Based on a quick analysis of the just released July steel import license data (through the 15th of July) we see the foreign steel imports continuing at very high rates. The import data suggests we will see July imports at levels similar to that of May and June. May had the highest level of imports […]
Big River Steel will break ground on the new 1.6 million ton flat rolled mill some time later this month, according to their Chief Commercial Officer, Mark Bula. Construction of the new flat rolled electric arc furnace mini-mill was delayed for about a year as Big River Steel (BRS) had to wait until all air […]
Severstal reported a spike in sales at its North America facilities in second quarter 2014. Severstal NA sold 1,248,084 tonnes (1.38 million net tons) of rolled products, up 6 percent from the previous quarter. Sales for the first half were up 7 percent to 2,430,839 tonnes (2.68 million net tons). The average price of rolled […]
This past week saw very little movement in any of the indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Benchmark hot rolled averages ranged from a low of $670 per ton (SMU) to a high of $671 per ton (SteelBenchmarker). The only change from the previous week was in the CRU which rose $1 per ton to […]
As you may have read last week, Steel Market Update is providing our Executive members access to Premium sections of our website as well as Premium supplement newsletters for the month of July. We are doing this in an effort to educate our customers on what is available at the Premium Level should you wish […]
One of the analytical reports that Steel Market Update shares with our Premium Level subscribers is our flat rolled steel “Imports by Product, Port & Country” analysis. Once per month, Steel Market Update produces our analysis of the U.S. government import data and we break out hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume,plates in coils […]
Total US Steel Exports in May were 1,035,608 net tons, down 4.1 percent over April tonnage and down 10.9 percent over May 2013 levels. Eighty Nine percent of May exports were to Canada and Mexico, receiving 559,231 and 363,325 tons respectively. Exports of plate cut lengths were 136,490 tons, up 6.0 percent over April and […]
Steel Market Update did not publish on Sunday evening due to the extended 4th of July holiday here in the United States. We know that there are a number of our readers who enjoy our Comparison Price Indices (CPI) articles on Sunday evening. Here is what the CPI looks like as of Monday evening: Benchmark […]
Media reports that Russian steelmaker Evraz is considering selling shares of its North American operations in an effort to reduce debt are unfounded according to a spokesperson at Evraz. “EVRAZ is not planning to sell its North American assets and in fact remains completely committed to our operations and continuing to grow our business in […]
During the month of June we saw all of the steel price indexes followed by Steel Market Update decline by double digits ($10 per ton or greater). The only exception was on plate which saw two of the three indexes taking prices higher and one remaining the same. Looking at the indices as a whole […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. We have made two changes this month to try to make this even more representative of the market. Both the long and flat products shipment rows have been changed from “shipments” to […]
Essar Steel Algoma and USW Local 2742 have reached a tentative agreement for the Company’s salaried employees. The agreement has been unanimously recommended by the USW bargaining committee, said Essar Steel in a statement on Friday. Special Membership meetings will be held on Tuesday, June 24, 2014 and voting will be held on Wednesday, June […]
The SMU Comparison Price Indices saw prices dropping on all products except plate products. Benchmark hot rolled coil saw pricing drop anywhere from $2 per ton (CRU) to $10 per ton (Platts). The HRC average dropped $6 per ton for the week to $670 per ton. Cold rolled also dropped on all of the reporting […]
Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) announced today guidance for Q2 ending July 5, 2014. The full press release can be viewed here. Below are key sections of the report: Nucor expects second quarter results to be in the range of $0.35 to $0.40 per diluted share. This range represents an increase from the second quarter of 2013 […]
We have two markets developing for flat rolled steel imports: hot rolled imports are expected to actually begin to shrink from here as the offers out of Russia and Turkey for hot rolled pricing are approximately $600 per ton or higher. Since most foreign steel buyers tend to be buyers of large tonnage and thus […]
According to industry sources, SSAB Americas announced a price increase on plate products as well as hot rolled coil. The price increase was referenced at $30 per ton ($1.50/cwt) and are effective immediately. Nucor and ArcelorMittal advised their customers after the SSAB announcement was made supporting the $30 per ton move. SMU learned from multiple […]
Canadian shipments for all steel products in the month of May were 509,700 net tons, an increase of 2.7 percent from the month before, but a decrease of 1.0 percent from May 2013. Inventories at the end of the month stood at 1,384,900 tons, down 3.3 percent from last month and down 9.0 percent from […]
Based on the most recent import license data produced by the U.S. Department of Commerce, imports continue to be on pace to meet, or exceed, 3.5 million net tons. This would be the 3rd month in a row where foreign steel imports were at 3.5 million tons or above. Since the beginning of the year […]
The Canadian government approved a controversial oil pipeline project that will extend 732 miles from the oil sands in Alberta to British Columbia. The Enbridge Northern Gateway project is expected to carry 525,000 barrels of crude oil to the Pacific coast for shipment to Asia. The $6.5 billion project took on a new urgency with […]
SSAB is looking at a potential expansion to its facility in Montpelier, Iowa that would increase steel production capacity by 1.2 million tons. The expansion would add about 800,000 tons of finished product annually along with 400,000 tons of smelting capacity to be transferred as slab to SSAB’s mobile facility for rolling and finishing. The end […]
Total service center carbon steel shipments in May declined by 56,600 tons to 3.584 million tons, April was the highest monthly shipping month since March two years ago. Shipping days in May were unchanged from April at 21. Tons per day (t/d) shipments declined from 173,300 in April to 170,600 in May, both on a […]
Hello from New York City. If you are in the steel industry and you have never attended a Steel Success Strategies conference (or been a lobby rat hanging out in the hotel lobby and talking to people as they pass in and out of the hotel) then you need to do it at least one […]
Two flat rolled steel price indexes, Steel Market Update and Platts, saw little movement in flat rolled steel prices this past week. The two indexes are probably the closest they have been in some time with SMU showing hot rolled pricing averaging $670 per ton ($33.50/cwt) while Platts has their benchmark HRC price at $675 […]
Industry and economic data is always subject to inaccuracies so we at SMU try to compare different data sources to get the best handle on a situation. Housing and non-residential construction starts are examples that come to mind. In the case of steel imports we have three reports produced by the US Department of Commerce: […]
Media sources from Serbia report that Esmark Steel Group is in negotiations for a partnership with steel company Zelezara Smederevo. Bojan Bojkovic, financial director of Zelezara, said Esmark representatives visited the factory last week, as reported by American Metal Market. According to sources at Esmark, negotiation information released in Serbia was in violation of confidentiality […]
Prices dropped on all flat rolled items with the exception of plate which remained the same as one week ago. Hot rolled prices dropped by an average of $5 per ton, cold rolled by an average of $10 per ton, galvanized by $3 per ton and Galvalume by $15 per ton. With the latest drop […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released final census data regarding exports of steel out of the U.S. steel mills this past week. According to the US DOC data, the domestic mills exported a total of 1,079,723 net tons of steel products during the month of April 2014. This is in line with the previous two […]
It was an active month when it came to flat rolled steel prices, at least it was active on a week by week basis. However, when looking at the total month price movement compared against where the previous month ended, then the month of May should be considered rather tame. Hot rolled prices ended the […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered at present is thirty five, the Chicago Fed Mid-West Manufacturing Index is still on hold to enable the staff to complete a major re-vamp of the […]
Licensed data for May was updated on June 3rd 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 published in our […]