Earlier this week SMU canvassed buyers on a variety of subjects, ranging from steel prices and demand to supply chain issues and new domestic capacity. Rather than summarizing the comments we received, we thought it would be fitting to share them in each buyers’ own words. Where do you think steel prices will bottom, and […]
Steel prices eased each week in May, following increases in March and most of April. Hot rolled prices were $1,440 per ton ($72 per cwt) the first week of May, just $40 lower than the mid-April peak. Prices then slipped between $15 and $75 each of the following weeks, with the SMU index averaging $1,255 […]
Sheet and plate prices continue to fall. That’s not a surprise, as there is little reason for them to do otherwise. What is surprising when you step back is just how quickly prices have fallen, and how much further they could continue to fall. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price now stands at $1,255 per ton ($62.75 […]
Sheet and plate prices continued to slip this week on expectations of lower scrap costs in June, increased import competition, and so-so demand, market participants said. Hot-rolled coil prices were down $35 per ton as were plate prices. Coated products were off by $25 per ton. Cold-rolled prices were up $10 per ton – or effectively […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), scrap and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Hot Rolled Physical HR prices continue to decline at a steady pace. Spot indexes have declined almost $140/ST since the end of […]
Steel Market Update’s latest check of the market indicates steel mill lead times are slowly reverting back towards historical norms for most sheet products, while Galvalume and plate lead times inched up compared to two weeks prior. Lead times are now in line with levels seen in the beginning of 2022. Buyers surveyed this week […]
Prices are down across the board this week. That’s not new if you’ve been paying attention lately. Price increases are often announced. Decreases rarely are. What’s new is Nucor’s almost aggressively transparent pricing strategy – announcing not only price increases but also flat and decreasing prices. That is new on the sheet and plate side […]
Flat-rolled steel prices were down again this week. Not as much as some had feared but the drops were more substantial than those hoping for a modest decline or stable pricing might have liked. The takeaway: Hot-rolled coil is now down $190 per ton ($9.50 per cwt) over the last five weeks. In other words, […]
Distributors who sell galvanized steel products continue to see balanced inventory levels and strong demand. In their monthly conference call earlier today, members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) expressed optimism even as steel prices are on the decline. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine helped reset the steel market, explained Steel Market Update Senior […]
Distributors who sell galvanized steel products continue to see balanced inventory levels and strong demand. In their monthly conference call earlier today, members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) expressed optimism even as steel prices are on the decline. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine helped reset the steel market, explained Steel Market Update Senior […]
Nucor will decrease plate prices by $50-200 per ton ($2.50-10 per cwt) depending on the product. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker made the announcement with the opening of its July orderbook for plate. Prices for as-rolled and normalized plate will be cut by $50 per ton, those for cut-to-length plate less than 72 inches wide will […]
What a whirlwind last week was. I want to thank Wolfe Research and Bank of America for inviting me to speak, the former virtually, the latter in person. I also want to thank Stanislav Zinchenko and the GMK Center for taking time to join us for what I thought was one of our better Community […]
What a whirlwind last week was. I want to thank Wolfe Research and Bank of America for inviting me to speak, the former virtually, the latter in person. I also want to thank Stanislav Zinchenko and the GMK Center for taking time to join us for what I thought was one of our better Community […]
What’s up with plate? I’ve been asked again and again how plate has managed to maintain such a high premium over sheet this year. Here are a few arguments that have been made to me over the past week in support of high plate prices. And below that are a few charts I still find […]
The temptation to purchase foreign hot rolled over domestic steel remains high, according to SMU’s latest foreign versus domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) price comparison. Select foreign HRC prices range from $164-364 per ton cheaper than domestic prices, after taking freight costs, trader margins and tariffs into consideration. The price differentials between domestic HRC and foreign import […]
