Canada’s Algoma Steel and the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 2251 announced they have reached a new, tentative five-year labor deal. The bargaining committee of Local 2251 is “unanimously recommending the offer,” encouraging membership to vote in favor of the fair agreement during the ratification vote scheduled for Aug. 25 and Aug. 29. The Local represents […]
Sheet prices are down across the board this week, putting big cracks in any hopes that hot-rolled coil prices would find a bottom around $800 per net ton ($40 per cwt). The declines came as market participants reported that at least one large producer had cut deals at low levels and, in doing so, put […]
United Steelworkers (USW) union Local 8782 has ratified a new, five-year labor agreement with Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Stelco. The move effectively concludes a summer of protracted contract negotiations between Hamilton, Ontario-based Stelco and the USW. Local 8782 reported that 67% of its members voted in favor of the contract in update to members on Friday, […]
US plate prices edged down marginally this week, declining for the third straight week. The easing was driven by a tightening of the range, though sources feel pricing has flattened. The repeated declines are not exactly a surprise given plate prices have been holding an unsustainable premium over coil, while buying remains strategic and mainly hand-to-mouth. […]
End use market demand is mixed as mid-year shipment data is reported The recession, inflation, and interest rates remain hot topics for aluminum producers and consumers. As new economic data is announced, both bright spots and points of concern emerge. First, this month’s report on inflation showed a drop month-on-month (MoM) and may signal that […]
The percentage of buyers reporting that mills’ prices are negotiable contracted this week, following more than two consecutive months of rising negotiation rates. Four out of five steel executives polled this week reported that mills are willing to talk price to secure an order. According to our steel market surveys, a high willingness to negotiate […]
Steel mill lead times were relatively flat this week compared to our previous market check, with some products slightly up and others down. Hot rolled, cold rolled and plate lead times slightly declined compared to levels seen two weeks ago, while coated lead times increased. On average this week, lead times increased by 0.2 weeks […]
Steel mill lead times were mixed this week, with the processing time for some ordered products extending, shrinking for one, and another holding steady. Cold rolled and coated lead times increased compared to our previous market check, while plate lead times slightly declined and hot rolled lead times remained flat. On average this week, lead […]
This will be my last article prior to the SMU Steel Summit Conference which begins on Monday morning of this coming week. We are now six days away from the start of the conference. As you can imagine, this is a hectic time for the SMU and CRU events teams. Some of the event’s staff […]
This will be my last article prior to the SMU Steel Summit Conference which begins on Monday morning of this coming week. We are now six days away from the start of the conference. As you can imagine, this is a hectic time for the SMU and CRU events teams. Some of the event’s staff […]
Sheet prices were mixed this week as market participants continued to debate whether a recent round of price hikes had stuck. While some said the increases would provide a floor and prevent further price erosion, others said prices were more likely to resume their downward trend in the weeks ahead. There were also questions about […]
Flat Rolled = 54.7 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 63.8 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat rolled inventories declined slightly in July as service centers worked to align inventories with slowing demand. At the end of July, service centers carried 54.7 shipping days of supply, down from 55 shipping days […]
North Star BlueScope is “substantially complete” with a $700 million expansion that will provide the Delta, Ohio, EAF sheet mill with additional annual capacity of nearly 950,000 short tons (850,000 metric tonnes). The mill produced the first coil from its expansion in June and has begun the 18-month process of ramping up the facility to […]
We had a big development this week with London-listed Russian steelmaker Evraz Plc announcing plans to sell its North American operations. A move like this has been rumored for some time. We’ve heard versions of it going back to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February. Still, it was something of a shock to […]
Algoma Steel and United Steelworkers (USW) Local 2251 have once again narrowly averted a potential labor disruption. The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based sheet and plate producer said Local 2251 had agreed to put the company’s “last offer” to union members for a vote. The union has scheduled ratification votes on the contract from Aug. 29-Aug. […]
