Final thoughts
Everybody has a plan… until they’ve dealt with volatility in the HRC market. While Mike Tyson’s original quote was about getting punched in the mouth, it’s unlikely the ex-champ has gone many pricing rounds with hot-rolled coil.
Everybody has a plan… until they’ve dealt with volatility in the HRC market. While Mike Tyson’s original quote was about getting punched in the mouth, it’s unlikely the ex-champ has gone many pricing rounds with hot-rolled coil.
Hybar has big plans for entering the American steel market. Although it is the newest player in the US rebar market, the startup is led by an experienced, nimble, and ambitious team, and backed by investors with deep pockets. Industry titan and Hybar CEO David Stickler joined SMU Managing Editor Michael Cowden on Wednesday’s Community Chat to update the SMU community on the company’s first mill, and its grand plans for the future.
I’ve gotten some questions lately about whether the huge gap between domestic hot-rolled coil (HR) prices and those for cold-rolled (CR) and coated is sustainable. I remember being asked similar questions about the wide spread between HR and plate that developed in early 2022. I thought at the time that there was no way that spread could hold. Turned out, I was wrong. That was humbling. And so I’m not going to make any bold predictions this time.
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) executives said the company's Sinton, Texas, sheet mill should be able to increase melt capacity after an outage earlier this month. Sinton should see "additional improvements in production" after taking "several maintenance days in April," Barry Schneider, SDI president and COO, said in a Q1 earnings conference call on Wednesday.
Steel Dynamics Inc.'s (SDI's) earnings fell in the first quarter of 2024 as the company cited steel order volatility early in the quarter and lower scrap prices.
OnmiSource LLC, a subsidiary of Fort Wayne, Indiana-based steel producer and recycler, Steel Dyanmics, Inc., has acquired Toledo Shredding, LLC, in Ohio.
The US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) has revised upwards the antidumping duty (AD) rates on imports of cold-rolled steel flat products from two South Korean producers.
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) has announced new roles for current executives James Anderson and Chad Bickford. SDI said James Anderson will take over responsibility and oversight for the company's long products group, effective May 1.
Strength in its flat-rolled steel operations is pushing Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) to guide to higher sequential earnings in the current quarter.
India’s JSW Steel has selected steel industry veteran Robert Simon as CEO of JSW Steel USA.
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.
I want to give a big shoutout to the good folks at the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association (FMA) for inviting me to their annual conference this week in Clearwater, Fla. I also want to give a special thanks to the FMA for awarding SMU founder John Packard with a lifetime achievement award – on that also gave me a chance to catch up with my old boss in person.
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.
We’ve all heard a lot about mill “discipline” following a wave of consolidation over the last few years. That discipline is often evident when prices are rising, less so when they are falling. I remember hearing earlier this year that mills weren’t going to let hot-rolled (HR) coil prices fall below $1,000 per short ton (st). Then not below $900/st. Now, some of you tell me that HR prices in the mid/high-$800s are the “1-800 price” – widely available to regular spot buyers. So what comes next, and will mills “hold the line” in the $800s?
Everyone knows the old saying that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Just because it’s a cliché doesn’t mean that it’s wrong. A lot of inked has been spilled trying to figure out why prices are falling now. I thought it might be as simple as this: Market dynamics in the fourth quarter (UAW strike, companies buying ahead of an anticipated post-strike price spike, etc.) pulled forward restocking activity that typically happens in the first quarter.
More supply coming online and an unchanging demand environment – two key themes for 2024 – could soon bring the steel sheet storm to a market near you.
With rising steelmaking capacity and relatively flat demand, industry analysts are predicting lower prices for sheet products this year.
Steel Dynamics Inc. faces rising costs for its Columbus, Miss., aluminum rolling mill, but the project timeline remains on track.
The Tampa Steel Conference is just a few days away. Here are some topics I’m looking forward to learning more about during the proceedings on Monday and Tuesday. For starters, we’ll have about a month of 2024 under our belt when we convene on Sunday. How does that compare to what we thought the start of the year would look like? And what’s the outlook for the balance of the year?
Steel Dynamics Inc. executives said the company’s Sinton, Texas, flat-rolled steel is now Ebitda positive.
Steel Dynamics Inc.’s (SDI’s) top executive sees hot band demand remaining strong in 2024, which should support pricing.
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) reported lower fourth quarter 2023 earnings on Tuesday but predicted good times ahead in 2024. The Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker posted a Q4’23 profit of $424.3 million, down 33.2% from a profit of $634.9 million in Q4’22 on sales that fell 12.3% to $4.2 billion.
Bloomberg has reported that Nippon Steel’s $14.1-billion deal for U.S. Steel might not close until 2025 – well after the Q2/Q3 2024 close date both companies have guided toward. That’s because a national security review of the deal ($14.9 billion if you include the USS debt Nippon Steel would assume) by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) could take longer than initially expected
The new year represents an opportunity to capitalize on America’s leadership position in free market principles, steel industry modernization, and global efforts to create a lower carbon future for the steel industry. Steel Manufacturing Association (SMA) members are poised to lead the way.
I was asked to do an interview for a cable news channel in Ohio about Nippon Steel’s planned acquisition of U.S. Steel for more than $14 billion.
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) expects lower fourth-quarter earnings sequentially and on-year, though the company said “steel order activity remains solid.”
You could make a case that Nov. 1 was April Fool’s Day for steel – or at least for the widespread rumor that Cliffs would announce a $10-billion deal for U.S. Steel on that date. I’m not going to endorse any precise date or price tag. But I’d be surprised if a deal – or […]
This week could be a big one for steel, or at least for the steel rumor mill. For starters, there is renewed speculation that an announcement about the U.S. Steel sales process could be in the works. The rumor mill is also churning fast when it comes to the duration of the UAW strike and […]
On its third-quarter earnings conference call on Thursday, Oct. 19, Steel Dynamics Inc. executives did not rule out the possibility of ‘inorganic growth’ opportunities.
Steel Dynamics Inc. provided an update on the four new coating lines it is adding to its Heartland flat rolled processing mill and Sinton sheet mill on its third-quarter earnings conference call with analysts on Thursday, Oct. 19.