The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) reported July steel service center shipments and inventory data for the month of July. Expectations had been running high that shipments would decent for the month and that inventories, which had been dropping over the past six months, would continue that trend. Unfortunately, 2015 is turning out to be […]
Net imports equals imports minus exports. We regard this as an important look at the overall trade picture and its effect on demand at the mill level. Figure 1 shows that net sheet product imports on a three month moving average (3MMA) basis in June continue to be more than double that which existed before […]
There are so many dumping suits being filed at the same time that it is difficult to keep track of the various dates as to when actions will be taken either by the US Department of Commerce of the US International Trade Commission (ITC). There are 5 major groups of suits which affect the flat […]
The Department of Commerce announced on August 11 the initiation of an antidumping investigation into imports of heavy walled rectangular welded carbon steel pipe and tubes from Korea, Mexico and Turkey and a countervailing duty investigation of imports from Turkey. The petition for the investigation was brought forth by Atlas Tube (a division of JMC […]
Pipe and tube manufacturers have been struggling to stay afloat as oil prices continue to depress demand from the energy industry. Northwest Pipe Company, headquartered in Vancouver, is among those companies posting a loss for second quarter. The Tubular Products segment of Northwest Pipe saw sales from operations decrease 61.3 percent year over year to […]
Licensed data for July was updated on August 4th through the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department. Steel Market Update publishes several import reports ranging from this very early look using licensed data to the very detailed analysis of final volumes by district of entry and source nation which is available to […]
A unfair trade case was filed by US pipe and tube producers on Tuesday against makers and exporters of heavy-walled rectangular steel pipes and tubes from South Korea, Mexico and Turkey. The product in question is commonly called “structural tubing” and is used in construction, transportation and farm applications. The alleged dumping margins filed by […]
There seems to be more inaccurate analysis published on this subject than on any other that we track at Steel Market Update. For example on Saturday AMM reported that, “US steel service center shipments improved in June compared with the previous month ——-.” At a superficial level this statement is correct, but as an analysis […]
Based on Steel Market Update (SMU) analysis of the recently released MSCI service center inventory and shipment data, total service center carbon steel shipments decreased by 178,700 tons in May to 3.126 million tons. Shipping days at 20, were two less than in April. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments increased from 150,200 […]
Licensed data for May was updated on June 9th through the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department. The SMU publishes several import reports ranging from this very early look using licensed data to the very detailed analysis of final volumes by district of entry and source nation which is available to our […]
Based on Steel Market Update (SMU) analysis of the recently released MSCI service center inventory and shipment data, total service center carbon steel shipments decreased by 201,800 tons in April to 3.305 million tons. Shipping days at 22, the same as March. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments decreased from 159,400 in March […]
According to the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI), U.S. steel service centers shipped 3,465,900 tons of carbon steel (all products) at an average of 157,500 tons per day during the month of April 2015. Total carbon shipments were down 5.6 percent over the previous month and 9.0 percent lower than one year ago. The daily […]
Licensed data for April was updated on May 5th through the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department. The SMU publishes several import reports ranging from this very early look using licensed data to the very detailed analysis of final volumes by district of entry and source nation which is available to our […]
According to the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI,) U.S. steel service centers shipped 3,672,900 tons of carbon steel (all products) at an average of 167,000 tons per day during the month of March 2015. Total carbon shipments were up 10.1 percent over the previous month but 0.1 percent lower than one year ago. However, the […]
Total service center carbon steel shipments increased in March by 321,400 tons to 3.507 million tons. Shipping days at 22 were 2 more than February. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments increased from 159,300 in February to 159,400 in March. In the twelve years since 2004, March shipments on average have been 1.2 […]
Licensed data for March was updated on April 7th through the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department. The SMU publishes several import reports ranging from this very early look using licensed data to the very detailed analysis of final volumes by district of entry and source nation which is available to our […]
Total service center carbon steel shipments in February decreased by 182,800 tons to 3.185 million tons. Shipping days at 20 were one less than February. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments decreased from 160,400 in January to 159,300 in February. In the eleven years since 2004 February shipments on average have been 0.1 […]
According to data just released by the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI), U.S. service centers shipped 3,332,300 tons of all steel products during the month of February 2015. The daily shipment rate was 166,600 tons per day, down 1.4 percent over February 2014 when the daily shipment rate was 169,000 tons. In comparison to the […]
Olympic Steel reported higher sales volume and demand in fourth quarter 2014, but lower steel prices reduced margins for the quarter and year. Olympic Steel reported consolidated net sales up 12.5 percent for a fourth quarter record of $326.7 million. Full year sales were also a record at $1.4 billion, up 13.7 percent from 2013. […]
Total service center carbon steel shipments in January increased by 372,400 tons to 3.368 million tons. There was a decrease of one shipping day to 21 in January. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments increased from 126,200 in December to 160,400 in January. In the eleven years since 2004 January shipments on average […]
According to data just released by the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI), U.S. service centers shipped 3,523,600 tons of all steel products during the month of January 2015. The daily shipment rate was 167,800 tons per day which was a slight improvement over January 2014 when the daily shipment rate was 165,800 tons. However, last […]
Flat rolled steel buyers are resigned to a steel price spot market which takes benchmark hot rolled prices below the $500 per ton ($25.00/cwt) level. One of the large hot rolled service centers this morning told Steel Market Update that they were having a difficult time keeping up with the pace of the falling numbers. […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel continue to be optimistic about their company’s chances of being successful in both the current market conditions as well as three to six months into the future. However, there have been some clouds building as our 3MMA has been trending lower over the past four months. We have […]
Total service center carbon steel shipments in December increased by 16,900 tons to 2.996 million tons. This was mainly due to an increase in shipping days from 19 to 22. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments decreased from 156,800 to 136,200. In the eleven years 2004 through 2014 December shipments on average have […]
The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) reported steel distributor shipments and inventories on Monday. The MSCI reported U.S. shipments of all steel products totaled 3,135,700 tons during the month of December which was 6.3 percent higher than December 2013. The daily shipment rate was 142,500 tons per day. Total steel inventories (all products) were reported […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued to drop this week as the domestic steel mills struggled with holes in their order books due to growing inventories at the service centers, a sharp drop off in pipe and tube orders associated with the energy markets, and the continued flow of imported steel (which is part of the […]
Low oil prices and the proliferation of pipe and tube imports at below market prices are causing manufacturers to idle mills and lay off workers. The latest round of layoffs comes from Tenaris which announced it will lay off 500 employees in Conroe, Texas and in Blytheville, Arkansas. “The energy industry’s present circumstances have driven […]
Ferrous scrap prices were forecast to be up $30 per gross ton as little as one week ago. According to one of our East Coast dealers there were some early sales at up $20 to $30 to those steel mills who needed to buy immediately. However, those deals were few and far between and the […]
This will be our last issue before Christmas and the last day of Hanukkah. We wish each and everyone one of you and your family all the best over the Holidays. I drove from Atlanta to Chicago over the weekend as we prepare to celebrate the Holidays with our son. One of the first gifts […]
Total service center carbon steel shipments in November decreased by 763,700 tons to 2.979 million tons. This was mainly due to a decrease in shipping days from 23 to 19. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments also decreased from 162,700 in October to 156,800. In the eleven years 2004 through 2014 November shipments […]