Our Wednesday SMU Community Chat Webinars have been a tremendous success. Each webinar is unique as we try to vary the subject matter and speakers. For those who have been tuning in to these free sessions at 11 AM ET, you already know that our speakers don’t always agree with one another as to what […]
We had to change the way we calculate the adjusted data, which will also change how we derive our analysis. Previously, we adjusted the data to mirror the exact mix of service centers that responded to the previous month’s survey. We saw a decrease in participation in the March survey, which we can understand given […]
We are in the middle of a black swan event—an event that is expected but unexpected, said Chris Kuehl, managing director of Armada Corporate Intelligence during Wednesday’s SMU Community Chat Webinar. “Viral threats are not new and have been frequent in the past few decades, but we don’t know from year to year how they […]
We are in the middle of a black swan event—an event that is expected but unexpected, said Chris Kuehl, managing director of Armada Corporate Intelligence during Wednesday’s SMU Community Chat Webinar. “Viral threats are not new and have been frequent in the past few decades, but we don’t know from year to year how they […]
Like producers and distributors of prime steel, most sellers of nonprime or secondary steel have been hard hit by the virus. Yet secondary material is still available from the mills even though their production is way down. Some distributors are doing surprisingly well, depending on their customer base and location, while others are struggling. Secondary […]
SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors (davidfeldstein@rocktradingadvisors.com, twitter @TheFeldstein). In addition to market analysis, RTA provides price risk management not only for ferrous products, but also base metals, energy and interest rates. RTA also trains sales staff and creates the infrastructure necessary for firms to offer their customers fixed pricing on […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Metallics Monitor The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) moved higher by 11.5 percent m/m to 202.4 in May. Supply constraints caused by the Covid-19 pandemic combined with either sustained or recovering scrap demand to lift prices across most of the globe, although pig iron demand was […]
Cleveland-Cliffs expects operations to normalize during the second quarter as end-markets begin recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. “Although the pandemic effect led to automotive plant shutdowns over the past six weeks, the timing and pace of production restarts as well as consumer sales data have both exceeded our expectations,” said Cliffs’ Chairman, President and CEO […]
Pandemic is a public health issue, not a political issue. I watched just a few minutes of the Senate testimony today with Dr. Fauci, Dr. Redfield of the CDC, Dr. Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and Admiral Giroir, the Assistant Secretary for Health. I thought one question and answer was interesting in […]
If there is one thing you can count on with the steel industry, it’s for rumors to begin flying as soon as the mills appear to have seized pricing momentum. The domestic steel mills, led by ArcelorMittal USA, began announcing price increases the week ending May 1. The announcements ranged from $50 to $60 per […]
If there is one thing you can count on with the steel industry, it’s for rumors to begin flying as soon as the mills appear to have seized pricing momentum. The domestic steel mills, led by ArcelorMittal USA, began announcing price increases the week ending May 1. The announcements ranged from $50 to $60 per […]
Canada’s Imperial Manufacturing Group has acquired Pointe-Claire/Green Valley Steel Group, Inc., a steel service center headquartered in Hamilton, Ontario, with facilities in Pointe-Claire, Quebec, and Bolton, Ontario. Imperial Manufacturing, based in Richibucto, New Brunswick, is a conglomerate of businesses centered around the HVAC and building products industries. “After working on this agreement for quite some […]
On Wednesday, May 13, at 11 a.m. ET we will conduct another in our series of free SMU Community Chat Webinars. Dr. Chris Kuehl, Managing Director of Armada Corporate Intelligence, will join Steel Market Update CEO John Packard as we discuss what a post-COVID-19 world may look like. Kuehl is known for being both an […]
On Wednesday, May 13, at 11 a.m. ET we will conduct another in our series of free SMU Community Chat Webinars. Dr. Chris Kuehl, Managing Director of Armada Corporate Intelligence, will join Steel Market Update CEO John Packard as we discuss what a post-COVID-19 world may look like. Kuehl is known for being both an […]
On Wednesday, May 13, at 11 a.m. ET we will conduct another in our series of free SMU Community Chat Webinars. Dr. Chris Kuehl, Managing Director of Armada Corporate Intelligence, will join Steel Market Update CEO John Packard as we discuss what a post-COVID-19 world may look like. Kuehl is known for being both an […]
The “new normal” is to reinvent oneself or the way you will do business going forward. As many of you are aware, I am no spring chicken. Yet I refuse to live in the past. I learned (the hard way – through unexpected career changes) that I needed to constantly keep myself relevant to my […]
International steelmaker ArcelorMittal was hit particularly hard by the pandemic, dealing with closures and economic recessions across the globe. The company reported a loss of $1.1 billion for the first quarter of 2020 and expects the remainder of the year to be challenging. “There are still too many uncertainties to accurately predict what the rest […]
Ferrous scrap prices for May have settled up $30/GT for shredded and up $40-50/GT for busheling as the coronavirus shutdowns have disrupted scrap generation and collection, resulting in extremely tight supplies. Higher scrap prices may lend support to the higher finished steel prices announced by the mills this week. The tight supply is a more […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Steel A large drop in the HR index used to settle the CME HR contract last week helped push April to settle […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service Many are still discussing what type of recession will ensue following the Covid-19 pandemic. Will it be U-, V- or L-shaped? Different people may refer to the same shape to mean different outcomes. To bring clarity to this issue, this insight sets out […]
Dr. Chris Kuehl is the Managing Director of Armada Corporate Intelligence. He provides forecasts and strategic guidance to a wide variety of corporate clients around the world. Kuehl has spoken at numerous SMU Steel Summit Conferences where his free-wheeling style both informed and entertained. On Wednesday, May 13, Dr. Kuehl will participate in one of […]
Buyers of flat rolled and plate steels provided insights into the market to Steel Market Update throughout the day. On the flat rolled side, steel buyers seemed to be resigned to paying higher prices. Flat rolled price quotes are firming at the domestic mills, and the mills may well achieve their desired minimums of $500-$520 […]
Buyers of flat rolled and plate steels provided insights into the market to Steel Market Update throughout the day. On the flat rolled side, steel buyers seemed to be resigned to paying higher prices. Flat rolled price quotes are firming at the domestic mills, and the mills may well achieve their desired minimums of $500-$520 […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: As the coronavirus lockdown enters its third month, some states are starting to reopen their economies. As of this writing, 23 states were partially reopening May 1. Every state is different, of course, and no state has reopened […]
Auto sales were expected to be low in April and predictions were correct. Edmunds estimates U.S. sales fell 36.6 percent from March and 52.5 percent compared to April 2019. “April auto sales took the biggest hit we’ve seen in decades,” said Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’ executive director of Insights. “These bleak figures aren’t just because consumers […]
The COVID-19 crisis devastated manufacturing across the globe in April. The pandemic laid low virtually all economies, plunging the J.P. Morgan Global PMI to 39.8 for the steepest contraction since the financial crisis of 2008/2009. China, although still in contraction, fared the best of the nations surveyed and helped to soften the downturn. Excluding China, […]
Having lived through the difficult month of April, steel buyers remain pessimistic about current business conditions, but more hopeful about the future. Steel Market Update asked steel buyers how they view their company’s current prospects for success, as well as their chances for success three to six months in the future. The Current Sentiment reading […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen and CRU Economist Ippolito Tarabini, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Market Outlook Lockdowns continued into April. They resulted in a fall in activity, particularly in the hospitality, entertainment and travel sectors. Using estimates of the loss of output by sector, we find that one month of lockdown lowers the […]
The ISM Report on Business dropped 7.6 percentage points to a PMI reading of 41.5 in April, indicating a sharp contraction of economic activity in the manufacturing sector. Additionally, the overall economy contracted for the first time in 131 consecutive months. “Comments from the panel were strongly negative (three negative comments for every one positive […]
“Vacation: An extended period of recreating, especially one spent away from home or traveling.” Last week I took “vacation” time off, and unlike the definition above I did little recreating, rarely strayed from home, and did no traveling. How restful is that? The big news from last week was an apparent “firming” of steel prices. […]