SSAB plans to acquire Finnish steel company rival Rautaruukki for 10.1 billion kroner ($1.8 billion) in a deal that the two companies hope will bring a cost savings of 1.4 billion kroner ($254 million) in three years. The major stockholders at both companies, Solidium Oy (39.7 shares) at Rautaruukki and Industrivaerden AB (18.2 shares), are […]
I will be in my office on Monday, Thursday and Friday of this week. I will be traveling to New York City for the AHR Expo on Tuesday and Wednesday. If you are attending the AHR Expo and would like to seek me out you can do so by email: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com or by phone (or […]
There has been much written and said about the projected “surge” of imported steel expected to hit the United States over the next few months. Many of the steel analysts believe the incoming foreign steel will help dampened flat rolled steel prices which peaked during the first week of January at $680 per ton ($34.00/cwt) […]
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out its series of producer price indexes (PPI), for thousands of goods and materials. The latest release on Wednesday reported December results. These statistics are a useful way to evaluate any changes in the competitive position of steel against competing materials. See below for the official description […]
Apparent supply is defined as domestic mill shipments to domestic locations plus imports. Sources are the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Department of Commerce. The three month moving average of the total tonnage of sheet and strip supply was 4,436,772 tons per month in the period September through November. This was up by […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) participates in a monthly steel conference call with the wholesalers associated with HARDI. The HARDI wholesalers supply the residential and commercial mechanical contractors associated with the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) industry. The wholesalers on this monthly conference call supply or manufacture products out of galvanized sheet and coil and try […]
In the 12 months through November the US imported 29,129,427 tons of all steel products including semi finished, exported 11,594,574 tons for a net steel trade deficit of 17,534,853 tons. The major net importer was Brazil with 3,591,401 tons. Canada and Mexico both imported more from the US than they exported to the US resulting […]
Essentially all of the domestic steel mills have finished maintenance on their blast furnaces. U.S. Steel is bringing back online their Fairfield furnace, Berkeley has completed the expansion of its hot strip mill and other domestic steel mill maintenance projects from 4th Quarter 2013 have been completed. Supply is available and now it is time […]
The following article is a continuation of our Steel Buyers Basics series. Today’s article was written by Mario Briccetti. There is a hidden risk in the cost of sheet steel that many buyers do not consider. Most cold rolled and coated steel sheet applications require coverage of an area at a minimum steel thickness – […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel entered the New Year in very high spirits. Our Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index was measured at +42 which is the most optimistic level recorded since March 1, 2012 (+45). The rolling three month moving average (3MMA) came in at +38.33 which is a one […]
Cargill will build its eighth U.S. steel processing center in response to increased demand for carbon steel sheet & coil products used in the manufacturing and shale oil and gas industry in Northern Colorado. The hot-rolled steel processing facility, located 60 miles north of Denver in Windsor, will begin construction in early 2014 and provide […]
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) released data earlier this week for net shipments of steel mill products for the month of November. Total shipments for the month were reported to be 7,604,428 net tons (NT), down 8.2 percent from October tonnage but up 2.8 percent from November 2012. YTD tonnage through November was […]
In the United States approximately 60 percent of the steel produced is through electric arc furnaces (EAF) used by so-called “mini-mills.” Electric arc furnaces use primarily scrap along with pig iron or DRI (direct reduced iron) to charge the furnaces. All of the long products (rebar, bar, angles, beams) are produced through EAF technology and […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce recently released revised import statistics for the month of November and December. Total preliminary imports for November are 2,584,176 net tons (NT), down 16.7 percent compared to October import figures. November imports are below both the 3 month-moving-average (3MMA) and 12 month-moving-average (12MMA) calculated through October. December imports, based on […]
Platts took all of their flat rolled sheet indices higher this past week and they now reference benchmark hot rolled at $685 per ton – $15 per ton higher than Steel Market Update and $17 per ton higher than CRU. With the New Year Holiday sandwiched in the middle of this past week SMU did […]
