Metalforming companies are expecting business conditions to slow slightly during the next three months as new orders decline, according to the October 2018 Precision Metalforming Association survey. Average daily shipping levels also decreased in October with 23 percent of firms forecasting a decrease in orders compared to 15 percent last month. Only 2 percent of […]
Flat rolled steel prices have stalled, despite the increase announcements out of many of the domestic steel mills. Plate steel spot prices, on the other hand, continue to remain firm in December with an expectation of a $40 price increase being collected in January. Steel Market Update canvassed the flat rolled and plate steel buyers […]
Flat rolled steel prices have stalled, despite the increase announcements out of many of the domestic steel mills. Plate steel spot prices, on the other hand, continue to remain firm in December with an expectation of a $40 price increase being collected in January. Steel Market Update canvassed the flat rolled and plate steel buyers […]
The price increase on flat rolled seems to have “fizzled out,” according to many of the steel buyers Steel Market Update spoke with over the past two days. A number of mills have sweetened their end-of-the-year deals in order to finish out their 2018 order book. This is not unusual during a normal fourth quarter, […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum reported its second highest quarterly net sales in the company’s history. Third-quarter net sales jumped 21.4 percent year-over-year to $2.97 billion, down just 0.5 percent from the record set in the second quarter at $2.99 billion. Reliance net income for the quarter of $148.2 million was impacted by a $36.8 million […]
Flat rolled steel buyers are advising Steel Market Update that lead times have extended about one week since the recent price announcements. The mills continue to ask about their competition and to negotiate, which is not a sure-fire sign of strength or conviction in the new increases. Plate is a different animal and continues to […]
SSAB Americas and Nucor both announced a $40 per ton increase in the price of plate products this week. SSAB Americas informed customers on Monday, Oct. 22, that it is increasing transaction prices on plate products by a minimum of $40 per ton, effective immediately for all non-contract orders acknowledged for shipment the week of […]
The Nucor Plate Group announced today, Oct. 23, that it is raising transaction prices on carbon and alloy plate and heat-treated plate by $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt). The increase takes effect immediately on all new orders promised on or after Jan. 1, 2019. All published extras will be applied. Nucor’s last price hike on plate […]
For the past two weeks, Steel Market Update has been collecting data from the flat rolled and plate steel service centers in the United States who participate in our Service Center Inventories Index. The number of months of supply of flat rolled steel being held on the distributors’ floors increased to 2.8 months. Plate inventories […]
Twice per month, Steel Market Update conducts a detailed analysis of the flat rolled and plate steel markets through an online questionnaire. We invite 640 individuals to provide their opinions about the flat rolled and plate markets, what are the driving factors behind pricing, lead times, and mill negotiations, as well as how they feel […]
Twice per month, Steel Market Update conducts a detailed analysis of the flat rolled and plate steel markets through an online questionnaire. We invite 640 individuals to provide their opinions about the flat rolled and plate markets, what are the driving factors behind pricing, lead times, and mill negotiations, as well as how they feel […]
The following calculation is used by Steel Market Update to identify the theoretical spread between foreign hot rolled steel import prices (delivered to USA ports) and domestic hot rolled coil prices (FOB domestic mills). We want our readers to be aware that this is only a “theoretical” calculation as freight costs, trader margin and other […]
Lead times for most flat rolled steel products ticked up slightly this month, according to returns from Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire. Could this signal the end of the downtrend? This is an important question considering the domestic steel mills announced price increases just last week. Lead times for steel delivery are a […]
I had an interesting conversation with James (Jim) Banker, Jr., who is the Executive Vice President of NLMK USA late this afternoon. We discussed a couple of topics. One I described in an earlier article about their Allegheny Technologies Inc. slab tolling arrangement announced this morning. The second topic was about why NLMK USA has […]
They may be off the table as of today, but late last week (and some buyers reported some still existing early this week) there were special deals – many tied to large tonnage – as the domestic mills attempted to fill their hot rolled order books. We did have a number of buyers and a […]
With the market sending mixed signals, distributors of HVAC products are keeping inventories lean as they wait to see if the price increase just announced by the steel mills gains any traction. “You can make a case for prices to go either way,” said one member of the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) […]
It is always a struggle to find the proper footing after the domestic mills make a price announcement that, on its face, appears to be a way of stopping the sub-$800 offers and put a floor (however temporary) to the market. To me, it is quite telling when one or two mills that normally follow […]
Yesterday, Nucor announced a $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt) price increase on all flat rolled products they produce. The increase was to take effect immediately on all “spot” orders. On paper, the increase announcement does not impact contract pricing. However, steel buyers are advising Steel Market Update that the reason behind the Nucor announcement was two-fold: […]
The market has been searching for a bottom and perhaps found it this week as all the major flat rolled mills announced price hikes of $40 per ton on hot rolled, hot rolled P&O, cold rolled and galvanized steel products. Steel prices have seen a steady decline of around $80 per ton since this summer. […]
We saw mixed results in the flat rolled markets this week. Benchmark hot rolled dropped $5 per ton compared to one week ago. Cold rolled was modestly higher ($5/ton), while galvanized and Galvalume were down $15 per ton. Plate prices remained intact with no change compared to one week ago. Here is how we see […]
We saw more erosion in hot rolled steel prices this week based on the responses we received from our data providers throughout the day today. Benchmark hot rolled dropped to an average of $835 per ton, while other flat rolled products saw mixed results. Cold rolled rose as the low-end numbers disappeared from last week. […]
Spot plate prices have not budged this week, according to the numerous data points received from both large and small plate buyers today. Our range is $980 to $1,030 per ton delivered with an average of $1,005 per ton. The domestic plate mills continue to be on “controlled order entry” (they don’t like the word […]
The following calculation is used by Steel Market Update to identify the theoretical spread between foreign hot rolled steel import prices (delivered to USA ports) and domestic hot rolled coil prices (FOB domestic mills). We want our readers to be aware that this is only a “theoretical” calculation as freight costs, trader margin and other […]
Demand for steel products has been strong and improving for much of the year, but the findings of Steel Market Update’s latest flat rolled and plate steels market trends questionnaire show that more companies see demand for their products declining than increasing under the current market conditions. However, when you view the graph below, you […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Chief Market Risk Officer, 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 […]
Lead times for most flat rolled steel products continue to shrink, according to returns from Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level—the shorter the lead time, the less busy the mill, and theoretically the more flexible the price. Lead times for […]
Hot rolled prices slipped this week while the other flat rolled products pretty much held their own. Plate prices in December are running essentially unchanged to November with limited spot tons available. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $820-$860 per ton ($41.00/cwt-$43.00/cwt) with an average of […]
Manufacturing expanded in September, according to the latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The headline PMI posted at 59.8 percent, well over the neutral point of 50.0, but fell 1.3 percent from August. “Export orders expanded, but four major industries are no longer contributing. Price pressure continues, but the index softened for the fourth straight […]
The slowdown for global manufacturing continued in September, according to the latest J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI. The headline PMI fell to a 22-month low at 52.2, down from 52.6 in August. The PMI has been above the 50.0 neutral mark since March 2016, but has declined in each of the past five months. Output […]
CSN continues to export slabs and coated steels to the United States, but tariffs and quotas make the market a challenge for the Brazilian steelmaker, reports a Steel Market Update source. Earlier this year, Steel Dynamics bought the CSN conversion mill in Terre Haute, Ind. At the time of the purchase, the company had two […]