Steelmakers stand firm in the face of Russian aggression The invasion of Ukraine led to a sharp and sudden decline in steel production as steelmakers hurried to idle their assets in the face of military aggression. In the weeks that followed, some of these producers restarted their facilities – albeit at reduced capacity utilization. As […]
Imported sheet and plate products arrived at US ports at a higher clip in June, resulting in them accounting for a larger share of the domestic market, according to US Commerce Department data. Imports’ share of US sheet and plate markets peaked in December, with sheet reaching its highest level in the past 4.5 years. The trend […]
Underlying price function stops sliding and may have found basis for strengthening The London Metal Exchange (LME) may have found a floor to stop the slide it has experienced since April. Topping out near $3,400 metric tons earlier this year, the price of aluminum drifted lower steadily in the second quarter and into the third […]
Total mill shipments of steel products shrank in June, after gaining ground the month before. June’s mill shipments totaled 8.09 million tons, a 3.5% decline from May’s 8.38 million tons. Apparent supply also declined in June, down 2.8% versus the prior month. This analysis is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel […]
We are now 11 days away from the start of the 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta. As of Wednesday, we had 1,174 registered attendees from all over the world. This year’s conference will be the largest one ever conducted by Steel Market Update, and it will be […]
US plate prices edged down again this week after seeing their largest decline in nearly five years the week prior. The latest declines are not exactly a surprise given plate prices had been holding an unsustainable premium over coil and buying has been largely hand-to-mouth. But the straw that broke the camel’s back might just […]
Chicago-based Evraz North America is encouraged by its Russian parent company’s decision to divest its North American assets. The steelmaker said the move would provide increased certainty for its North American operations and employees. Evraz plc’s announcement of a sale “strengthens our long-term stability and will allow us to continue to lead in the markets where we […]
Russia’s Evraz plc has put its North American operations up for sale. Evraz North America (Evraz NA) operates two electric arc furnace facilities, four rolling mills, eight tube mills, and 17 scrap recycling facilities. It has annual steelmaking capacity of 2.3 million tons and a finished steel capacity of 3.5 million tons per year, including […]
A fire at one of Algoma Steel’s coal conveyors is not affecting iron and steelmaking operations at the company’s mill in Sault St. Marie, Ontario. But coke production will be reduced while the damage is repaired. The fire occurred on Aug. 7, 2022, on one of the conveyors that supplies coal to two of Algoma’s […]
Eariler this week, SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects including current and future steel prices, price increase announcements, supply, demand, and new mill capacity. Rather than summarizing the comments we received, we are sharing them in each buyer’s own words. We want to hear your thoughts, too! Contact Brett@SteelMarketUpdate.com to be included […]
US steel exports were up 1% from May to June, totaling just shy of 800,000 net tons, according to the latest US Commerce Department data. This is the third highest monthly export rate seen in the past four years. On a 12-month moving average (12MMA), June exports rose to a 3+ year record high. Total June exports are […]
SMU’s benchmark hot-rolled coil price inched upward for the first time since mid-April, nearly four months ago. The modest gain came even as cold-rolled and coated prices continued to see significant declines. Plate prices were roughly flat. By the numbers: Our average hot-rolled coil price now stands at $820 per ton ($41 per cwt), up […]
Algoma’s plate mill is up and running following the first phase of a modernization project that was completed in June. The second phase of the expansion, initially expected to be finished by November 2022, has been moved to June 2023, a company spokeswoman told SMU on Tuesday, Aug. 9. The reason: “to support our customers […]
Final Census data shows that June steel imports totalled 2.84 million net tons, 24,000 tons higher than preliminary figures reported last week. June imports are down 8% compared to March’s 26-month high of 3.09 million tons. Import licenses for July now total 2.57 million tons through Aug. 3rd data. This is up from 2.15 million […]
Algoma Steel Group posted solid profits in its fiscal first quarter on rising steel prices, despite higher raw material costs for iron ore, scrap, alloys and natural gas. The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based flat-rolled steelmaker also said the gains came despite a “significant” planned outage at its plate mill for a first phase of upgrades. […]