Hot rolled, cold rolled, and plate buyers said mills are more willing to talk price on spot orders this week, while the overall negotiation rate for products SMU surveys remained level, according to our most recent survey data.
Most steel products tracked by SMU saw lead times contract this week from two weeks earlier, according to SMU’s most recent survey data.
Sheet prices fell across the board this week – largely in response to Nucor’s $65-per-short-ton price cut for hot-rolled (HR) coil on Monday morning. SMU’s HR coil price is $780/st on average, a $35/st decrease week over week (w/w). Our average cold-rolled coil price is $1,090/st (down $30/st w/w). Our galvanized base price is $1,100/st […]
US steel exports eased through March but remain healthy, having reached a six-month high in February
March 2024 represents the third highest monthly steel import rate seen over the prior year.
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market chatter.
Sheet prices were flat or moderately down again this week – underscoring the shift in momentum we’ve seen over the last month. The exception was hot-rolled (HR) coil, which was largely unchanged from last week.
Latest AA extrusion shipment report shows persistently weak demand The US Aluminum Association released its latest shipment report for extruded products. According to the report, shipments in March 2024 totaled 383.2 million pounds, representing a drop of 10.6% y/y but a rise of 4.5% m/m. For the YTD period through March, total shipments are now […]
Nucor Corp. announced that its plate mill group would cut prices for as-rolled, discrete, and normalized plate with the opening of its June order book. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Monday, April 29, that tags would be lowered by $90 per short ton (st). That would bring its base price to roughly $1,200/st.
What a difference a month makes. In late March, it seemed like the US hot-rolled (HR) coil market was poised to cycle upward. Large buyers had re-entered the market and placed big orders earlier in the month. Several outages were underway or upcoming. And expectations were that lead times would continue to extend. Cliffs said […]
Hot-rolled coil and plate lead times contracted this week, with most other products remaining flat, according to SMU's most recent survey data. Cold-rolled products, however, saw lead times extend 0.1 weeks to an average of 7.5 weeks vs. two weeks earlier. Hot rolled and plate lead times both contracted 0.3 weeks from our last market check.
I’ve gotten some questions lately about whether the huge gap between domestic hot-rolled coil (HR) prices and those for cold-rolled (CR) and coated is sustainable. I remember being asked similar questions about the wide spread between HR and plate that developed in early 2022. I thought at the time that there was no way that spread could hold. Turned out, I was wrong. That was humbling. And so I’m not going to make any bold predictions this time.
Reliance Inc.’s earnings slumped in the first quarter of 2024, but the company expects better than normal seasonal recovery in demand in the second quarter.
Sheet steel buyers said mills are more willing to talk price on spot orders, according to our most recent survey data.
Steel imports held steady in March, up just 1% from February according to preliminary Census data released earlier this week.
Algoma Steel Inc. expects to wrap up a previously announced outage on its plate mill by the end of this month, a company spokeswoman said. The outage is part of the Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker’s $130 million CAD ($95 million USD) modernization project. It began in mid-April.
Lower demand and prices for steel plate impacted SSAB Americas’ results in the first quarter, Swedish parent company SSAB said in its Q1'24 interim report.
We've used the word "unprecedented" a lot over the last four years to describe steel price volatility. Over the last two months – despite earlier predictions of a price surge - we've seen unprecedented stability.
Sheet prices were again mixed this week – all seemed to highlight the momentum shift seen over the past two weeks.
Galvanized buyers reported steady demand and ample supply this week as pricing momentum has shifted, potentially pointing down. Service centers, distributors, and manufacturers who are members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) association met virtually on Tuesday, April 23, for the monthly meeting of HARDI’s Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council. Sentiment was noticeably […]
Lapham-Hickey Steel has acquired the operating assets of Crystal Steel Corporation of Middleton, Mass., for an undisclosed sum.
Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market chatter.
Sheet prices varied this week. While hot-rolled (HR) coil pricing was largely flat, cold-rolled (CR) coil and tandem product pricing eased slightly reflecting the momentum shift seen last week for HR coil. SMU’s average HR coil price was flat from last week at $835 per short ton (st) – potentially emphasizing the tension between competing […]
Flat Rolled = 58.3 shipping days of supply Plate = 60.6 shipping days of supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel inventories edged up in March as shipments remained low. At the end of March, service centers carried 58.3 shipping days of supply on an adjusted basis, up from 56.6 shipping days in February. […]
Total domestic aluminum mill products orders in March were up 0.2% compared to March 2023, according to the latest “Index of Net New Orders of Aluminum Mill Products” released by the US Aluminum Association (AA). This is much lower than the growth of 9.3% year over year (y/y) reported in February.
The market appears to be taking a pause after the heavy buying that occurred in March.
Steel buyers said mills are more willing to talk price on spot orders on all the products SMU covers, according to our most recent survey data.
Steel prices continued to ease lower in early March – a trend seen since mid-January – before showing signs of bottoming and inflecting up. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator for sheet products shifted from lower to neutral mid-way through the month after Nucor, Cleveland-Cliffs, and ArcelorMittal all targeted new base minimums between $825-840 per short […]
Over the last several years, I have noticed widening spreads between #1 Heavy Melting Steel (ISRI 201) and Shredded (ISRI 210,211), as well as Plate & Structural (ISRI 232).
Nucor made waves in the sheet market when it announced on Friday that it would begin publishing a weekly hot-rolled (HR) coil price. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker arguably made even bigger waves on Monday when it posted its first weekly HR number: $830 per short ton. That’s $70/st lower than the $900/st HR price Cliffs announced in late March. It’s also lower than prices in the mid-$800s that other mills were (less publicly) seeking.