The conversation has begun regarding when flat rolled steel prices will end their slide and reverse course. Flat rolled steel prices have been in a steep decline since mid-June 2016 when benchmark hot rolled prices peaked at $635 per ton ($31.75/cwt, SMU index average) FOB domestic mill. Since then steel prices have retreated $145 per […]
Nucor Plate Mill Group began advising their customers on Tuesday of their intention to raise carbon and alloy plate as well as heat-treated plate prices. The mill advised their customers in an emailed letter with the following (reaction to the increase comes after the Nucor letter below): October 11, 2016 To our Valued Customers, Effective […]
The Vietnam steel industry is between the proverbial rock and hard place. U.S. steel manufacturers claim that Vietnamese exporters are party to China’s circumvention of antidumping and countervailing duties on cold rolled steel and are calling for AD duties to match those on China products. Vietnam’s influx of Chinese steel is also a concern for […]
After our last issue of Steel Market Update was published we received an email “letter to the editor” from a steel trading company regarding circumvention and other issues facing the domestic steel industry. Here is what the letter said: “After reading your update tonight and having been on a conference call with our Washington DC […]
John Ferriola, Chairman, CEO and President of Nucor Corp., has been elected Chairman of the World Steel Association (worldsteel). The elections for officers and the 2016 Executive Committee were held at worldsteel’s 50th Annual Conference in Dubai, UAE. Officers for worldsteel will serve for a period of one year. The new officers for 2016/2017 are: […]
In David Feldstein’s article on the HRC Futures market he correctly points out one of the factors that steel buyers need to watch closely is the value of the dollar against the currency of the international steel trading nations. As the dollar increases in value those wanting to ship steel here also increases. As the […]
When we last left you Hurricane Matthew was just beginning to approach the east coast of Florida as a category 4 storm. I was a little concerned about our office building and our home. I am pleased to tell you that the storm took a little jog to the east as it left the Bahamas. […]
Nucor announced Tuesday that it has restructured its natural gas supply agreements to improve access to a long-term supply of natural gas. Nucor purchased 49 percent of Encana’s leasehold interest of 54,000 acres in the South Piceance Basin. In addition, Nucor and Encana have terminated the two Carry and Earning drilling agreements from 2010 and […]
Steel Market Update spoke with two sources regarding the most recent complaint filed by the domestic mills against Vietnam and China for circumvention of duties (China) on cold rolled and CORE (corrosion resistant steels such as galvanized and Galvalume) products. One of the tenants behind the accusations made by the domestic steel mills is the […]
On Thursday, September 22, 2016 four steel mills: ArcelorMittal USA, Nucor, AK Steel and US Steel submitted petitions asking the US Department of Commerce to review imports of cold rolled and corrosion resistant steels (galvanized and Galvalume) arriving in the United States from Vietnam as actually being a way for China to circumvent antidumping and […]
It’s official! On Sunday we reported rumored plans of an expansion at Nucor Steel Arkansas and this afternoon the company made a formal announcement. Nucor’s press release follows: Nucor Corp. announced that it is adding an additional cold mill at its Nucor Steel Arkansas division. The specialty cold mill complex will expand Nucor’s capability to […]
Nucor Corporation announced today that it has agreed to acquire Independence Tube Corporation (ITC), a leading independent manufacturer of hollow structural section (HSS) steel tubing, for $435 million, or approximately 6x average EBITDA over the 2013-2015 period. “Independence Tube is a natural fit with Nucor. Their business model is similar to ours with extremely efficient […]
I got a note from Eddie Lehner, the CEO of Ryerson who attended our Steel Summit Conference for the first time this year. He dropped me a note today about our conference, “The SMU Conference is flat out worth attending. An unusual combination of candor, depth and subject matter relevance throughout the steel value chain […]
Nucor Steel Arkansas is planning a $230 million expansion at its Blytheville steel plant according to the Blytheville Courier News. Nucor Controller Mark DiGirolamo addressed the Blytheville City Council’s Finance and Purchasing Committee on Wednesday to seek a bond from the city to finance construction of a cold mill at the plant. According to the […]
Friday, the Department of Commerce announced its affirmative preliminary determinations in the antidumping investigations of imports of certain carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate (CTL plate) from Brazil, South Africa, and Turkey. CTL plate is a flat-rolled carbon and alloy steel product that is 4.75 mm or more in thickness and that has a defined […]
