By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Part two of our three-part series: What’s next for U.S. iron ore production? After a remarkably profitable 2018, the U.S. steel industry has suffered a setback in 2019 as steel prices have dropped sharply on weaker than expected demand. Steel margins have turned negative and production cuts have been […]
Nucor Corp. has announced a change in leadership as part of its planned succession process. John J. Ferriola, 67, will retire as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer on Dec. 31. Leon J. Topalian, 51, was named President and Chief Operating Officer, effective Sept. 5, and will succeed Ferriola as CEO on Jan. 1, 2020. Ferriola […]
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) announced today that John J. Ferriola, 67, will retire as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on December 31, 2019 and that the Board of Directors elected Leon J. Topalian, 51, to be President and Chief Operating Officer, effective September 5, 2019, and to […]
Hurricanes are a yearly occurrence for the southern U.S., taking huge tolls on property and lives and causing major disruption for the shipping industry. Hurricane Dorian, still churning its way up the East Coast, is the latest example. In preparation for Hurricane Dorian, Florida manufacturers rushed to get goods shipped North and out of flood […]
Steel Market Update received the following letter from a trading company executive and we thought it should be shared with our readers: I was just reading your article concerning Section 232 and came up with the following short conclusions: The damage of Section 232 to the integrated mills is done. The windfall profit reaped by […]
As I write my “final thoughts” for Tuesday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update, I am in Stuart, Fla., and there is a hurricane located about 80 miles due east in the Bahamas. It is Monday and I expect there will be limited power or mobility come Tuesday, so I am trying to be a […]
On Thursday, Aug. 29, the Nucor Sheet Mill Group advised customers: “Consistent with our practice to monitor the cost of zinc, we have revised our galvanized coating weight extras effective with orders acknowledged for week ending Oct. 5, 2019. Price extras can be accessed under the ‘Sheet’ tab at www.nucornow.com/announcements. Please contact your Nucor District […]
Nucor has received more than 2,300 applicants for 250 positions at its $400 million steel plant in Sedalia, Mo. The rebar plant is expected to open in November. Jessica Craig, Sedalia-Pettis County economic development executive director, says 153 employees have already been hired, some coming from as far away as Columbia and Kansas City, more […]
U.S. Steel raised industry eyebrows earlier this month when it informed its U.S. sales force that it would no longer use index-based pricing effective with its 2020 contracts. Would other mills climb on the bandwagon? And if so, what might that mean for steel prices? Based on comments from chief executives of other industry-leading mills, […]
The steel industry enjoyed a profitable first half of 2018 due to a strong economy and tariffs on imports that drove up domestic prices. The welcome windfall prompted several companies to commit large investments toward expansion and modernization of their facilities. In all, about 31 million net tons of new steel capacity could potentially come […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores U.S. Steel recently announced its intent to withdraw from spot market-linked adjustable price contracts in 2020 (i.e. contracts where the price moves with the spot market in some way). The following offers insight on the use of such contracts and what may come about if the intended change is […]
Written by: John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update Seven days to go… Seven days before the beginning of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. I have spoken to almost every single speaker, interfaced with the CRU Events team in London as well as our SMU team. All is going as planned. […]
As mentioned above, it is crunch time for me and my team as we prepare for the conference, now one week away. I want to emphasize SMU will have a major announcement at the conference on Monday as we roll out our Service Center Inventories on Hand, on Order, Shipments and an analysis of what […]
The following editorial is by Allan Golombek, a Senior Director at the White House Writers Group, and was published on Aug. 12, 2019 by RealClearMarkets. The steel industry should have listened to the founder of Nucor. In 1986, Ken Iverson pointed out that protectionist measures to save the American steel industry had not had the desired […]
Electric arc furnace minimills may have a cost advantage in steel production today, but there are still 19 traditional blast furnaces going strong in the United States. Blast furnaces dominate about three-fourths of global steelmaking, but only three steel producers in the U.S. currently are using BF or basic oxygen furnace technology: U.S. Steel, ArcelorMittal […]
