The new year got off to a strong start for U.S. service centers, which reported over a 4 percent increase in carbon steel shipments and a 6 percent increase in carbon steel inventories in January, according to the Metals Service Center Institute’s January Metals Activity Report. Service center shipments of carbon plate saw a big […]
Steel shipments by Canadian service centers in January totaled 410,100 net tons, up 46.4 percent from December’s lull, but down 0.4 percent from January 2017, reports the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI). On a daily basis, total shipments were 18,600 tons per day in January (a 22-day month), up from 14,700 tons per day in […]
The Commerce Department has found that unfair imports of steel products do indeed pose a threat to U.S. national security, and in a press conference on Friday revealed the remedies it has recommended to President Trump. The announcement of possible tariffs and quotas drew strong reactions from the marketplace. The Commerce recommendations include three options […]
Flat rolled steel prices had a mixed week as benchmark hot rolled came close to $750 per ton for the first time since Jan. 17, 2012. We are seeing a shrinking of the spread between spot base prices for hot rolled and those of cold rolled and coated steels. Hot rolled prices rose on all […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Steel The HR futures prices continue to grind higher in the near dates but have been lagging in the latter half of […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices have been on the rise and are expected to continue climbing in the coming weeks. Yesterday, Nucor announced a new $50 per ton ($2.50/cwt) base price increase on plate. Steel Market Update anticipates flat rolled sheet prices will soon follow. With the latest Nucor announcement on plate the total […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices have been on the rise and are expected to continue climbing in the coming weeks. Yesterday, Nucor announced a new $50 per ton ($2.50/cwt) base price increase on plate. Steel Market Update anticipates flat rolled sheet prices will soon follow. With the latest Nucor announcement on plate the total […]
Reliance Steel and Aluminum Co. is seeing growing demand across all its product segments and expects that trend to continue through 2018. Reliance reported a strong fourth quarter with net sales up 15.3 percent year-over-year to $2.38 billion. Third-quarter sales were somewhat lower due to expected seasonality. Fourth-quarter shipments totaled 1,451,000 tons, up 6.3 percent […]
Steel prices continue their march higher, and we are seeing a very strong market on hot rolled coil right now. With the strength of HRC, we are seeing a return to more normal price spreads between hot rolled, cold rolled and coated base pricing. Prices appear to be heading to even loftier levels with steel […]
Fifteen trade associations, representing more than 30,000 U.S. steel-using manufacturers and employing one million American workers, sent a letter to President Trump and other senior trade officials last night in advance of the meeting between the administration and legislators regarding Section 232. The letter warns that restrictions on basic steel imports will “adversely impact national […]
Fifteen trade associations, representing more than 30,000 U.S. steel-using manufacturers and employing one million American workers, sent a letter to President Trump and other senior trade officials last night in advance of the meeting between the administration and lawmakers regarding Section 232. The letter warns that restrictions on basic steel imports will “adversely impact national […]
This analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into the district of entry and the source country. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about regional import volumes are often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis is to describe in detail what is going on in a […]
Total rolled steel imports declined by 15 percent in the three months through January compared to the previous three-month period, August through October. Sheet product imports declined by 17.3 percent on the same basis, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of U.S. Department of Commerce data released Feb. 6. The data is reported within the […]
Both manufacturing companies and flat rolled steel service centers reported near unanimous support for higher spot pricing. In the process, it is Steel Market Update’s opinion the higher flat rolled and plate spot prices provided by the distributors also support the most recent steel price increase announcements by the flat rolled steel mills. Last week, […]
According to at least one steel index, hot rolled prices surged higher this past week. Steel Market Update saw the markets as being higher with coated making the largest weekly move. When it came to benchmark hot rolled, Platts moved their pricing up by $28 per ton (actually $27.50 but we rounded to $28) as […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released the final accounting for December 2017 imports, which came in at 2,450,286 net tons. For the calendar year, foreign steel imports rose by 15 percent compared to 2016. Total steel imports rose to 37,999,383 net tons. Steel Market Update is providing our readers with a detailed analysis of selected […]
