Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. isn’t feeling the heat of soaring metallurgical coal prices, at least not yet. And the Cleveland-based miner and steelmaker plans to turn to its own mines if the market overheats. “We are benefiting from our existing multi-year contracts with suppliers and also the supply from our own coal production operations,” a company spokeswoman […]
SMU contributor Tim Stevenson is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Tim’s previous role, he was a Director at Cargill Risk Management, and […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Erik Hedborg and Analyst Nikki Ni, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor The city of Tangshan, two hours east of Beijing, plays an extremely important role in the global steel market. It is the largest steelmaking hub in the world and accounts for 14% of China’s crude steel production, equal to […]
By CRU Analysts Ben Carstein and Lize Wan On Oct. 9, it was reported that Chinese state-owned power plants and steel mills had received verbal notice from China’s customs to stop importing Australian metallurgical and thermal coal with immediate effect. In this article, we review the announcement and its potential implications. Has the Announcement Been […]
By CRU Senior Analysts Ryan Smith and Andrew Gadd, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor Oil markets have had a torrid 2020, with the combination of demand losses due to Covid-19 and the breakdown of coordination between major producing countries resulting in plummeting prices. In this Insight, we assess how this oil price shock influences […]
By CRU Analysts Ryan Smith, Andrew Gadd and Ben Carstein Oil markets have had a torrid 2020, with the combination of demand losses due to Covid-19 and the breakdown of coordination between major producing countries resulting in plummeting prices. In this Insight, we assess how the oil price shock influences steelmaking costs through both raw […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Manjot Singh, from CRU’s Metallurgical Coal Market Outlook Seaborne coking coal prices were steady last week as market participants adopted a “wait-and-see” approach due to the ongoing uncertainty in the coal market. There are upside risks to seaborne prices in the form of relatively strong demand in China, and ease of […]
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 […]
Cleveland-Cliffs will idle AK Coal due to reduced demand for coal in internal operations resulting from manufacturing shutdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company said in a statement: “Cleveland-Cliffs continues to evaluate internal operational requirements for metallurgical coal required for steelmaking. Significant reductions in manufacturing in the United States resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, […]
By Senior Coal Analyst Ben Carstein, from CRU’s Metallurgical Coal Market Outlook Despite weakening fundamentals in the Chinese steel market, the seaborne metallurgical coal market, and hence prices, remain supported. Chinese HRC and rebar prices are up about RMB90 /t over the week. However, we believe this largely reflects trader purchases that have not been […]
By Peter Ghilchik, Head of CRU Multi Commodity Analysis and Production, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service CRU expects a return to commodity demand growth in 2020, albeit a weak recovery, as industrial production growth recovers to 2.2 percent; however, risk is heavily weighted to the downside. Economic uncertainty, weak demand and an increasing focus on […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan Smith and Senior Consultant Sarah Macnaughton, from CRU’s Crude Steel Market Outlook Climate change is moving up the political agenda and putting increasing pressure on heavy industry to reduce their CO2 emissions. As the largest producer of global industrial CO2 emissions, the steel sector has a clear role to play in meeting […]
By CRU Analyst Jordan Permain It is imperative for carbon steel producers to have secure supply of metallurgical coke to ensure stable and efficient operation of their blast furnaces (BF). Steelmakers also benefit from using coke with consistent technical specifications, namely CSR and ash content in their BFs. For these reasons alone it is prudent […]
Mexican steel producer AHMSA is seeking a way out of its financial difficulties including a possible sale of the company, according to various press reports. Altos Hornos de México is recovering from a corruption scandal that rocked company finances and coincided with a downturn in market conditions. Board of Directors President Alonso Ancira was accused […]
