With hot rolled steel fast approaching $1,000 a ton, it’s only a matter of time before prices begin to cut into demand. Some SMU sources already report early signs of a demand shift. Others are less concerned about the volume of orders than about where they will get the steel to fill them if supplies […]
Hot rolled steel prices have not yet hit $1,000 a ton, but they are not far behind. Buyers tell Steel Market Update they are seeing offers as high as $1,020 per ton, but no takers so far. SMU puts the average HR price at around $950 per ton, up substantially over last week as the […]
Not only are wholesalers who service the HVAC and construction industries wondering how high galvanized steel prices can possibly go, they’re even more worried about how low prices could go once the market normalizes next year. In a conference call this morning, members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) reported firm […]
How much higher can steel prices go? It’s impossible to know, but given the current lead times, level of demand and the support higher prices are getting from distribution, and it appears prices may have some more upside. Steel Market Update estimated the average HRC price this past week at $865 per ton, with reports […]
Let’s play “fun facts.” Last week Steel Market Update published our average hot rolled spot price as $885 per ton ($44.25/cwt). With the domestic steel mills asking $900-$960 per ton for new orders of spot (if they are offering at all, which is a separate issue all by itself) SMU expects HRC spot prices to […]
Let’s play “fun facts.” Last week Steel Market Update published our average hot rolled steel spot price as $885 per ton ($44.25/cwt). With the domestic steel mills asking $900-$960 per ton for new orders of spot (if they are offering at all, which is a separate issue all by itself) SMU expects HRC spot prices […]
Steel supplies are so tight these days that $1,000 hot rolled is not out of the question. Which makes predictions of a coming “Steelmageddon” seem that much harder to believe. In fact, 60 percent of the service center and manufacturing executives who responded to Steel Market Update’s questionnaire this week do not view Steelmageddon as […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices continue to be quite fluid based on the analysis of the data from Steel Market Update’s survey of the market this week, as well as individual channel checks with both buyers and sellers. By “fluid,” we mean we are capturing variances in prices over a short period of time. […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor U.S. Steel announced the full buyout of Big River Steel this week, while Cleveland-Cliffs closed on its acquisition of ArcelorMittal’s U.S. assets. In any other week, these headlines would drive the news flow for steel buyers and sellers. However, news this week remains […]
Manufacturing has continued to reshore back to the United States this year, despite the challenges presented by COVID-19. Reshoring will continue to be an essential part of the recovery of the U.S. economy in 2021 and beyond, said Harry Moser, founder of the Reshoring Initiative, an advocacy group he formed in 2010 to bring manufacturing […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. David has over 20 years of trading experience in financial markets and has been active in the ferrous futures space for over eight years. You can learn more at www.thefeldstein.com or add him on twitter @TheFeldstein and on Instragram at #thefeldstein. During the […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. David has over 20 years of trading experience in financial markets and has been active in the ferrous futures space for over eight years. You can learn more at www.thefeldstein.com or add him on twitter @TheFeldstein and on Instragram at #thefeldstein. For some […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. David has over 20 years of trading experience in financial markets and has been active in the ferrous futures space for over eight years. You can learn more at www.thefeldstein.com or add him on twitter @TheFeldstein and on Instragram at #thefeldstein. Today’s CME […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. David has over 20 years of trading experience in financial markets and has been active in the ferrous futures space for over eight years. You can learn more at www.thefeldstein.com or add him on twitter @TheFeldstein and on Instragram at #thefeldstein. This week, […]
Steel Market Update’s latest foreign vs. domestic hot rolled steel price comparison shows that steel imports continue to become more enticing to U.S. buyers, according to the latest SMU and CRU price indices. U.S. producers have again lost their price advantage over HRC imports from Far East Asia, and imports from Germany and Italy are […]
Yesterday (Wednesday, Dec. 2) we hosted one of our SMU Community Chat Webinars. The guest speaker was Josh Spoores, Principal Analyst and editor of the Sheet Monitor for CRU. I thought it was one of the best presentations and discussions we have ever had at one of our webinars. You can see a recording and […]
Steel buyers continue to feel solidly optimistic about their prospects in the weeks and months ahead, though the limited availability of steel is causing widespread concern. As one service center exec commented this week: “The tightness in supply is what will hinder us from being successful. We can’t make a sale if we can’t get […]
Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week shows another jump for both flat rolled and plate, taking the benchmark price for hot rolled steel to an average of $805 per ton. Sources commonly reported paying as much as $840 to secure hot rolled in a market where availability is becoming a critical issue. […]
Flat rolled steel prices just keep ratcheting up as supplies remain extremely tight, with lead times continuing to extend and sources warning of impending shortages of some products (see related articles in this issue). Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week moves the benchmark price for hot rolled up to $770 per ton, […]
Flat rolled steel prices just keep ratcheting up as supplies remain extremely tight, with lead times continuing to extend and sources warning of impending shortages of some products (see related articles in this issue). Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week moves the benchmark price for hot rolled up to $770 per ton, […]
How much further can lead times extend? We’ll let you know. But there is no sign yet that they have peaked. Lead times for delivery of spot orders continue to stretch with hot rolled now averaging nearly seven weeks and coated steel orders nearly nine and a half weeks. Lead times are an indicator of […]
Lead times for spot orders of hot rolled steel have extended by another half-week as demand persistently outpaces supplies. Lead times for steel deliveries continue to stretch with hot rolled now averaging nearly seven and a half weeks and coated steel orders around nine and a half weeks. Lead times are an indicator of steel demand—longer […]
The thought of a possible steel shortage gained new ground this past week as news of spreading coronavirus infections at ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor, the breakout at the No. 2 caster at Dofasco, the slow return of production at Stelco due to a hack of their computer systems, and the continued strike at the NLMK USA […]
Steel Market Update’s latest foreign vs. domestic hot rolled steel price comparison shows that steel imports have become more enticing to U.S. buyers than in previous months, according to the latest SMU and CRU price indices. In our previous update in early November, U.S. producers had lost their price advantage over HRC imports from Far East […]
Plate prices have finally gained some traction, seeing a notable jump this past week to an average of $720 per ton, according to Steel Market Update’s latest check of the market. Nucor and SSAB Americas announced plate increases this week in hopes of maintaining that upward momentum. Flat rolled prices continued their relentless climb, with […]
Flat Rolled = 43.1 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 45.9 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Service center flat roll inventories fell to a new low in October, amid extending mill lead times and shipment delays. Service centers carried 43.1 shipping days of supply at the end of October, which is a 3.8 percent […]
The Perfect Storm: Long lead times, late deliveries, low service center inventories, strong demand, higher prices, lack of foreign steel imports, mill outages both planned and unplanned, maximum capacity utilization rates at a number of mills, NLMK USA strike, higher ferrous scrap prices that are expected to go much higher in the coming months, restrictions […]
The SMU Steel Price Momentum Indicators on all flat rolled and plate steel products are currently pointing toward higher prices over the next 30 days. We expect hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, Galvalume and steel plate pricing to increase during the coming weeks. The two major reasons for our position are the limitations of supply […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued to rise last week, though at a modest $5-10 per ton pace. The exception was Galvalume, which jumped by $40 as demand continues to outpace supplies. The benchmark average for hot rolled coil, at $710 per ton, surpassed the $700 level, where many had expected it to peak. With demand […]
Steel Market Update’s latest foreign vs. domestic hot rolled steel price comparison shows that steel imports have become more enticing to U.S. buyers than in previous weeks. U.S producers appear to have lost their price advantage over HRC imports from Far East Asia, according to the latest SMU and CRU price indices. The price differentials between […]