As flat rolled steel prices rise, it comes as no surprise that negotiations between mills and steel buyers continue to tighten. Responses to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week indicate that mills are less flexible on price as they work to collect three increases announced since late October totaling $110 per ton. In […]
November’s licensed import volume of total rolled steel products was the lowest since February 2010. Year over year, total rolled product imports in November were down by 27.4 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This follows the 17.7 percent decrease in October and 15.5 percent decline in September on the same basis. This […]
Benchmark hot rolled coil rose this week as we saw the lower end of the range move much higher compared to what we collected last week. We found most data points on HRC between $540-$570. We continue to see high base price spreads between hot rolled and cold rolled/coated steels. Cold rolled, with its $175 […]
Steel prices had upward momentum in November following multiple price increase announcements by the mills on flat rolled and plate products. Steel Buyers Sentiment moved upward along with the prices as service centers and OEMs anticipated a strengthening market. After bottoming in mid-October at around $480 per ton, the benchmark price for hot rolled steel […]
Last week U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal USA announced a third round of price increases. This week Nucor and Algoma followed suit. Not every mill has followed their lead, however. As a result, there are still some holes out there. Where, why and from whom are the questions of the day, which we can’t answer at […]
Last week Steel Market Update conducted our mid-November flat rolled and plate steel market analysis. We invited 480 individuals involved in manufacturing, service centers, steel mills, trading companies and toll processors to participate in our questionnaire. On purpose, the survey is heavily weighted to manufacturing companies and service centers since they purchase the vast majority […]
Nucor’s Plate Mill Group informed customers on Monday that it is raising prices on carbon and alloy plate and on heat-treated plate by a minimum of $40 per ton. The increase is effective on new orders accepted for January production. Nucor’s move follows on SSAB’s announcement on Friday that it was increasing transaction prices for […]
In what will be seen as supportive of higher domestic steel prices, ferrous scrap prices are expected to jump by $30 per ton or more in December on tight supplies and improving demand in the U.S., following on a similar increase in November. “Going into December and year end , the U.S. scrap market has […]
Steel Market Update will not publish on Thursday, Nov. 28, or Sunday, Dec. 1, due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. Our offices will be closed on Friday, Nov. 29, and will reopen on Monday, Dec. 2. Our early December flat rolled and plate steel market trends survey will begin on Monday, Dec. 2. We will also […]
On Friday morning, SSAB announced another steel plate price increase. In a letter emailed to customers, SSAB advised their intention to raise “transaction prices by a minimum of $40 per ton effective immediately for all new non-contract orders.” The increase, which is the second $40 increase announced by SSAB so far this month, applies to […]
On Friday morning, SSAB announced another steel plate price increase. In a letter emailed to customers, SSAB advised their intention to raise “transaction prices by a minimum of $40 per ton effective immediately for all new non-contract orders.” The increase, which is the second $40 increase announced by SSAB so far this month, applies to […]
Steel buyers’ sentiment has been trending up for the last six weeks along with steel prices, which is a positive development. But like the prices, sentiment has yet to really take off and prove it has sustained strength, according to Steel Market Update’s latest Steel Buyer’s Sentiment Index. The goal of the index is to […]
The domestic steel mills were busy on Friday with SSAB USA announcing a $40 per ton price increase on steel plate, and then U.S. Steel coming out with a $30 per ton price increase on flat rolled. The SSAB increase was the second on plate this month. Flat rolled has seen three price increase announcements […]
The domestic steel mills were busy on Friday with SSAB USA announcing a $40 per ton price increase on steel plate, and then U.S. Steel coming out with a $30 per ton price increase on flat rolled. The SSAB increase was the second on plate this month. Flat rolled has seen three price increase announcements […]
Pricing from the mills is considerably tighter than it was a month ago, when virtually every deal was open to negotiation. Yet Steel Market Update data indicates the flat rolled mills are still surprisingly flexible when it comes to spot prices even as they work to collect two $40 price increases announced in the past […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel have lengthened by roughly a week following the mills’ price increase announcements over the past month. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level. Thus, this data indicates the mills have gotten busier as buyers step up to place […]
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 […]
Benchmark hot rolled coil average pricing is up again this week as both the lower and upper ends of our range have increased compared to one week ago. We are still seeing some lower pricing which gives us pause, and we continue to seek more information on where prices are heading. The SMU Price Momentum […]
As of mid-November, steel prices appear to be moving upward following price increases announced by the major flat rolled and plate mills. How high and for how long is the subject of much debate and speculation. The market is clearly split between those in a buying mode in anticipation of sustained higher prices and those […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments for the month of October: Flat Rolled = 53 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 57 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Sheet steel prices declined rapidly throughout October, and the SMU Service Center Inventories Report shows that service centers pared down inventories […]
Demand for steel sheet products declined by more than the seasonal norm in September. This analysis by Steel Market Update 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). The analysis summarizes total steel supply by product from 2003 […]
October’s licensed import volume of total rolled steel products continued the decline from September and was the lowest since February 2011. Rolled product imports in October were down by 17.7 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis year over year. This follows the 15.5 percent decline in September. This early look at October’s import […]
Do you think the country is going to be a little distracted this week with all the witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment hearings? A reminder of the results of one of our real-time polls where 53 percent of the 493 individuals responding to a question about who they were going to vote for in the […]
This early look at U.S. steel imports in November, projecting Commerce Department license data out through the end of the month, suggests that imports are trending down considerably. Most of the difference is in imports of semifinished steel, on track to total less than 500,000 tons this month. This drop-off was to be expected following […]
Allegheny Technologies Inc. and NLMK USA have signed a one-year agreement to extend and expand carbon steel hot rolling conversion services for NLMK at ATI’s Hot-Rolling and Processing Facility (HRPF) in Brackenridge, Pa., through December 2020. ATI expects 2020 volumes to increase significantly compared to 2019 levels and provide guaranteed volumes and fixed fee-per-ton revenues, […]
Earlier this week Steel Market Update went out to a group of steel buyers to gather pricing information and market intelligence regarding how they were reacting to the recent price announcements, and if they thought this round of increases would result in yet another dead cat bounce. (A dead cat bounce is one where prices […]
The price hikes by the mills on flat rolled and plate are beginning to take hold, as the average price of hot rolled is up $30 per ton, galvanized is up $5 and plate is up $15, according to Steel Market Update’s latest canvass of the market Here is how we see prices this week: […]
Flat rolled steel prices are on the way up following two recent rounds of price increases. Steel Market Update has been anticipating the turnaround in prices as the market has been near the point of “capitulation” for several weeks. Capitulation is the point when 75 percent or more of our service center survey respondents are […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive-level members. For more information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. This analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into the district of entry and the source nation. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about local import […]
As flat rolled steel prices move higher, we need to remember that prior to the price increases there was an abnormally large spread between hot rolled based prices and those of cold rolled and coated. Instead of being $100-$140 per ton, they had been running as high as $180-$200 per ton. The spread was created […]