In the steel business and particularly in the painted steel business, a fair amount of non-prime or secondary flat rolled sheet and coil product is produced. Non-prime painted steel is generated either because the steel substrate is substandard or because there is a problem in the painting process. A small sample of steel problems are: […]
On Monday, December 23, 2013 Nucor Sheet Mill Group advised their flat rolled customers that “due to higher raw material prices, the Nucor Sheet Mill Group will increase base pricing to the following levels, effective immediately:” Hot Rolled = $35.00/cwt ($700 net ton) Cold Rolled = $40.50/cwt ($810 per ton) Galvanized = $40.50/cwt ($810 per […]
With the announcements by NLMK USA, Nucor and ArcelorMittal USA on Monday, it is quite clear that the flat rolled steel mills are marching to the same drummer when it comes to carbon sheet pricing. All of the announcements made on Monday reflected the same base price levels: Hot Rolled = $35.00/cwt ($700 per ton) […]
I thought our Premium Level readers might appreciate the latest forecast from Timna Tanners, Bank of America Merrill Lynch metals and mining analyst. Timna was a little “light” in her price forecast for 2013 hot rolled coil which was originally $555 average and was upgraded during the year to $622. Tanners believes some of the […]
Steel Dynamics issued its fourth quarter 2013 guidance on Tuesday reporting earnings in the range of $0.21 to $0.25 per diluted share, below analyst estimates ranging from $0.26 to $0.31. SDI announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share. Earnings are expected to be comparable to those of third quarter. Higher steel pricing is […]
Planned outages and the collapse of the storage dome at Nucor Steel Louisiana negatively impacted earnings said Nucor in its fourth quarter guidance. Earnings per diluted share are expected to be in the range of $0.30-$0.40, down from third quarter 2013 earnings of $0.46 per diluted share and fourth quarter 2012 earnings of $0.43 per […]
Essar Steel Algoma has been granted funding relief for the Company’s defined benefit pension plan by the Ontario government. The new regulation allows Essar Algoma make fixed payments over the next three years and extends the amortization period through 2024. The regulation is effective as of December 1, 2013. Essar Steel Algoma’s pension contribution requirements […]
An explosion and fire at the US Steel Great Lakes Works in Ecorse, Mich., has killed a worker and halted steel production. The Ecorse fire department was called to the scene of the fire at 2:50 am on Sunday morning. US Steel spokesman Courtney Boone said that the explosion occurred at the plant’s steel shop […]
We communicated with one of our main Asian contacts over the past few days. We wanted to know what they have been seeing regarding new carbon sheet price offers out of China for their European customers (this source does not ship steel to the USA). We also wanted to learn more about iron ore prices […]
Shipments of sheet and strip products in the first 10 months of 2013 were 29,178,320 tons, a decrease of 0.3 percent from the same period last year. Shipments in the three months August through October averaged 4,216,504 tons / month, an increase of 2.4 percent from the previous 3 months May through July and an […]
Year to date net imports of all hot worked products combined was 10,025,543 tons, down by 26,420 tons from the first ten months of 2012. This reduction was entirely driven by tubulars and plate. Pipe and tube had a decline in net imports of 925,617 tons and plate a decline of 509,778 tons. All other […]
Imports of most rolled products and semi finished declined in November. The only exceptions were rail and tin plate. Sheet products were down by 21.5 percent in total but within that group coated products were down over 40 percent. An analysis of the 3 month moving averages (3MMA) of imports results in a very different […]
There is a lot of interest in what direction spot flat rolled prices will move from here. It appears there is a split between some of the domestic steel mills regarding the most recent price announcements made by AK Steel and Severstal NA. We understand that spot prices on hot rolled are hitting a bit […]
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out its series of producer price indexes, for thousands of goods and materials. The latest release on Thursday reported October results. These statistics are a useful way to evaluate any changes in the competitive position of steel against competing materials. For the purpose of this report, SMU […]
Apparent supply is defined as domestic mill shipments to domestic locations plus imports. Sources are the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Department of Commerce. The three month moving average (3MMA) of the total tonnage of flat rolled sheet and strip supply was 4,469,473 tons per month in the period July through September. This […]