Today we took our Price Momentum Indicator on flat rolled steel to Lower from Neutral. We are clearly seeing an erosion in pricing, which is expected to continue over the near term. The economy is heading into recession. Key indicators are pointing toward a slowdown in construction as states and local municipalities mandate construction projects […]
By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson, from CRU’s Steel Monitor In the U.S. Midwest market, sheet prices were split this week. The price of HR coil fell $21 /s.ton to $561 /s.ton while CR and HDG coil prices fell by only $1-$3 /s.ton to $770 and $747 /s.ton, respectively. The spread between HDG coil and […]
Steel prices continue to weaken due to the coronavirus’ effect on demand, but have not collapsed as many fear. Galvanized steel saw the biggest decline in the past week, with smaller adjustments for hot rolled and cold rolled products. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $540-$580 […]
Steel prices continue to weaken due to the coronavirus’ effect on demand, but have not collapsed as many fear. Galvanized steel saw the biggest decline in the past week, with smaller adjustments for hot rolled and cold rolled products. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $540-$580 […]
By CRU Research Manager Paul Butterworth, from CRU’s Steel Monitor CRU has massively downgraded forecast GDP growth in China to 1-2 percent for 2020 and we now expect the USA and Eurozone to fall into recession. Global GDP growth is now expected to be 1 percent for the year, an effective global recession. While economic […]
Lead times for spot orders of flat rolled and plate steel products showed initial signs of shortening this week, according to returns from Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level—the longer the lead time, the busier the mill. The current lead times […]
Steel producers and distributors told Steel Market Update this week that they remain busy serving customers, despite the disruption to the economy from the coronavirus. Not surprisingly, the mills appear very willing to negotiate spot prices to keep business flowing. The majority of service center and manufacturing executives responding to SMU’s questionnaire on Monday and […]
News on the spread of the coronavirus changes by the hour, which effects the outlook of steel buyers. But as of early this past week, based on Steel Market Update’s canvass of the market, the steel sector appears to have weathered the worst of the bad news so far. Steel Prices Most executives responding to […]
Coronavirus fears have taken a major toll on how steel executives view their prospects for success. Steel Buyers Sentiment, as measured by Steel Market Update, suffered the sharpest one-week decline in the index’s 11-year history. Sentiment plunged by 45 points, from a Current Sentiment reading of +58 down to +13, and a Future Sentiment reading […]
Coronavirus fears have taken a major toll on how steel executives view their prospects for success. Steel Buyers Sentiment, as measured by Steel Market Update, suffered the sharpest one-week decline in the index’s 11-year history. Sentiment plunged by 45 points, from a Current Sentiment reading of +58 down to +13, and a Future Sentiment reading […]
Steel Dynamics and Nucor are both expecting improved earnings for the first quarter of 2020 due to higher steel prices and increased shipments. So far, the impact from the COVID-19 outbreak has been minimal on supply chains and operations, said the companies. Disruptions are expected, however, as more manufacturers temporarily suspend production and construction activity […]
Except for galvanized and plate prices, which stayed flat, flat rolled steel saw declines of $10 to $25 per ton last week. The downtrend certainly could have been worse, given the coronavirus crisis, but sources report that steel production and demand remain surprisingly strong. Steel Market Update’s Flat Rolled Price Momentum Indicator remains at Neutral, […]
Flat Rolled = 46.1 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 49 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled As prices eroded in February, service centers further reduced their flat rolled inventories 4.6 percent month on month by month’s end, according to adjusted February data compared with January’s final. With 20 shipping days in February compared to […]
We had to change the way we calculate the adjusted data, which will also change how we derive our analysis. Previously, we adjusted the data to mirror the exact mix of service centers that responded to the previous month’s survey. We saw a decrease in participation in the March survey, which we can understand given […]
Mill shipments of sheet products in January were the highest since August 2019. This analysis is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import-export data from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC). This month we are producing a new report for long products and will follow this […]
Demand for long products declined by 3.5 percent in the three months through January, but rebar was up by 9.6 percent. This analysis is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import-export data from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC). It summarizes total steel supply by product […]
Steel prices are as unpredictable as the spread of a rogue virus, but one symptom of COVID-19 is likely to be lower steel prices. As of this writing on March 13, the price of flat rolled steel products had yet to see much effect from the global panic over the coronavirus. Steel Market Update’s latest […]
Premium subscribers to Steel Market Update have access to reports on our website that break out the import tonnage into district of entry and source nation for six sheet and plate product categories. This report takes the total national tonnage of hot rolled and breaks it down into product detail. Using U.S. International Trade Commission […]
In 2019, imports of cold rolled plate declined in all regions, and the Great Lakes accounted for 69.2 percentage of the total national tonnage. SMU presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the very detailed look at volume by district of entry and source nation. The […]
In 2019, imports of cut to length plate declined in all regions except the Gulf, which increased by 45.1 percent. SMU presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the detailed look at volume by district of entry and source nation. The report you are reading now […]
Well, isn’t this special… Being Americans, I have seen my share of videos and cartoons where people are selling toilet paper and hand sanitizer like a drug deal. I must say I normally don’t have much food in the house. My freezer is now full. My son is a professional musician and last week he […]
Steel prices saw only small movement this week, with Galvalume up a bit and plate down a bit. We don’t expect that to be the case moving forward as the market really begins to feel the effects of the coronavirus on the economy and oil prices. In the meantime, Steel Market Update’s Price Momentum Indicators […]
New Commerce Department data shows the United States exported 647,156 tons of steel in January, up 21 percent from December and up 2 percent from the same month one year ago. While up dramatically over one month prior, recall that December 2019 was the second lowest export level in the past decade (just ahead of […]
EVRAZ North America was hit by a cyberattack on March 4 that disrupted information technology systems at facilities in the U.S. and Canada, impacting production. An EVRAZ spokesperson said that there was “no indication of any breach of confidential or personal customer or employee information,” in the ransomware attack. Patrick Waldron, a spokesperson for EVRAZ […]
Imports of rolled products have declined every month since May 2018 year over year with the greatest declines in each month December 2019 through February 2020. Total rolled product imports in February were down by 26.7 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This follows the 26.3 percent decrease in December and 29.6 percent […]
In spite of the widely reported decline in import volume, import market share increased in the second quarter. Last week we reported that June was the eighth consecutive month in which imports were down by more than 20 percent compared to the same month last year. This has not been the case for import market […]
This report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products and 16 subcategories. Since January 2020, imports’ share of the total sheet products has been 14.5 percent, down from 21.4 percent in 2015. The import share of HRC has been below 10 percent since January 2019. The most striking finding in this […]
Average mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel saw little change this past week. In fact, according to Steel Market Update’s surveys of the market, lead times have moved up or down by just a day or two, depending on the product, since the beginning of the year. Lead times for steel delivery […]
Price negotiations have tightened up noticeably as the mills seek to collect the $40 price increase they announced last week. Significantly more of the service center and manufacturing executives responding to Steel Market Update’s questionnaire this week said the mills are holding the line on prices, especially for hot rolled and galvanized. In the hot […]
Ferrous scrap prices surprised to the low side in March, trading sideways to up just $10 per ton, well below initial expectations of up $10-30/GT. The mills were anticipating that higher scrap prices this month would lend support to the $40 increase in finished steel prices they announced last week. “In the Ohio Valley, obsolete […]