Mill lead times are extended, price increase announcements are being made (with ArcelorMittal USA putting a minimum base price on hot rolled out there of $650 per ton and cold rolled and coated at $850 per ton) and mills are holding the line on spot negotiations. Momentum is clearly on the side of the steel […]
Steel prices continue to see some upward momentum as flat rolled and plate prices rose by another $5-15 per ton, according to Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week. The mills announced further $40-50 price hikes on plate on Monday and Tuesday in hopes of sustaining that momentum. Here is how we see […]
Cleveland-Cliffs is about to become the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. The company announced Monday that it will acquire the operations of ArcelorMittal USA and its subsidiaries for a purchase price of approximately $1.4 billion in equity and cash. The transaction includes 78.2 million shares of Cleveland-Cliffs common stock valued at $500 million, […]
Cleveland-Cliffs is about to become the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America. The company announced Monday that it will acquire all of the operations of ArcelorMittal USA and its subsidiaries for a purchase price of approximately $1.4 billion. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020. The ArcelorMittal assets include […]
All the integrated steel mills in the United States will soon be controlled by U.S. companies. Cleveland-Cliffs is buying ArcelorMittal USA assets…well, most of the U.S. assets. They did not acquire the ArcelorMittal/Nippon Steel Calvert steel mill located just outside of Mobile, Ala., and they did not purchase the Dofasco plant located in Hamilton, Ontario, […]
From the CRU weekly Steel Monitor: Most Chinese product prices were either unchanged or marginally lower this week, except for HR coil, that has fallen RMB220 /t ($32 /t) over three weeks. Although this keeps Chinese prices at a relatively high level, it has created caution and may now indicate a limit to how far rallies in […]
Flat rolled steel prices continue to rise as demand improves, lead times extend and supplies remain a bit tight. Prices rose a further $10-40 per ton, based on Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week, with hot rolled reaching the psychological high mark of $600 per ton. SMU’s price momentum indicators remain pointed […]
Flat rolled steel prices continue to rise as demand improves, lead times extend and supplies remain a bit tight. Prices rose a further $10-40 per ton, based on Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week, with hot rolled reaching the psychological high mark of $600 per ton. SMU’s price momentum indicators remain pointed […]
Demand remains strong even as galvanized steel prices have topped $900 per ton, reported members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International in a conference call this morning. But the HARDI members—wholesalers who serve the HVAC market—expressed concern about the tight availability of galvanized steel and fear of running low on supplies. “We are […]
California Steel Industries notified customers on Monday, Sept. 21, that it has raised prices on its flat rolled products by $60-70 per ton ($3.00-3.50/cwt) due to changing market conditions. Effective immediately on all unconfirmed orders, prices for hot rolled, P&O and galvanized have increased by a minimum of $60 per ton, while cold rolled is […]
I am back. One of the questions I got on this morning’s HARDI steel conference call was if I really did go off the grid and not stay in touch with the market over the 24 days that I was away from my office? The answer was I rented a cottage about as far off […]
Lead times for spot orders of flat rolled and plate steels continue to extend and are around two weeks longer than in April at the depth of the pandemic as demand recovers and supplies tighten. Lead times for hot rolled now average five and a half weeks, cold rolled and galvanized over seven weeks, and […]
With steel prices on the rise and another round of increases in play, the mills appear to have the upper hand in negotiations. The mills are holding the line in price talks on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steel orders, as well as plate, according to respondents to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire […]
Flat Rolled = 48.6 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 56.9 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Service centers’ flat rolled steel supply reached its lowest point of the year in August, as shipments increased and intake remained nearly flat month on month. In August, service centers carried 48.6 shipping days of supply of flat […]
National level import reports do a good job of measuring the overall market pressure caused by the imports of individual products. The downside is that there are huge regional differences. This report examines coiled plate imports by region through July 2020. In July, coiled plate imports were down by 34.2 percent at the national level, […]
National level import reports do a good job of measuring the overall market pressure caused by the imports of individual products. The downside is that there are huge regional differences. This report examines cut-to-length plate imports by region through July 2020. In July, CTL plate imports were down by 47.8 percent at the national level, […]
Demand and pricing improved late in the third quarter, said Nucor in earnings guidance issued Thursday. Continued resiliency of the nonresidential construction market has resulted in a strong performance for Nucor’s downstream products. Steel segment earnings are expected to be similar to second quarter. Nonresidential construction is also benefiting Nucor’s bar and structural mills, but market conditions […]
Better-than-expected demand and higher scrap prices have allowed the mills to boost flat rolled and plate steel prices, with the benchmark average for hot rolled reaching $580 per ton, according to Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week. With a few mills announcing new increases on flat rolled on Monday and Tuesday, the […]
JSW Steel USA will idle its Baytown, Texas, plate mill, citing recent changes to quotas of semifinished steel imports from Brazil. “While on the journey to becoming a ‘melted and manufactured in the USA’ company, JSW utilized the imported slab quota system put in place by the administration to support operations at our Baytown, Texas, […]
Total rolled product imports in August were down by 28.0 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This was the 10th consecutive month in which imports were down by more than 20 percent compared to the same time last year. This early look at August’s import volume is based on Commerce Department license data […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. The information below is excerpted from the full article, which is available to Premium subscribers on SMU’s website. For information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Total rolled product imports in September were down by 28.7 percent on a three-month […]
U.S. steel exports continued to recover in July, up 13 percent from June to 478,182 net tons, according to recent U.S. Department of Commerce data. This is up 35 percent from two months prior when exports were at the lowest levels seen in SMU’s 24-year data history. Although up, July exports remain low historically, down […]
Nucor’s Plate Group announced a new minimum base price yesterday “to provide an increased level of clarity and transparency to our plate product pricing.” The company added: “This price change reflects continued increases in input costs and changing market dynamics.” Effective immediately, Nucor’s new minimum base price is $29.50/cwt ($590 per net ton), freight included. […]
Mills raised plate prices by an additional $40-50 per ton ($2-2.50/cwt) on Monday and Tuesday, the second increase in the past five weeks and the fourth round of increases since May. Plate prices have lagged the increases in flat rolled as plate demand is more dependent on the infrastructure, commercial construction and energy markets, which […]
Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week shows prices for hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steels up by $20-30 per ton as demand continues to improve, lead times extend and scrap prices rise. The benchmark price for hot rolled steel now averages $540 per ton, up $100 from the low point in […]
Lead times for spot orders of flat rolled and plate steels have extended by about a week over the past month as demand continues to recover and buying picks up ahead of rising prices. Lead times for hot rolled now average nearly five weeks and coated products more than seven weeks. Lead times are an […]
Flat rolled steel is no longer a buyer’s market as the mills appear less willing to negotiate while they try to collect the price increases they announced late last month. Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week shows the majority of buyers reporting mills holding the line in price talks on hot rolled, cold rolled […]
Mills have hiked prices on flat rolled and plate steels in the past 10 days and it appears they will collect at least a portion of the increases. Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week shows prices up as much as $30 per ton, depending on the product, on top of a $10 […]
Six months of adversity was not what Leon Topalian expected when he took over the reigns of Nucor in January. But a pandemic that devastated the economy, caused demand and pricing to plummet and put the very lives of employees in jeopardy was a formidable challenge to overcome. “I’m not sure I’ve seen before in […]
Following on a similar move by the plate mills earlier in the week, flat rolled mills announced price changes Wednesday and Thursday ranging from $40 to $60 per ton. Nucor’s Sheet Mill Group notified customers today, Aug. 27, that it has increased base prices on new orders of hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel […]