What an interesting week it has been, and it’s only Tuesday. As previous articles have already stated, Nucor, U.S. Steel, NLMK USA and ArcelorMittal (verbally) have joined California Steel and USS/POSCO by announcing $40 per ton price increases on flat rolled. For those of you who are new to the industry or to our newsletter, […]
Nucor Corp. announced on Monday that it is scouting the Midwest for a suitable location to build a $1.35 billion EAF mill that is capable of producing 1.2 million tons of steel plate products annually. Nucor expects site selection to be completed in 2019 and construction to begin as soon as permits are secured. The […]
With finished steel prices continuing their second-half decline through the end of 2018, the market is holding its collective breath to see if the mills announce a price hike this month. Many believe they will try to raise prices, but most are doubtful they will succeed. Following is what industry sources told SMU this week: […]
Perhaps it’s because the year started out with so much promise that the end of 2018 seemed so uninspiring. On balance, most in the steel business would call 2018 a good year, some even a great year. But few look forward to 2019 with the same optimism and confidence they felt a year ago at […]
Service centers are perilously close to capitulation as the percentage of respondents reporting service centers as lowering spot prices continues to increase. Manufacturing companies are telling Steel Market Update that they are receiving lower and lower spot pricing from their service center suppliers. In our latest flat rolled steel market trends analysis conducted this past […]
So, we have our service center inventories at 2.5 months of supply, down slightly from the 2.6 months we got from our distributor data suppliers the previous month. This is not from our survey; we decided to put that data aside as it was suspect – it had both buyers and sellers contributing to the […]
In fourth-quarter guidance on Friday, Nucor reported that it expects strong steel demand and favorable pricing to continue in 2019. Nucor benefitted from strong economic conditions in the United States throughout 2018, which were positively impacted by tax and regulatory reform. Additionally, broad-based tariffs imposed under Section 232 provided a tailwind that contributed to Nucor’s […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor The steel sheet market in North America is starting the second half of the year off with the same primary trends seen in the past few quarters: rising prices due to strong demand and supply that continues to be affected by unplanned disruptions. […]
Ratner Steel ran the first coil on its new stretch leveler cut-to-length line in Osceola, Ark., on Monday, reported Ratner President and CFO Steve Gottlieb. The company hopes to replicate the success it has seen at its other service centers in Minnesota and Indiana. The line was installed by Red Bud Industries in a 150,000-square-foot […]
A couple of comments regarding possible price increase announcements as we go into first-quarter 2019 made today as I canvassed the flat rolled and plate steel markets pricing. “Mills appear to be much more sanguine on prices than I’ve seen in a while. I’m hearing them say that once all of the mills are done […]
Flat rolled steel service centers who responded to last week’s SMU flat rolled and plate steel market trends questionnaire are reporting in increasing numbers their service center as lowering spot prices to their customers. One month ago (early November) only 32 percent of the flat rolled distributors were reporting lower spot pricing to their customers. […]
JSW Ohio (former Mingo Junction mill) has been struggling to get their existing electric arc furnace (EAF) up and running. It was supposed to have fired up last week, but we were told there is an issue with the oxygen, and the new ETA first heat date is Monday or Tuesday of this week. I […]
Returns from Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire show a growing percentage of manufacturing companies reporting service center spot pricing on flat rolled products as being lower than what they saw at the beginning of November. Seventy-three percent of the manufacturing respondents reported seeing slipping spot prices this past week. This is an increase of […]
Nucor is increasing its presence in Mexico with the acquisition of Corporacion POK, a fully integrated precision castings company with a facility in Guadalajara. “Our company has had a presence in Mexico for more than a decade. We know the market and the customers there. This acquisition supports Nucor’s strategy in Mexico, which is focused […]
Steel Dynamics made big news on Monday, announcing it will construct a new $1.8 billion electric arc furnace flat roll steel mill in the United States. The mill will have an annual production capacity of approximately 3 million tons and the capability to produce the latest in advanced high-strength steels. The facility will include value-added […]
Few of the steel buyers canvassed by Steel Market Update this week expect flat roll prices to rise significantly in the first quarter. Most anticipate prices stabilizing or continuing to trend downward, especially if the Trump administration lifts the Section 232 tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. The promise of increased supplies from the […]
The announcement by General Motors today is going to be a precursor for more bad news, in my opinion. With every action there is a reaction, and the expectation that raising steel prices by an extra 25 percent (and more) would not have an impact on the competitiveness of U.S. made products is being short-sighted. […]
Nucor has selected Austria’s Andritz Group to supply the new hot dip galvanizing line at its Hickman, Ark., mill. The new line, announced by Nucor in May, will have an annual capacity of approximately 455,000 metric tons and is designed to produce high-strength steel grades, mainly for the automotive industry. Start-up is scheduled for the […]
Nucor’s $650 million investment to expand the production capability of its Ghent, Ky., mill will transform the former Gallatin Steel plant into an ultra-modern “quality strip production” plant or QSP, claims Danieli, the Italian company that will design and install the new mill equipment. The project will nearly double the annual production capability of Nucor […]
Steel buyers can be fickle people. They are tasked with keeping their company in product, and that those purchases be competitively priced at the time they are used. This is a daunting task when markets ebb and flow, and even more difficult when the government decides to become a major player in determining who will […]
Steel service centers are struggling to peg the spot end user markets and what price levels they need to be offering to their spot flat rolled customers, based on the results obtained from last week’s flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis performed by Steel Market Update. Steel Market Update follows the service center […]
Steel service centers are struggling to peg the spot end user markets and what price levels they need to be offering to their spot flat rolled customers, based on the results obtained from last week’s flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis performed by Steel Market Update. Steel Market Update follows the service center […]
By CRU Steel Analyst Ryan McKinley CMC’s expanded footprint across the United States, following its acquisition of Gerdau’s assets, raises the probability that a rebar price increase is on the horizon. That said, price increases may be short-lived as Nucor works to bring two of its newest micro mill projects online in 2019. Rebar prices […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Summary of Section 232 Exclusion Data As of early October, according to a comprehensive analysis by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, there have been 30,916 tariff exclusion requests for steel products. There have been 14,356 objections, […]
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 […]
I am keeping the SMU Flat Rolled Price Momentum Indicator at “Neutral” as I do not yet see any clear-cut signs of a solid push higher on pricing. What I have seen is a possible short-term bottom to the lower end of our range. This helped take our hot rolled index average from $805 to […]
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 […]