US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices have fallen below $900 per short ton (st) on average for the first time since early November. SMU’s HR price stands at $875/st on average, down $65/st from a week ago and down $170/st from the beginning of the year.
What's the steel market talking about at present?
What a difference a month makes. There are a few full bulls left in the room, but their numbers are dwindling. We’ll release results of our full steel market survey tomorrow afternoon. I took a sneak peak at the data on Thursday. And more people than I expected think that US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices will be in the $700s per short ton (st) two months from now. Vanishingly few think prices will be above $1,000/st in mid-April.
Flat Rolled = 60.3 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 63.4 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel supply declined in January, though less than expected because of a weaker-than-normal seasonal increase in shipments to start the year. At the end of January, service centers carried 60.3 shipping days of supply […]
This latest SMU steel market survey is a snapshot of a sheet market inflecting lower. A significant 43% of survey respondents said that the hot-rolled (HR) coil market has already peaked. Compare that to only 8% when we released our last steel market survey on Jan. 5.
US service center flat-rolled steel inventories surged in December with the seasonal slowdown in shipments. At the end of December, service centers carried 64.8 shipping days of supply, according to adjusted SMU data, up from 54 days in November.
Flat Rolled = 54.0 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 61.7 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled After three months of inventory cuts, US service center flat-rolled steel inventories grew in November as shipments slowed. At the end of November, service centers carried 54 shipping days of flat-rolled steel supply on an adjusted basis, up […]
Thursday felt eerily quiet after a frenzy of steel and financial market news on Wednesday.
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 […]
Sheet prices are up again. That shouldn’t come as a surprise on the heels of mill price hikes, scrap settling up and expected to move higher over the next few months, and inventories – as our premium subscribers will learn tomorrow – moving lower for a third month.
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) reported a drop in third quarter profits on lower prices for flat-rolled steel as well as for fabricated products.
If you think prices will continue to rise, you might point to longer lead times and stable order entry.
US service center flat-rolled steel inventories declined for a second month as shipping rates picked up in September.
Steel Market Update’s Steel Demand Index remains in contraction territory despite repeated improvements since mid-September, according to our latest survey data.
Flat Rolled = 54.1 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 61.2 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel inventories eased back in August with stronger shipments. At the end of August, service centers carried 54.1 shipping days of supply, according to adjusted SMU data, down from 56.1 shipping days of supply […]
Steel Market Update’s Steel Demand Index remains in contraction territory despite marginal improvement, according to our latest survey data.
he latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members.
Steel Market Update’s Demand Index is still in contracting territory and moving lower, where it has been for the better part of the past four-plus months, according to the latest survey data.
The latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the Pricing and Analysis tab and look under the “Survey Results” section for “Latest Survey Results.” Historical survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, or if […]
Steel Market Update’s Demand Index remains in contracting territory, where it has been for most of the last four months, according to the latest survey data. While the market did react temporarily in response to mill price hikes in mid-June, apparent demand for flat-rolled steel in the US continues to trend down.
The latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members.
Sheet prices slipped again, continuing a trend of lower week-over-week tags that began in mid-July.
US service center flat-rolled steel inventories spiked in July with a slowdown in shipments. At the end of July, service centers carried 56.1 shipping days of flat roll supply, according to adjusted SMU data.
We weren’t supposed to see hot-rolled coil prices dip below $800 per ton ($40 per cwt) anytime soon.
We weren’t supposed to see hot-rolled coil prices dip below $800 per ton ($40 per cwt) anytime soon. Or at least that seemed to be the consensus in mid-June after mills rolled out a round of $50-per-ton price hikes, with a second round rumored to be in the works. That second round of price hikes […]
US service center flat-rolled steel supply edged up slightly in June as daily shipments dropped to the lowest rate this year.
By CRU senior analyst, Ryan McKinley Oversupply in most markets of the world is easing. The key trend we are following (and expecting to occur) is further output cuts in China, which should keep many markets more stable than they have been recently. In China, sheet oversupply will not ease in the coming week given […]
Our HRC price is flat this week, and there is a roughly 50/50 split between those who think the $50-per-ton sheet price hikes announced earlier this month will stick and those who think they won’t. I’m not going to weigh in on which side could be right. But it doesn’t appear to have fazed domestic mills, […]
What to make of the latest round of sheet prices hikes: Are they aimed at stopping the bleeding, getting buyers off the sidelines, or actually getting sheet prices back up again? These are serious questions now in a way that they weren’t after U. S. Steel first announced its price hike last Wednesday. That hike […]
There are many great, supportive organizations in the steel and metals industry. One that continues to grow as the industry evolves is the Association of Women in the Metal Industries (AWMI). Founded in 1981, AWMI is an international organization that was established to promote and develop the growth of women in the metal industries. AWMI […]