Flat rolled steel and plate prices remained range-bound this week. The latest price moves by the domestic steel mills (+$40/ton on flat rolled) did not have time to move the needle and take prices higher. As we enter the Christmas and Hanukkah Holidays, we anticipate minimal spot trades over the next couple of weeks. SMU […]
Steel Market Update conducts two flat rolled and plate steel market trends surveys every month. Our early December analysis indicates the flat rolled distributors are raising spot prices to their end-user customers, and in the process supporting at least a portion of the four recent price increases totaling $150 per ton ($7.50/cwt). Whether the mills […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments for the month of November: Flat Rolled = 51.1 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 56 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Sheet steel inventories increased in November, and the SMU Service Center Inventories Report shows that service centers have an abundance of […]
After declining for much of 2019, steel prices have moved up substantially in the last two months. Will the trend continue into 2020? Flat rolled steel producers raised prices three times during October and November for a total of $110 per ton. (Editor’s note: ArcelorMittal USA announced an additional $40 flat rolled increase on Friday. […]
In October, demand for sheet products declined by more than the seasonal norm. Demand for long products is softening as construction expenditures decline. 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 […]
Steel Market Update offers 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 report you are reading now is designed to plug the gap between those two. National level import reports do a good job […]
Steel Market Update offers 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 report you are reading now is designed to plug the gap between those two. National level import reports do a good job […]
New rounds of flat rolled price increases began on Friday with ArcelorMittal USA and NLMK USA taking the lead at $40 per ton. My expectation is the other mills will follow on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Watch lead times – with some of the mills they are beginning to stretch. Steel Dynamics has […]
The domestic plate steel mills have made three price increase announcements totaling $130 per ton ($6.50/cwt). The lead times out of the plate mills have moved into February. Scrap has been moving higher and is expected to move higher over the winter months. The mills are beginning to see some traction in plate pricing. Steel […]
This Steel Market Update report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products and 16 subcategories. Since January, there has only been one month when the import market share of total sheet products exceeded 15 percent. The import share of HRC has been below 10 percent since January. The most striking result […]
Nucor is expecting its earnings to decrease in the fourth quarter, according to just released guidance estimates. Earnings are expected in the range of $0.25 to $0.30 per diluted share, down from third-quarter earnings of $0.90 per share. Nucor’s steel mills segment will be impacted in the fourth quarter by lower steel prices that occurred […]
CNBC reported comments made by White House Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow on Tuesday saying, “The reality is those tariffs are still on the table.” This is in reference to the tweet from President Trump regarding steel from Brazil and Argentina. Steel buyers should be aware that there has not been a presidential proclamation, or anything […]
SMU Events is pleased to update the status of our popular Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals Workshops as well as more information on the 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference. For those interested in attending one of our Steel 101 workshops. Our California workshop is now 90 percent full. We have approximately […]
Flat rolled steel prices increased by $15 per ton or more in the past week, depending on the product, while plate prices rose by $10 per ton, as the mills continued trying to collect their recent price increases. Price momentum is pointing to likely higher prices in the weeks to come as the mills try […]
The Nucor Plate Mill Group informed customers today, Dec. 10, that it has increased transaction prices on all new orders for carbon, alloy and heat-treated plate by a minimum of $50 per ton, effective immediately. Nucor’s move follows a similar announcement by SSAB Americas on Friday. Sources tell SMU that ArcelorMittal has also followed suit, […]
The U.S. exported 709,496 tons of steel in October, according to final Census data, a 15 percent increase from September and up 12 percent from the same month one year ago. October exports were 13 percent above the 2019 average of 625,236 tons, but remain significantly muted compared to recent years. As shown in the […]
I have just returned from three days in New Orleans where I attended the HARDI annual conference. I spoke to the steel council on Sunday, and I referenced some of my comments in Sunday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update. I stayed until this morning because I wanted to hear Alan Beaulieu speak to see […]
SSAB Americas notified customers on Friday, Dec. 6, that it is increasing transaction prices by a minimum of $50 per ton effective immediately for all new non-contract orders. Other mills are expected to follow. SSAB’s increase applies to As-Rolled Mill Plate, Cut-To-Length Plate >72”, Hot Rolled Coils >72”, as well as Normalized Plate and Quenched […]
On Friday, SSAB announced another plate price increase. Plate buyers were putting the new “aim to” base price around $700 per ton. Plate prices have been stubborn to move higher. SMU will watch momentum carefully this week to see if prices have finally turned the corner. This weekend I am in New Orleans attending HARDI’s […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel may be starting to level out after lengthening week after week since early November. The latest data shows slightly longer lead times for cold rolled and galvanized products, but slightly shorter lead times for hot rolled, Galvalume and plate. Lead times for steel delivery are […]
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 […]