U.S. steel exports in October totaled 631,087 net tons (572,513 metric tons), up 7.9 percent from September, but down 28.5 percent from October 2017. Although up over the previous month, October export levels remain low in comparison to previous years. The September figure of 584,858 was the lowest monthly export figure seen in nearly 16 […]
A couple of comments regarding possible price increase announcements as we go into first-quarter 2019 made today as I canvassed the flat rolled and plate steel markets pricing. “Mills appear to be much more sanguine on prices than I’ve seen in a while. I’m hearing them say that once all of the mills are done […]
Flat rolled steel service centers who responded to last week’s SMU flat rolled and plate steel market trends questionnaire are reporting in increasing numbers their service center as lowering spot prices to their customers. One month ago (early November) only 32 percent of the flat rolled distributors were reporting lower spot pricing to their customers. […]
The year 2019 is shaping up to be a special year for Steel Market Update and our customers. Steel Market Update is much more than a source of market intelligence and a supplier of spot pricing for the flat rolled and plate steel markets. Over the years, SMU has developed a number of highly successful […]
The year 2019 is shaping up to be a special year for Steel Market Update and our customers. Steel Market Update is much more than a source of market intelligence and a supplier of spot pricing for the flat rolled and plate steel markets. Over the years, SMU has developed a number of highly successful […]
About 60 percent of respondents to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire feel their chances for success are good, if not excellent, given the current business conditions and their views of the next three to six months. Nearly all the rest consider their prospects only fair. Uncertainty on the trade and economic fronts, and perhaps […]
Twice per month Steel Market Update canvasses the flat rolled and plate steel markets as we look to identify key market metrics. One of those is whether the steel mills are working with their steel buying customers and are they willing to negotiate steel pricing for orders placed this week for delivery based on existing […]
Steel Market Update is sharing this Premium content with Executive members in this issue. For more information about upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. This early look at November import license data shows that total rolled product imports declined by 17.3 percent year over year, calculated as a three-month moving average (3MMA). Imports of […]
It has been a busy week for Steel Market Update. I spoke at the HARDI annual conference in Austin, Texas, on Sunday and I was in Atlanta on Tuesday evening and Wednesday working with our web developers. I am in the office on Friday. Next week I will be in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday through […]
Flat rolled steel prices seem to be on a bit of an extra rollercoaster ride as the domestic mills fill out any holes in their order book for December and book new orders for January and February. Over the past few weeks, Steel Market Update has managed to collect some very low data points on […]
Steel Market Update spent a portion of the day today speaking with trading companies about their view of the markets, demand and the amount of foreign steel projected to come into the United States over the next few months. The traders are worried about what will happen to their customers if the amount of foreign […]
November saw steel prices continue to decline, with benchmark hot rolled dipping below $800 per ton, cold rolled below $900 per ton, and galvanized below $1,000 per ton. Plate continued to hold its own at over $1,000 per ton as mills kept customers on allocation while they worked to meet strong demand. Steel Market Update […]
Canada’s Algoma Steel Inc. has finally fully emerged from Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) protection after three long years. The company announced on Friday that it had successfully acquired all the remaining assets of Essar Steel Algoma and is ready to tackle the market as a financially stable entity. “When we take a look around […]
For almost eight years, Steel Market Update has been working in conjunction with the U.S. and Canadian steel mills on a basic steel training workshop for those involved in the flat rolled, plate and long product steel industries. We have trained in excess of 600 individuals ranging from people on their first day on the […]
Both Steel Market Update and the CRU Group forecast lower steel prices next year. With a new North America free trade agreement soon to be signed, the U.S. is likely to lift or modify the Section 232 tariffs on Canada and Mexico, opening the borders to more imports and adding to the downward pressure on […]
For almost eight years, Steel Market Update has been working in conjunction with the U.S. and Canadian steel mills on a basic steel training workshop for those involved in the flat rolled, plate and long product steel industries. We have trained in excess of 600 individuals ranging from people on their first day on the […]
We had a great webinar on Wednesday, despite some technical glitches. I am looking forward to making webinars a standard practice for Steel Market Update. We do not yet have a date/subject set up for the next webinar. I am traveling this weekend and early next week. I will be speaking on Sunday morning in […]
We did not collect as many low price data points on hot rolled this week as we did last. We did see erosion at the upper end of the range as most offers appear to be trending below $800 per ton. Steel buyers continue to worry about the basic laws of supply and demand. There […]
Few of the steel buyers canvassed by Steel Market Update this week expect flat roll prices to rise significantly in the first quarter. Most anticipate prices stabilizing or continuing to trend downward, especially if the Trump administration lifts the Section 232 tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. The promise of increased supplies from the […]
Lead times for most flat rolled steel products are at or near their shortest of the year. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level—the shorter the lead time, the less busy the mill. The less busy the mill, the more likely they are to negotiate on price. Responses […]
Steel mills remain open to price negotiations on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated products, but not plate, report buyers canvassed by Steel Market Update this past week. Steel Market Update tracks how buyers and sellers of flat rolled and plate steel characterize price negotiations with the mills. The steelmakers’ greater willingness to compromise on […]
Last week, Steel Market Update conducted our mid-November analysis of the flat rolled and plate steel market trends. During the process, we reviewed demand, lead times, negotiations, service center spot pricing, steel pricing and a myriad of other important issues of interest to buyers and sellers of hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, Galvalume and plate […]
Flat rolled steel prices dropped again this week. One of our domestic steel mill sources told us this afternoon, “Everything is down about a buck from last week.” This source went on to say that the U.S. steel mills are producing more and exporting less. The net result being there is more supply available. Here […]
Norfolk Iron & Metal Co., a full-line steel service center, and O’Neal Industries Inc. (ONI), the largest family-owned group of metals service centers in the United States, have entered into a definitive agreement in which Norfolk Iron will acquire O’Neal Flat Rolled Metals, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ONI. The companies expect to close the […]
Thursday is Thanksgiving here in the United States and Steel Market Update will not publish on Thursday. We will publish our normal Tuesday issue and then we will publish a limited edition on Sunday, Nov. 25. I know I am looking forward to having a couple days in a row “off” as I get ready […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce has released import license data for the months of October and November through the 13th of the month. October foreign steel imports are expected to reach 3 million net tons on the back of almost 900,000 net tons of semi-finished steels (mostly slabs going to the domestic steel mills). It […]
This report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products and 16 subcategories through September. Table 1 shows total supply to the market in three months through September and in 12 months through September for the four product groups and the 16 subcategories. Supply to the market is the total of domestic […]
Flat rolled steel prices dropped this week based on our analysis of the market. Benchmark hot rolled coil dropped $5 per ton and is now averaging $800 per ton ($40.00/cwt). We saw even larger negative price movements in cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. Plate prices, however, were flat and the expectation of plate steel […]
U.S. steel exports in September totaled 584,858 net tons (530,575 metric tons), down 9.6 percent from August and down 35.3 percent from September 2017. Surpassing August’s low, this is now the lowest total monthly export figure seen since December 2002 when 527,659 tons were shipped out of the country. Prior to the last three months, […]
This evening’s price and price momentum discussion comes after a number of conversations held with flat rolled steel service center CEO’s and a trading company executive on Thursday and Friday of last week. The words “mud” and “murky” were prominent as the steel distributors try to figure out where things are headed as we enter […]