There has been almost an assumption that US mills would get the $950-1,000 per ton ($47.50-50 per cwt) they were seeking on HR base and $1,150-2,000 per ton ($57.50-60 per cwt) for cold-rolled and coated base. Recall that Cliffs initially announced an increase and said it was seeking $1,000 per minimum for hot-rolled coil. Nucor […]
The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and galvanized sheet base prices has been hovering near $200 per net ton since late July, according to SMU’s latest analysis.
Surging US sheet prices and expanding lead times are making imports more attractive. The automotive workers’ strike is essentially over, and domestic US sheet prices have rocketed higher alongside lead times. There is little to suggest that the momentum of these price increases will slow over the next month or two, and thus imports have […]
The importation of basic pig iron has allowed EAF steelmakers to implement thin-slab casting technology to make drawing-quality flat-rolled sheet over the last 30 years.
The US plate market has been rather quiet over the past couple of weeks since Nucor Corp. caught many off guard with a $140-per-ton price cut.
New York's manufacturing activity saw an increase in November, according to the most recent Empire State Manufacturing Survey.
In the dynamic landscape of the steel futures market, a confluence of factors is shaping the current narrative.
US Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices continue to surge on the heels of mill increases. They have become significantly more expensive than prices for hot band imported from offshore. Domestic hot band tags moved higher for a seventh consecutive week. Imports have seen only marginal gains over the same period, according to SMU’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis.
Steel Market Update’s Steel Demand Index has moved into growth territory after seeing steady improvement since mid-September, according to our latest survey data.
Flat Rolled = 52.6 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 61.8 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel inventories decreased for a third consecutive month in October. At the end of October, service centers carried 52.6 shipping days of supply, according to adjusted SMU data. This is down from 53.3 shipping […]
Spot prices for steel sheet shot upward again this week on the heels of steep price increases announced by domestic mills last week. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price rose to $940 per ton ($47 per cwt) on average, up $75 per ton from last week and up nearly $300 per ton from a 2023 low of […]
Domestic scrap prices rose in November month over month for all grades that SMU covers, market sources said.
Cleveland-Cliffs announced it would seek a minimum base price of $1,000 per ton ($50 per cwt) for hot-rolled coil (HRC) on Nov. 7. Nucor said a day later that it was aiming for $950 per ton. Why didn’t Nucor follow Cliffs up to $1,000 ton? I think there might be some possible answers in our […]
There seems to be a consensus that US sheet prices have nowhere to go but up in the short term, in part because offshore material ordered now won’t arrive until late March or even April.
US steel imports continue to arrive at a steady pace, as total import licenses in October were about even with September’s import levels.
The percentage of steel buyers saying mills were willing to negotiate spot pricing fell for hot rolled this week, while plate's negotiation rate shot up, according to SMU's most recent survey data.
Lead times for most sheet products were pushed out even further this week as domestic prices continue to rise. Plate lead times, meanwhile, contracted on falling prices and waning demand.
Several past columns in SMU have included comments about the futures forward curve, using terms like contango and backwardation
U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works in western Pennsylvania has not resumed full production of cold-rolled coil (CRC) following an outage last month, a company spokeswoman confirmed.
Hot-rolled coil (HRC) tags continue to rally in the US, broadening the price disparity between domestic and imported offshore product.
Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Stelco recorded a drop in third quarter profits on lower steel prices and sales volumes. The Hamilton, Ontario-based company predicted that volumes would be lower still in the fourth quarter. But it also said that financial results would improve next year on higher prices and longer lead times.
Spot prices for steel sheet continued to shoot upward this week, which brought yet another round of price hikes.
Declining demand and a challenging economic environment impacted Gerdau’s shipments in North America during the third quarter.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. said on Tuesday that it had raised minimum base prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) to $1,000 per ton ($50 per cwt).
SMU gives an overview of the steel market and economic indicators for October.
Algoma Steel said its quarterly earnings were impacted by falling steel prices and lower buying associated with the United Auto Workers (UAW) strikes in the US. But with the strikes wrapping up, it expects a recovery in both pricing and demand moving forward.
A large Detroit-area scrap buyer has settled scrap prices for November, with busheling, shredded, and plate and structurals (P&S) all notching gains vs. October, a scrap source told SMU.
There was consensus that steel prices would crash on the UAW strike and then rebound just as sharply once the union and the “Big Three” automakers reached tentative deals.
US hot-rolled coil (HRC) tags moved higher again this week, widening the gap in pricing between imported offshore product.
Nucor’s plate price cut notice caught many off guard this week, especially after the company had maintained its pricing position in late September.