A Detroit-area mill entered the scrap market on Thursday offering down $70 per gross ton (gt) on #1 busheling. And Nucor announced a minimum base price of $825 per short ton (st) for hot-rolled (HR) coil. What's the best way to interpret would could be read as contradictory trends?
Nucor and Cleveland-Cliffs on Thursday announced target minimum base prices for hot-rolled (HR) coil. Both said the moves were effective immediately.
The price premium cold-rolled coil (CRC) carries over hot-rolled coil (HRC) remains wide, according to our latest market check. Based on our steel price indices published Tuesday, the spread between these products is at the fifth-highest weekly level seen over the last 16 months.
US hot-rolled coil (HRC) is now just about 5% more expensive than offshore hot band. The premium domestic product had over imports for roughly five months is all but gone, and nearing parity.
A Detroit area steelmaker this morning announced its offers for scrap for March scrap shipments. The drop in its offer prices were larger than most industry observes forecasted, especially for shredded scrap. Many in the scrap community had predicted that prime scrap would drop $40-50 per gross ton (gt) with shredded only down $30-40/gt. But other market participants were skeptical about these predictions given bearishness in ferrous markets, both domestically and abroad.
What are folks in the steel industry talking about at present? Respondents to SMU’s mini-survey this week shared some of their thoughts with us about what's going on in the market. Rather than summarizing their responses, here’s some of what they had to say in their own words.
Consumer confidence in the US declined in February after accelerating to a two-year high the month prior, The Conference Board reported. Results came in amid ongoing concerns regarding the US economy. The headline Consumer Confidence Index declined to 106.7 in February from a downwardly revised 110.9 in January. The index, which measures Americans’ assessment of […]
Flat-rolled steel prices have been running downhill in a hurry since the beginning of the year. In some ways, it's no surprise because other indicators have also been pointing lower for some time. Lead times have been contracting since the beginning of the year and are now below the five-week mark for hot-rolled (HR) coil for the first time since September. Mills are more willing to negotiate lower prices, and early reports seem to indicate that scrap might settle lower again in March.
Sheet and plate prices this week continued the downward trend they’ve been on for most of 2024. Some market sources predicted that a wave of spring maintenance outages would help to stabilize lead times and prices in the weeks ahead – especially should service center inventories, high at the beginning of the year, come down meaningfully.
Steel prices continued to ease lower throughout February, following a loss of upwards momentum in the middle of January.
Turkish scrap import prices consistently declined over the past month due to persistently weak domestic demand and lower prices in main supplier markets in recent weeks.
Northwest Pipe posted lower earnings in the fourth quarter as the company said it faced significant challenges in its steel pressure pipe (SPP) and precast businesses in full-year 2023.
A clear consensus has emerged among respondents to SMU’s latest steel market survey that hot-rolled (HR) coil prices will bottom this month or in April. Seventy-five percent of respondents to our latest survey think that prices will find a floor before May as the chart below shows:
The failure of the trade remedy actions against imported steel tin mill products (TMPs) continues to resonate. Cleveland-Cliffs and the United Steel Workers Union (USW) lost the case at the International Trade Commission (ITC) last month. A few days ago, the ITC released its final report explaining the decision against imposing antidumping and countervailing duties […]
The strong resilience of iron ore prices has come to an end with the weak steel performance worldwide and significantly improved iron ore availability in China.
The news in the West was that a mill in the Rocky Mountain region made a significant reduction in their usual purchase program, while still another small mill in the region also apparently reduced their buying program for February.
The premium US hot-rolled coil (HRC) held over offshore product for roughly five months has nearly vanished. Domestic hot band prices continue to run downhill at a high rate, erasing a $300/st gap they had over imported HRC just two months ago.
Steel buyers generally found mills more willing to negotiate spot pricing on the products SMU surveys this week, according to our most recent survey data.
The March outlook for most ferrous products is trending down faster than most participants thought as recently as a week ago.
Nucor Corp. announced that its plate mill group would cut prices for as-rolled, discrete, and normalized plate with the opening of its April order book.
What are some “Black Swans” to watch out for? With the war in Ukraine entering its third year, your mind might understandably move to conflicts overseas. Here is one closer to home to consider: US trade relations with Mexico taking a turn for the worse. I mention that because the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) dropped a (virtual) bombshell earlier this month.
US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices have fallen further this week, working their way to $800 per short ton (st) on average – a mark not seen since late October.
Foreign cold-rolled coil (CR) remains much less expensive than domestic product even as prices in the US have declined at a rapid pace over the past month, according to SMU’s latest check of the market.
Falling US sheet prices have reduced the attractiveness of hot-rolled (HR) coil imports as domestic mills price competitively to secure limited business. However, tightness in the CR coil market has extended delivery to June or July in some cases, and buyers may consider to import given competitive prices and arrival times.
Domestic prices have been sliding since the beginning of the year, and I don’t see any obvious reasons why the slide might stop this week. But let’s put the timing of a bottom aside for a minute. The question among some of you seems to be whether we’ll see another price spike, or at least a “dead-cat bounce,” before the typical summer doldrums kick in.
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai has voiced the United States’ unease at a marked increase in steel and aluminum imports from Mexico, and what she termed a lack of transparency about Mexican imports of the metals from third countries.
In the period between mid-February and mid-March, CRU forecasts global demand for steelmaking raw materials to change little from the previous month,but buying activity will improve towards the end of next month
The Mid-American ISRI Chapter held its annual meeting in St. Louis this month. Over the years, this event has become a “must attend” for the scrap community nationwide.
At SMU, our goal is not to tell you what to think but to keep the conversation going. We asked you in our survey this week what you were seeing when it comes to steel prices, demand, imports, and wildcards. In your own words, with minimal editing, here’s what some of you in the SMU community shared with us this week.
I’ve had discussions with some of you lately about where and when sheet prices might bottom. Some of you say that hot-rolled (HR) coil prices won’t fall below $800 per short ton (st). Others tell me that bigger buyers aren’t interested unless they can get something that starts with a six. Obviously a lot depends on whether we're talking 50 tons or 50,000 tons. I've even gotten some guff about how the drop in US prices is happening only because we’re talking about it happening.