Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week shows flat rolled steel prices firming up a bit as demand slowly recovers from the coronavirus disruptions. SMU puts the current benchmark price for hot rolled at $465 per ton, up from $440 last week. SMU’s Price Momentum Indicators remain at Neutral, though the market may […]
Four days to go… This will be our 10th SMU Steel Summit Conference. Over those 10 years the SMU team (and now CRU team) has built the most successful steel conference outside of mainland China. This year’s conference will be either the second or third most attended event we have had since the beginning. I don’t think we […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive subscribers. For more information on how to upgrade to a Premium subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. July was the ninth consecutive month where imports were down by more than 20 percent compared to the same month last year, according to the latest Commerce Department data. […]
Last week we conducted one of our flat rolled and plate steel market trends analyses. Some of the information gathered was shared in Thursday’s and again in tonight’s issue (see above). However, we share in our newsletter only a small fraction of the information that is being collected. Our data providers and Premium members can […]
Lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel from the mills were at their shortest in the week of April 30 as orders dried up due to the coronavirus. Since then lead times have extended by about half a week, but saw only minor fluctuations in June and July. Currently, lead times for hot […]
Lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel are stretching out as demand improves and the mills get busier. Lead times for hot rolled and plate steels have extended past four weeks, while lead times for cold rolled and coated are now longer than six weeks. Lead times are an indicator of steel demand—longer […]
Steel buyers maintain their strong position in price negotiations with steel makers as demand slowly recovers from the coronavirus. The vast majority of those responding to Steel Market Update’s questionnaire this week report that the mills are willing to compromise on price to win orders. Nearly all the hot rolled buyers (91 percent) said the […]
Negotiations between buyers and the mills appear to be tightening as steelmakers attempt to firm up prices in response to improving demand. Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week shows significantly more mills holding the line in price talks on hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel orders compared to earlier in August. About […]
By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson, from CRU’s Steel Monitor. The U.S. Midwest sheet market was somewhat mixed this week as prices for both HR and HDG coil fell w/w, while CR coil rose by $3 /s.ton. The price of HR coil fell $5 /s.ton w/w and is at its lowest level since the prior […]
A challenge by JSW Steel USA to the U.S. Court of International Trade regarding the denial by Commerce of its slab exclusion requests has prompted CIT to order Commerce to provide further explanation of the steps taken in the denial process. “Remand of all twelve exclusion requests is warranted because Commerce’s denials are devoid of […]
Steel Market Update’s check of the market over the past two days shows that nearly 70 percent of steel buyers believe prices are near a bottom, and the numbers support that view, showing little variation from last week. SMU puts the benchmark average price for hot rolled steel at $450 per ton, unchanged from last […]
As if a pandemic wasn’t enough, now I have to muddle through a tropical storm (it was a hurricane but lost some of its punch overnight on Saturday). Fortunately, Florida residents consider tropical storms as nothing more than a nuisance. I have my fingers crossed that we don’t pick up a hurricane until after our […]
Metals processor and distributor Ryerson Holding Corp. recorded revenue of $772 million for the second quarter of 2020, a plunge of 35.9 percent from a year ago and 23.6 percent sequentially. Shipments fell 25.8 percent to 462,000 tons. Average selling price declined 13.6 percent to $1,671 per ton. The company reduced warehousing, delivery, general and […]
Nucor President and CEO Leon Topalian has had quite the year, taking the reins of Nucor in January and then steering the company through the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike Nucor’s blast furnace competitors, the EAF-based steelmaker was able to continue operations relatively unabated during the past two quarters. “Our ability to continue operating, along with proactive […]
Nucor President and CEO Leon Topalian has had quite the year, taking the reins of Nucor in January and then steering the company through the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike Nucor’s blast furnace competitors, the EAF-based steelmaker was able to continue operations relatively unabated during the past two quarters. “Our ability to continue operating, along with proactive […]
Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week shows flat rolled and plate steel prices falling by a further $10, taking the benchmark hot rolled price down to $450 per ton. Most respondents expressed doubts that the price increase announced last week by the integrated mills will gain any traction, especially since the minimills […]
SSAB Americas’ third-quarter results were impacted by lower prices and volumes, which were somewhat offset by cost savings and lower raw material prices. SSAB Americas posted an operating loss of SEK 10 million ($1.13 million) versus a profit of SEK 106 million ($12 million) in the first quarter. Sales totaled $3.2 billion SEK ($361 million) […]
India-based steelmaker JSW Steel posted its first loss in six years in Q1 of FY 2021 after what it called “formidable challenges” related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The quarter was marked by “disrupted supply chains, unparalleled drop in demand and activity levels in the domestic markets, uncertainty in seamless inbound and outbound logistics movement, and liquidity […]
Lead times for spot orders of flat rolled and plate steel have seen relatively little change over the past month, but remain about a half week shorter than this time last year as the market tries to come to grips with doing business in a pandemic. Lead times are an indicator of steel demand—shorter lead […]
Steel buyers clearly have the upper hand in negotiations with steel makers given the challenging market conditions from the virus, with overwhelming percentages of those responding to Steel Market Update’s questionnaire this week reporting that the mills are open to price negotiations to win orders. Nearly all the hot rolled buyers (96 percent) said the […]
Nucor surprised analysts with earnings significantly higher than expected for the second quarter of 2020. Earnings for Q2 totaled $108.9 million or $0.36 per diluted share despite Nucor’s own guidance for $0.10-0.15 per share and analyst forecasts of $0.12 to $0.14. The company admits poor forecasting ability resulted in the welcome discrepancy, along with strategic […]
Hot roll steel held its own this week, remaining at an average price of $460 per ton. Cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume prices slipped by a further $5-10 per ton, however, based on Steel Market Update’s latest check of the market. SMU will leave its price momentum indicators unchanged—pointing lower for HR, CR and galv—until […]
Many subscribers to Steel Market Update don’t even know the full extent of the information available to them through SMU’s research. SMU President and CEO John Packard will host this week’s Community Chat Webinar, beginning at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday, July 22, to enlighten both current and prospective members. John will highlight the methodology […]
Many subscribers to Steel Market Update don’t even know the full extent of the information available to them through SMU’s research. SMU President and CEO John Packard will host this week’s Community Chat Webinar, beginning at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday, July 22, to enlighten both current and prospective members. John will highlight the methodology […]
The coronavirus pandemic has crippled GDP growth and made the world economy smaller. It follows, then, that the same is in store for steel. “There is going to be a permanent reduction in the size of the steel market,” predicted veteran industry analyst John Lichtenstein, managing partner of the Swiss-based Research and Consulting Group AG […]
Now is a good time to consider the futures market, said Andre Marshall, president and founder of Crunch Risk, LLC, during Wednesday’s SMU Community Chat Webinar. Hedging price risk can help bring some certainty to the unpredictability brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Right now, the market is very bearish based on what we are […]
Today there was an explosion at the “D” furnace at ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor. Will there be some impact on the market? Will it be enough to put a bottom to the slide in prices? It’s too early to tell, but we will be watching developments closely in the coming days and weeks. Steel shipments between […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices continued to slide this week, down by $5 to $15 per ton depending on the product, reflecting the lower scrap prices and uneven demand in July. Steel Market Update’s Price Momentum Index continues to point toward lower prices for hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized in the next 30 […]
By CRU Analysts Irina Melkonyan and Iris Speelmanns, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Market Outlook Russia is among the biggest steel exporters in the world, delivering to a wide range of destinations. However, steel demand in all regions diminished as the world was hit by Covid-19 and most steel producers globally have struggled. Unlike steelmakers […]
Total rolled product imports in June were down by 25.4 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis, year over year. This was the eighth consecutive month in which imports declined by more than 20 percent compared to the same month last year. This early look at June’s import volume is based on Commerce Department […]