Nucor expects higher earnings in third quarter compared to second quarter due to improved performance at its raw materials division and steel mills. In its third quarter guidance, Nucor said higher average selling prices that have benefited in part from contract sales priced on a lagging quarterly basis would improve profitability of the company’s sheet […]
Much has been made about the number of shutdowns there will be at various steel mills due to planned maintenance outages. Steel Market Update has been working with a number of our buyer sources to come up with a tentative schedule of the various projects due in the 4th Quarter 2016. This is our “best […]
The Department of Commerce announced an affirmative preliminary determination in the countervailing duty investigation of cut-to-length steel plate from China but a negative determination in the CVD investigation of imports of CTL plate from Korea. Exporter and producers in the China investigation received subsidy rates of 210.5 percent based on available adverse facts (they did […]
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week Steel Market Update conducted our 6th Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference was the largest for us with 428 steel executives participating. I will let a few of the comments I got this morning speak for themselves: “Great conference John. Very well put together…..best one […]
Australian company BlueScope Steel’s Hot Rolled Products North America segment turned in strong operating results for the second half FY 2016, ending June 30, 2016. Second half EBITDA was AUD$132.5 million (US$ 101 million). Second half revenue for the segment, which included a 47 percent share of Castrip LLC and 100 percent of North Star […]
I expect the next seven days will be quite hectic in my life and those of our SMU team as we make final preparations for the 2016 Steel Summit Conference. I will actually be traveling to Georgia on Wednesday and will work from there until the conference has concluded. We do have a few spots […]
In our last issue of Steel Market Update we wrote about lead times shrinking as being one of the reasons why we adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator. We cited published lead times by NLMK USA and Nucor Berkeley as examples of the changes we were seeing and discussing with steel buyers. This week we conducted […]
For the past nine weeks, Steel Market Update (SMU) has had our Price Momentum Indicator at Neutral. A neutral rating means the market is either in transition or does not have enough momentum to push steel prices in one direction or another. Earlier today SMU adjusted our indicator to “Lower” from Neutral which is a […]
Steel Market Update speaks with dozens of companies on a daily basis and hundreds over the course of a week. We also receive a large number of emails, facebook and LinkedIn posts. Every so often we like to share some of the comments being made in an article we call “Bits ‘N Pieces.” We learned […]
As we moved about the market speaking to buyers of flat rolled steel, we found ourselves immersed in a dialogue about demand now being the major driver of steel prices moving forward. SMU spoke with a number of very large flat rolled steel service center buyers who told us that demand is “fragmented” and there […]
I did trade emails with trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz regarding the International Trade Commission (ITC) commissioners. I wanted to know if the new president of the United States could make wholesale changes with the commissioners and change the balance of the rulings being made on steel trade cases and others. Mr. Leibowitz told us, “The […]
There were some surprises on Friday afternoon when the U.S. Department of Commerce came out with their final determinations regarding antidumping and countervailing duties on hot rolled steel. Perhaps the biggest surprise was saved for POSCO out of Korea and the joint venture partner with US Steel on USS/POSCO mill in California. The UPI mill […]
Buyers and sellers of hot rolled steel are holding back on making any new offers (buy or sell) until the final determinations are announced on HRC later this week. According to Steel Market Update sources, hot rolled steel spot prices were ranging from a low of $590 per ton up to $630 per ton. Lead […]
Initial reports coming out of the financial community are suggesting ferrous scrap prices could be down $5 to $15 per ton once the August negotiations between the steel mills and their suppliers get under way. The expectation that the prime grades will be hit after spending a couple of months moving sideways. However, not all […]
CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 20, 2016 — Nucor Corporation announced today that it has agreed to acquire Joy Global’s steel plate mill in Longview, Texas, for approximately $29 million. The mill produces carbon and alloy plate products with heat-treating capabilities and has an annual capacity of 180,000 tons. “This acquisition builds on our strategy to capture […]