I received a call from the Congressional Quarterly today asking my opinion on steel prices, trade cases, capacity being added to the marketplace, etc. I did answer his questions as accurately as I could, which in many cases are subject to the decisions being made at various steel mills around North America, and whether those […]
As with any mill announcement, be it price, changes in production or in the case of the U.S. Steel’s announcement about how they are going to handle contracts going forward, there are always mixed opinions from steel buyers and from the other steel mills. This afternoon, Steel Market Update, as an index provider, spent a […]
As with any mill announcement, be it price, changes in production or in the case of the U.S. Steel’s announcement about how they are going to handle contracts going forward, there are always mixed opinions from steel buyers and from the other steel mills. This afternoon, Steel Market Update, as an index provider, spent a […]
North America’s plate mills have announced their second round of price increases in less than three weeks, seeking another $40 per ton ($2/cwt). Nucor’s Plate Mill Group was the first to inform customers of the change on Friday, prompting similar announcements by most other mills on Monday. SSAB Americas advised customers it is increasing transaction […]
Nearly 1,000 executives are registered with just two weeks to go before the start of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We continue to see strong interest in this year’s event, which will be held in Atlanta on Aug. 26-28. Once again, the Georgia International Convention Center will be the home of this, our 9th […]
Nucor’s Plate Mill Group informed customers on Friday that it is raising the price of carbon, alloy and heat-treated plate by $40 per ton ($2/cwt), effective immediately on all new and unconfirmed orders. This is Nucor’s second price hike on plate products in the past two weeks, following on a $40 increase July 26. Steel […]
For the past three days, I have been studying the nominations of 21 young individuals who were nominated by their companies for the 2019 SMU NexGen Leadership Award, which this year is being sponsored by the Steel Manufacturers Association. The process has been exhilarating to say the least. I decided many years ago that as […]
The trade war with China escalated on Monday as China allowed its currency to weaken in retaliation for a new round of tariffs imposed by President Trump. The yuan fell to 7 per U.S. dollar, the lowest it has been in 11 years, making exports from China cheaper and more competitive versus the United States. […]
I have to apologize to those who are looking for insightful steel comments from me today. I’ve been busy with the final details of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference, reviewing the SMU NexGen Leadership Award nominations and planning for the next few Steel 101 workshop locations and dates. My focus has been a little […]
Following Nucor’s lead on Friday, ArcelorMittal USA, EVRAZ and SSAB Americas informed customers this week that they are raising the spot price of their plate products by a minimum of $40 per ton ($2/cwt), effective immediately. ArcelorMittal and EVRAZ informed customers verbally, SMU was told, while SSAB distributed a letter stating that the $40 per […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Recent reports indicate that parts of the U.S. steel industry are being helped by the steel tariffs, while others are being hurt. Sixteen months into the trade war, the division of steel producers into three distinct industries (and perhaps […]
Prices continued to move higher this week and the mills seem to have gotten a handle on price momentum both on flat rolled and plate. Whether this is temporary or not will depend on lead times and the ability of the steel mills to fill their order books. As one buyer told me this morning: […]
Rising steel prices may be giving a lift to industry attitudes. Steel Market Update’s latest Steel Buyers Sentiment Index shows an eight point increase in Current Sentiment and an 11 point increase in Future Sentiment. While a single week’s results can’t reliably predict a new trend, the uptick is a notable change from sentiment data […]
Nucor’s Plate Group notified customers on Friday that it is raising the price of carbon and alloy plate and heat-treated plate by a minimum of $40 per ton ($2/cwt), effective immediately on all new spot orders. “In recent weeks, plate pricing has fallen to unsustainable levels. While end-use demand and project business remains stable, the […]
Last week, Steel Market Update conducted our mid-July flat rolled and plate steels market trends analysis. We invited 480 individuals representing 450+ companies to participate in our questionnaire. We intentionally concentrate on inviting manufacturing (40 percent last week) and service centers (45 percent last week) as well as steel mills, trading companies and toll processors […]