmarketupdate.com to be included in our […]
Our HRC price is flat this week, and there is a roughly 50/50 split between those who think the $50-per-ton sheet price hikes announced earlier this month will stick and those who think they won’t. I’m not going to weigh in on which side could be right. But it doesn’t appear to have fazed domestic mills, […]
A round of price increases announced by domestic mills in mid-June appears to have stabilized pricing for hot-rolled coil for the time being. Meanwhile, rumors of another round of price hikes ping-ponged around the market on Tuesday, with sources predicting another wave of hikes sometime between this week and mid-July. SMU’s average HRC prices stands […]
Companies should keep a watchful eye on pricing and lead times, according to members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) speaking on the June 27 meeting of its Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council. During May’s meeting, most HARDI participants thought that prices would continue to drop. Over half of the individuals thought it […]
Editor’s note: Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, contact Lindsey Fox at lindsey@steelmarketupdate.com. Steel Market Update’s Demand Index reached a seven-month low this past week, according to the latest survey data. Apparent demand for flat-rolled steel in the […]
US mills are now seeking as much as $950 per ton ($47.50 per cwt) for hot-rolled coil after the latest round of price hikes. The big question remains whether that figure will stick, “stop the bleeding,” or if it risks failing. It’s too early to provide any concrete answers to that. Our latest market survey found […]
Offshore hot-rolled coil (HRC) remains at a discount to domestic product, though the US premium is at its lowest mark in nearly four months, according to SMU’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis. Prices for hot band stateside have eroded sharply over the past few weeks, down $115 per net ton so far in June, […]
In SMU’s market check this week, lead times for sheet and plate pulled back to some of the shortest times seen in several months. To see lead times this short, we have to go back to March for plate, January for galvanized sheet, and December for hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and Galvalume sheet. With mills pushing for […]
How can SMU’s sheet prices go down shortly after a round of $50-per-ton mill price hikes? Long story short: It’s because we’re capturing both pre- and post-increase pricing in our survey as well as in calls and emails with some of you. And, as those of you who’ve been in the industry for a while […]
Flat Rolled = 51.4 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 55.4 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel inventories were nearly flat month on month in May with shipments still strong. Service centers carried 51.4 shipping days of supply at the end of May, according to adjusted SMU data. This was […]
What to make of the latest round of sheet prices hikes: Are they aimed at stopping the bleeding, getting buyers off the sidelines, or actually getting sheet prices back up again? These are serious questions now in a way that they weren’t after U. S. Steel first announced its price hike last Wednesday. That hike […]
Offshore hot-rolled coil (HRC) remains at a discount to domestic product, as prices abroad have eroded at a faster pace than tags stateside, according to SMU’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis. While prices of both imported and domestic hot band continue to decline, domestic HRC’s declines have not been consistently as sharp as the […]
The US Federal Reserve has taken some pressure out of the market by announcing a pause in interest rate hikes, leaving rates at 5% to 5.25% after more than a year of consecutive rate increases. The decision on Wednesday came a day after official figures showed US inflation was 4% – the lowest pace of […]
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects, including steel prices, demand levels, and import offers. Rather than summarizing the comments we received, we are sharing some of them in each buyer’s own words. We want to hear your thoughts, too! Contact david@steelmarketupdate.com to be included in our […]
U.S. Steel aims to increase base prices on spot orders of flat-rolled steel by at least $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt.) The move is effective immediately and applies to “all open quotations and/or negotiations where an agreement is yet to be concluded,” the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said in a letter to it sales executives on […]
Sometimes it seems the whole world is downstream of the steel industry. Now, that may be a side effect of spending my days immersed in lead times, steel buyers sentiment, and hot-rolled coil futures. That would be a fair assessment. However, looking into the testimonies from the Congressional Steel Caucus’ recent hearing on June 7 […]
Sheet prices fell at a more modest pace this week after a sharp decline last week, as business seemed somewhat curbed. After Memorial Day prices fell, leading to the sharpest price drop since June 21, 2022. Now, the slide seems to have temporarily cooled, though sources indicated it was almost exclusively due to a lack of activity. SMU’s hot-rolled […]
This weekend I was at my daughters’ swim meet. It’s a recreational summer league, so not all the kids are very competitive, but they all seem to have a great time cheering each other on. The sportsmanship was unrivaled. All the kids shook each other’s hands after each heat, and nobody exited the water until […]
The LME aluminum three-month price is moving higher again as the week ending June 9 closes trading at $2,230/t. Failing to dip below the critical transition price of $2,000/t, The LME steadied itself despite very lackluster demand anywhere in the world. Trading in China also kept the regional exchange there neutral, if not a bit […]
Domestic hot band prices are rolling downhill at a rate that looks to be accelerating. As SMU managing editor Michael Cowden pointed out in Tuesday night’s Final Thoughts, present dynamics are eerily like what we saw last summer. And we all know where that led us: to a low of $615 per ton ($30.75 per […]