Sheet prices slipped again this week on what some sources described as a summertime market that has arrived a few weeks earlier than usual. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price was down $15 per ton week-over-week (WoW) to an average of $1,350 per ton ($67.50 per cwt). Other sheet products also fell, with cold-rolled down $30 per […]
North American auto assemblies shrank by 15.8% in April, falling for the first time in 2022 as ongoing supply hurdles mount. Despite the recent decline, North American production has improved since bottoming out last December. April’s results are just 4.6% higher year-on-year (YoY), and still 14.4% below the pre-pandemic period of April 2019. North American […]
Flat Rolled = 51.4 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 48.3 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat rolled inventories declined slightly in April in terms of shipping days of supply, while the amount of material on order rose again. At the end of April, service centers carried 51.4 shipping days of […]
We’ve been writing a lot about fob mill prices falling. That’s not happening in a vacuum. Service center resale prices are coming down as well. That’s notable because service center resale prices, like mill lead times, are usually a reliable indicator of which way steel prices will go in the months ahead. What’s also notable […]
Steel prices have peaked and are trending downward – and fast, according to the latest SMU survey results and comments from market participants. The consensus: the war in Ukraine reset the steel market to roughly where it was on Jan. 1. And now the market is trending downward at least as fast as it was in January […]
The US Department of Commerce has made affirmative preliminary determinations in the trade case investigating the dumping of OCTG by Argentina, Mexico, and Russia. High dumping margins were set for most producers and exporters from the three countries, which could slow down OCTG imports further in an already undersupplied market. Critical circumstances were found to […]
Steel Market Update’s market check this week indicates steel mill lead times are shortening for both sheet and plate products, easing an average of 0.9 weeks compared to two weeks prior. This also marks the first time lead times have fallen consecutively since January. Lead times for all tracked products are now roughly in line with levels […]
Foreign steel imports continue to hold a competitive price advantage over domestic steel, albeit at a slightly lesser potential discount this week compared to last. According to SMU’s latest foreign versus domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) price comparison, select foreign HRC prices range from $92-345 per ton ($4.6-$17.25 per cwt) cheaper than domestic prices, after taking […]
Total mill shipments of steel products recovered in March following repeated declines at the start the year. March’s mill shipments totaled 8.342 million tons, a 9% increase from February’s 7.655 million tons. Apparent supply also surged in March, up 12.9% versus the prior month, and expanding for the first time in three months. This analysis is based […]
Sheet prices fell hard this week after bouncing around between about $1,440-1,480 per ton ($72-74 per cwt) for much of April. Our average hot-rolled coil price dropped to $1,365 per ton this week, down $75 per ton (5.2%) from $1,440 per ton a week ago and down $115 per ton (7.8%) from $1,480 per ton […]
Sheet prices have fallen sharply following weeks of more modest declines. The big drops this week prompted SMU to shift all its sheet price momentum indicators from neutral to lower. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price plunged $75 per ton ($3.75 per cwt) week-over-week, falling well below the $1,400-per-ton threshold. Cold rolled fell $55 per ton, galvanized […]
The US steel market continues to revert to where it was before the outbreak of war in Ukraine. SMU’s prices for sheet products are lower. Prices abroad are too. The latest bit of evidence: Published mill lead times. Case in point: Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) published updated lead times on Tuesday, May 3. They indicated […]
Foreign steel imports continue to hold a competitive price advantage over domestic steel, with the spread between the two widening nearly every week since mid-March. According to SMU’s latest foreign versus domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) price comparison, select foreign HRC prices range from $114-375 per ton cheaper than domestic prices, after taking freight costs, trader margins […]
Sheet prices were flat or lower again this week on expectations of lower scrap prices and concerns about increased import competition over the summer months. Hot-rolled coil prices were down $10 per ton, cold-rolled prices were unchanged, galvanized base prices down $30 per ton, and Galvalume base prices down $35 per ton. Plate prices were […]
Steel prices were relatively steady in April, following increases in March. Hot rolled prices were at $1,460 per ton ($73 per cwt) the first week of April, the highest level seen since January 2022. Prices then bounced around within a $30 per ton range for the remainder of the month, with the SMU index averaging $1,450 per ton as […]