Steel prices continued to head into “lofty” levels with hot rolled, the strongest product, moving up another $10 per ton this week. Cold rolled bucked the trend as its average remained the same as one week ago. Galvanized and Galvalume prices were also seen as higher this week. Plate prices were mixed with our average […]
Another note regarding our SMU Service Center Flat Rolled Steel Inventories report. This information is provided first to those companies who supply data. So, if you are a service center or wholesaler selling prime flat rolled and/or plate products and you would like to participate as a confidential data provider, please contact me at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com. […]
Hot rolled, cold rolled and plate prices increased last week, according to the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Benchmark hot rolled prices, which recently passed through the $700 per ton barrier, reached $715 per ton on the SMU index and $718 per ton ($717.75) on Platts. SteelBenchmarker did not report prices last week […]
Led by the Detroit scrap buyers, ferrous scrap traded sideways in most markets that had been concluded by the end of the day on Friday. Shredded scrap prices in the Detroit area were unchanged at $330-$345 per gross ton, while prime grades continue to trade at $370-$380 per gross ton. There were few if any […]
The flat rolled and plate steel mills were busy this week announcing new rounds of price increases. Steel buyers who spoke with Steel Market Update today reported offer prices as being much higher than their most recent transaction pricing. For that reason, we have included a note about what was being reported as the latest […]
Responding to strong demand in the New Year and the market’s apparent acceptance of higher price tags, the major mills have announced another round of price increases on plate and flat rolled products. For most mills, this is the fourth increase they’ve announced in the past three months. On Monday, Nucor’s Plate Mill Group announced […]
Nucor’s Plate Mill Group announced a $50 per ton price increase today, Jan. 29, on all new orders for carbon, alloy and heat-treated plate, effective immediately on all unconfirmed orders. This latest increase follows three earlier announcements by Nucor ranging from $30 to $50 per ton on plate since mid-November. {loadposition reserved_message}
SSAB Americas notified customers today, Jan. 29, that it is increasing transaction prices on steel plate products by a minimum of $50 per ton, effective immediately on all new noncontract orders. The increase will apply to As-Rolled Mill Plate, Cut-To-Length Plate >72”, Hot Rolled Coils >72”, as well as Normalized and Quenched & Tempered Plate. […]
On Wednesday and Thursday of this past week a sold-out group of attendees and six Steel Market Update instructors, one event coordinator and a potential future instructor traveled to Mobile, Alabama to participate in the first Steel 101 workshop of 2018. The workshop was a success aided by the generosity of the SSAB plate mill […]
Flat rolled steel prices and those of plate fluctuated in both directions this past week depending on the steel index viewed. Benchmark hot rolled prices were up across all three of the indexes followed by Steel Market Update. SMU was the highest at $705 per ton ($35.25/cwt) with Platts ($700) and SteelBenchmarker ($668) following close […]
SSAB North America achieved higher market share in 2017. SSAB’s share of the North American steel slab market was estimated at 30 percent for the year. Full-year earnings and shipments increased compared to 2016. Sales for the full year were SEK 12.7 billion ($1.6 billion) and shipments 1,971,000 metric tons (2.17 million short tons). Fourth-quarter […]
On Wednesday and Thursday of this past week, a sold-out group of attendees and six Steel Market Update instructors, one event coordinator and a potential future instructor traveled to Mobile, Ala., to participate in the first Steel 101 workshop of 2018. The workshop was a success, aided by the generosity of the SSAB plate mill […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices moved higher last week, based on the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Benchmark hot rolled is quickly approaching $700 per ton (average) with SMU having the highest pricing while Platts, which was at $695.75 on Friday morning, dropped to $694 ($693.50) when we checked again over the […]
Service center shipments in December were stronger than the seasonal norm, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Metals Service Center Institute data. Daily shipments in December were 11.8 percent lower than in November. On average since 2009, December shipments have decreased by 13.1 percent; therefore, these latest numbers were seasonally better than the […]