By CRU Analyst Jordan Permain The mismatch between seaborne coal supply and demand deepened during the week, causing CRU to assess the Premium HCC $17 /t lower w/w at $128 /t, FOB Australia. Demand for seaborne coal in China, India and Europe was weak in the past week. The macroeconomic environment in India continues to […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Manjot Singh China has been at the center of coal price upcycles that have taken place this millennium. The commodity supercycle that characterized the early-2000s was fueled by demand growth, especially in emerging markets like China. That bull market reached a peak in 2011 when slowing demand growth was met with […]
Good afternoon/evening from Davenport, Iowa. Davenport is where the Mississippi River flooded the downtown area a couple of weeks ago. Water levels are down four feet from their highest point, and the flood waters reached the parking lot of our hotel before receding back across the railroad tracks. The river is still in flood stage […]
Altos Hornos de Mexico, S.A. (AHMSA), the largest steel producer in Mexico, reported that sales for fourth-quarter 2018 rose 6.5 percent year-over-year to $733.2 million. The improvement was due to stronger product mix and higher steel prices. The average steel sales price was $803 per metric ton. Adjusted EBITDA was $7.0 million, an 85.2 percent […]
In the last 12 months, the price of coking coal and scrap have continuously trended up, zinc has continuously trended down, and iron ore and pig iron have been erratic. Table 1 summarizes the price changes through November of the five materials considered in this Steel Market Update report. It includes the month/month, 3 months/3 […]
Cyclone Joyce is intensifying off Australia’s western coast, prompting the Pilbara Ports Authority to take emergency precautions. The storm is expected to reach Category 3 by Friday or Saturday with possible wind gusts of 102-139 miles per hour. Port Hedland, used as an iron ore export terminal by major ore producers Fortescue, BHP and Hancock […]
Raw material markets have been tranquil since our October update, but the value of the U.S. dollar is once again in decline. In this report, we examine the latest prices for iron ore, scrap, coking coal and zinc. To put the raw materials analysis into perspective, we begin with Figure 1, which shows the spread […]
Commodities prices are a mixed bag. The price of iron ore is falling, but zinc is at a 10-year high. In this report, we examine the latest prices for iron ore, scrap, coking coal and zinc. On Oct. 25, commodities analyst Andrew Hecht wrote: “President Xi is likely to consolidate his power and take greater […]
In this report, we examine the latest prices for iron ore, scrap, coking coal and zinc. To put the raw materials analysis into perspective, we begin with Figure 1, which shows the spread between Chicago #1 busheling and hot rolled coil ex works Indiana through Aug. 18, both in dollars/net ton. On this date, Aug. […]
Cyclone Debbie passed through Australia’s metallurgical coal region last week doing minimal damage to the mines and ports but shut down railway lines. Damage to the major coal carrying Goonyella rail corridor was extensive and may take as long as five weeks to repair. Australian companies estimate 15-20 million tonnes of met coal may be […]
Earlier this week we reported on the status of the Chinese steel markets and steel export price offers as of the end of this past week. Both trading company sources used by SMU reported that prices were artificially high and the expectation was that they would fall if not soon by no later than the […]
US Steel Canada court monitor Alex Morrison reported sales were good in August, resulting in revenue of CAD $144.6 million. EBITDA increased by $30.7 million from July. Shipments were up 19.7 percent year-over-year to 192,734 tons. The company has been successful in replacing sales to automotive customers that were lost when US Steel cut ties […]
AK Steel will get help to restart the Ashland Works furnace from Kentucky legislators. The state Senate passed a house bill on Tuesday that would extend economic incentives from a 2014 measure to help AK Steel refurbish and restart the idled blast furnace at Ashland. The incentives were due to expire in July. AK Steel […]
Coal companies have been struggling with regulation changes and decreasing demand over the past several years. According to U.S. Energy Information Administration data, coal production fell 10 percent in 2015 to its lowest level since 1986. Coal prices have dropped 35 percent in just the past two years. The result has been bankruptcy restructuring proceedings […]
Global steel production in 12 months through October totaled 1.609 billion tonnes with a capacity of 2.3 billion tonnes. Production in the month of October was 133,640 tonnes up from 130,998 in September or 2.0 percent, however on a tons/day basis production was 4.311 million tonnes, down from 4.367 in September and from 4.518 in April […]
I am here in New York City participating in the Cowen & Company Global Metals and Mining Conference. Day one was dedicated to the steel industry and the various commodities (scrap, iron ore, metallurgical coal). I thought I would provide a snapshot into some of the comments made during the conference by various CEO’s. Lourenco […]