In three months through May exports of flat products declined as those of long products remained unchanged (see graphic below). Compared to May last year total exports were up by 311 tons. This result breaks down to flat products down 21,166 tons, longs down 29,114 tons and tubulars up 43,176 tons. In all three cases […]
By Peter Wright Shipments of sheet steel products in the 2nd quarter averaged 4,114,539 tons / month, down from 4,138,875 in the 1st quarter, 0.6 percent, and down by 4.8 percent from Q2 2012. Year to date (YTD) shipments of all sheet products through the first half were 24,682,298 tons, down by 5.6 percent from […]
Imports of semi finished, and hot worked steel imports through July 2013 Imports of the combined tonnage of billets, blooms and slabs have been trending down for 12 months as have also the combined imports plate and sheet. Total long products have been trending up for all of 2013. These conclusions are based on a […]
SMU doesn’t normally publish obituaries. I found the one about Berthod Beitz former Chairman of Krupp Steel especially touching and important to acknowledge. For the younger generation the idea of death camps and the world at war must be quite foreign. Even those of us born after World War II have only faded memories of […]
Written by: John Packard Bucket Deals are Killing Regional Wholesalers and Small Distributors Somewhere along the line the idea of allowing flexible tonnage purchases on month to month tonnages originally pegged for spot purchases to go into “bucket deals” has been killing some of the smaller spot distributors and wholesalers. The worst time is now […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Essar Steel Algoma reported an EBITDA of $9.7 million and a net loss of $25.1 million for the third quarter ending December 31, 2012. Essar said lower selling prices were offset by higher volumes and lower costs compared to the same three month period in 2011. Selling prices and costs decreased […]
Nucor pushes back at potential competitor Written by: Sandy Williams Arkansas lawmakers are still delving into the feasibility of offering Big River Steel a $125 million incentive package. IHS Global Analysis was hired by the State of Arkansas to provide a third-party review of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) cost-benefit analysis for the proposed […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Steel shipments will be flat in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2012 said Steel Dynamics in its first quarter 2013 earnings guidance. Galvanized sheet volume is projected to decrease but be offset by increases in long product shipments, including SBQ, standard railroad rail and wide flange products. […]
Written by: Peter Wright Canadian service center tons per day shipments in February were also down overall and for all individual product groups compared to February a year ago. Their total daily shipments were 76.3 percent of the pre recession level, ranging from 102.2 percent for plate to 70.2 percent for sheet. Of all steel […]
Written by: Peter Wright There are three information sources which taken together provide a picture of supply and demand in the U.S. steel market. There are the monthly AISI steel shipments, the Department of Commerce trade statistics and the MSCI report of shipments and inventories. In February total daily carbon steel shipments from service centers […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Nucor is expecting shares to drop by half in the first quarter of 2013, falling to $0.20 to $0.25 per diluted share from $0.43 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2012 and $0.45 per diluted share in first quarter 2012. Weak performance in sheet steel offset by improved profitability […]
Written by: Peter Wright Rolled steel imports through February 2013. The Steel Import Licensing system is so predictive of the final numbers that it’s quite valid to incorporate licensed tonnage into a current report. This means that by mid month a detailed import report can run for the previous month. License data does not include […]
Written by: Peter Wright Producer price indexes, (PPI), of sheet steel and competing materials. Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) puts out its series of producer price indexes, for thousands of goods and materials. The latest release on Thursday reported February results. Some of the PPI are helpful in monitoring the competitive price […]
Written by: Peter Wright Rolled steel exports in January increased 11.6 percent from December but were down by 193,000 tons from January 2012. The table below summarizes export steel trade by product with trend comparisons. Percentage changes are all on a three month moving average basis to reduce the noise in the data. Total exports […]
Written by: Peter Wright Sheet steel shipments in January were 4,343,000 tons, an increase of 322,000 tons over December’s volume. These figures are shipments to domestic locations plus exports based on the AISI AIS10 and Commerce Department trade reports. The following table breaks the total down into individual products and measures the growth and contraction […]
Written by: Sandy Williams The Arkansas Senate and House questioned a panel of economic development and finance officials last week on plans for the $1.1 billion Big River Steel project in Osceola, Ark. The meetings were a preliminary step in legislature approval of a $125 million bond issue for the proposed steel plant. The state’s […]
High Steel Service Center LLC, of Lancaster, PA., recently introduced HIGHSL sheet and plate steel that is panel-flat and stress-free for laser processing. This product is new in the Mid-Atlantic Region and unique in that it helps fabricators eliminate waste, offer higher-quality products, and save cost. Produced on a new leveling line, the material will […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released final census data for the month of December and found that total steel imports were down 9 percent when compared to the previous month. Major drops were reported in hot dipped galvanized (HDG) which fell by 30 percent compared to November, cold rolled which dropped by 17 percent and […]
Written by: Sandy Williams ThyssenKrupp AG seems to make steel industry headlines almost every day, only most of the news is bad news. Dr. Heinrich Hiesinger, Chairman of the Executive Board summed things up pretty well in his opening remarks at the December press conference. The facts are as follows: Our company has been pilloried […]
Dear Editor, Once again, both Nucor and US Steel in their quarterly earnings calls partially blamed imports for their less than stellar results, and frankly, this is getting old. For the record, it is NOT illegal to import steel into the United States. It might be illegal if those imports were dumped (meaning sold below […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) participates in a monthly conference call with HARDI wholesalers who sell galvanized sheet and coil into the HVAC mechanical contractors and related industries for residential and commercial construction applications. The purpose of the call is to discuss steel trends which may impact their regional businesses – this includes domestic mill and […]
Written by: Sandy Williams At least eight new steel plants are under construction in Asia (not including India) that will increase the annual output capacity of steel in Asia by 100 million tonnes within the next few years. Currently China accounts for nearly 50 percent of global steel demand with its own annual output capacity […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Natural gas is providing cost savings for steel plants while at the same time creating more demand for steel products used in pipelines, drilling equipment and rigs. It is a win-win situation for the steel and the natural gas industries One of the ways natural gas is utilized by the steel […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Steel prices and buyers risks were discussed by John Anton, Director of IHS Steel Service, on Wednesday in the 2013 Steel Buyers Guide a webinar presentation by IHS Global Insight. Anton says right now it is a buyer’s market and there are significant savings to be had for those willing to […]