Tag: Sheet

Steel sheet prices mostly edged lower for a second week, while plate prices slipped for the third consecutive week.

The amount of steel exiting the country in August reached the highest monthly rate recorded since August 2023.

Flat rolled = 60.8 shipping days of supply Plate = 52.7 shipping days of supply Flat rolled Flat-rolled steel supply at US service centers declined in September, though still seasonally high. September’s report reflects lower demand, stable lead times, and restocking early in the third quarter at a perceived bottom in prices. At the end […]

I’m trying to make sure this is not a TL;DR Final Thoughts. As a journalism school professor once told me, ‘No one but your mom reads more than 1,000 words.’ Also, as the old adage goes, a picture is worth a thousand as well. With that in mind, below are a couple of charts that I think go a long way toward explaining how prices and lead times have been relatively stable despite concerns about demand.

Steel mill lead times inched up this week for most sheet and plate products, according to buyers responding to our latest market survey.

Negotiation rates have consistently been in the 70-80% range for over two months, relatively strong in comparison to levels seen across the past year.

AZZ Inc. posted sharply higher second-quarter profits driven by increased sales of and better demand for its products. The Fort Worth, Texas-based hot-dipped galvanized and coil coater reported net income of $35.4 million in the second quarter of 2024, up 43.3% from $24.7 million in the same quarter last year. It posted Q2'24 sales of $409 million, up 2.6% from $398.5 million in Q2'23.

SMU’s monthly review provides a summary of important steel market metrics for the previous month. This latest report includes data updated through Sept. 30.

Steel prices ticked higher this week for most of the sheet products SMU tracks, back up to highs last recorded in June and July. Meanwhile, plate prices edged lower following three weeks of stability.

Flack Global Metals (FGM) Founder and CEO Jeremy Flack will sit down with SMU for a Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at 11 am ET. The live webinar is free for anyone to attend. A recording will be available only to SMU subscribers.

Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Algoma predicts that it will be roughly breakeven on an adjusted EBITDA basis in the second quarter of its fiscal year. The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based company expects adjusted EBIDTA in a range from a gain of $5 million CAD ($3.7 million USD) to a loss of $5 million CAD in fiscal Q2'25.

Over three quarters of the steel buyers participating in our market survey this week reported that mills are negotiable on new order prices

We saw a slight upward movement in some products compared to early September, but nothing substantial enough to signal a shift in the market.

SMU’s steel price indices were mixed this week as the market seeks direction. All of our indices have fluctuated within relatively narrow ranges across September.

It’s officially fall. And here’s a funny thing about steel prices in the fall over the last few years – they tend to move in the opposite direction of the leaves. SMU’s hot-rolled (HR) coil price averaged $676 per short ton (st) in September 2023. That figure increased to $1,035/st in December 2023, a gain of 53% percent. (You can follow along with our pricing tool.)

SMU’s steel price indices were steady to higher this week. Each of our sheet indices crept upwards from last week, while our plate index was unchanged.

Flat rolled = 66.3 shipping days of supply Plate = 57.0 shipping days of supply Flat rolled Flat-rolled steel supply at US service centers grew further in August. The dynamic resulted from some Q3 restocking efforts at a perceived market bottom, met with shorter lead times and weaker demand. At the end of August, service […]

Cleveland-Cliffs aims to increase prices for hot-rolled (HR) coil to $750 per short ton (st) effective immediately. The move represents a price hike of $20/st from the Cleveland-based steelmaker's previously published price of $730/st.

We got a little flack for adjusting our sheet momentum indicators to neutral last week. To be clear, we didn’t adjust them to lower. Part of the reason we moved them to neutral was because there are some unusual cross-currents in the current market. On the news side, you could make a case that there should nowhere to go but up.

Steel mill lead times shortened for both sheet and plate products this week, according to buyers responding to our latest market survey.

Negotiation rates have edged lower from our previous market check, a downward trend witnesses since July.

SMU’s steel price indices showed mixed signals for a second consecutive week. Our hot rolled, cold rolled, and plate price indices inched lower from last week, as the galvanized index held steady and Galvalume's ticked higher.

Domestic steel producers and the United Steelworkers (USW) union filed a barrage of trade cases last week. This is hardly news. Ever since the Commerce Department ruled that Vietnam is still treated as a nonmarket economy (NME) for antidumping purposes, many in the business expected new cases on the product that Vietnam excels at—“corrosion-resistant steel.” Nor is it a surprise that these cases roped in nine countries in addition to Vietnam: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. All these countries rank in the top ten exporters of corrosion-resistant steel to the United States. These petitions are a broadside against coated flat-rolled steel imports.

Sheet prices didn’t roar back after Labor Day. But steel market news sure came out of the gate strong (or maybe chaotically is the better way to put it). First, the nearly $15-billion proposed sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel exploded into the news. And when I say exploded, I mean that all sides seem to be escalating things now.

US mills have filed or soon will file a sprawling trade petition against imports of coated flat-rolled steel from 10 countries. The petition seeks anti-dumping margins against Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Taiwan, Australia, and South Africa. It also seeks countervailing duty margins against Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Vietnam. That’s according documents dated Sept. 5 and addressed to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and International Trade Commission (ITC) Secretary Lisa Barton.

Welcome back from Labor Day, from Steel Summit, and from whatever fun you might have had over the long weekend. Personally, I enjoyed camping with friends and family near Starved Rock. No one starved, there were no major injuries, and we enjoyed the many splendors of Mystical Fire. (Speaking of which, does that have industrial uses? But I digress.)

SMU indices moved higher on cold rolled products this week, while galvanized prices were flat. Our indices for plate, hot rolled, and Galvalume all edged lower.

SMU’s Monthly Review provides a summary of important steel market metrics for the previous month. Our August report includes data updated through August 30th.

Current steel mill lead time averages are a few days longer than levels seen one month prior, but remain near historical lows for both sheet and plate products.

Steel buyers found mills slightly more willing to negotiate spot prices this week, according to our most recent survey data. Though this negotiation rate has ticked up vs. our previous market check, overall rates have been trending downward since July’s highs.