“Training is everything: Invest in your employees.” – Chris Shipp, vice president of sales for Reibus Over 50 individuals got an up close and personal look at steelmaking at Steel Market Update’s final Steel 101 Workshop of 2022 on Oct. 19–20 in Corpus Christi, Texas. A mill tour was hosted by Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) Southwest Sinton […]
The number of active drilling rigs were mixed this week, with counts increasing in the US and falling in Canada, according to data from oilfield services company Baker Hughes. Activity in both the US and Canada has leveled out over the last two weeks and is not quite back to pre-Covid levels. The number of […]
US sheet prices continue to slide, and the weakness in the domestic market has buyers confident that they can get domestic suppliers to negotiate. For hot-rolled coil, imports have not been very advantageous relative to futures. There have been some workable offers for tandem mill products. But buyers have been more inclined to buy domestically or […]
Well, earnings season is now well underway. We’ve seen the early reporters like steel processor Worthington Steel (who announced it will be splitting off its steel segment and creating two separate, publicly traded businesses), as well as tube producer Webco, and steel and metal manufacturer Commercial Metals Co. all report strong results in their latest earnings. […]
Although operating rates at its steel mills declined slightly from the second to third quarter, Steel Dynamics Inc. continues to demonstrate higher utilization rates than the US industry as a whole. The company’s overall Q3 utilization rate was 93%, down two percentage points from the 95% rate achieved in Q2, SDI chairman, president, and CEO Mark […]
Nucor Corp. experienced another quarter of strong earnings despite sequential declines in average sales price per ton and total tons shipped in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, the company said in its latest earnings report on Thursday, Oct. 20. Decreased steel mills segment earnings drove the sequential decline in quarterly earnings, the company said. The […]
A strong performance from its steel fabrication operations offset lower earnings within its flat rolled steel business, resulting in another strong quarter for Steel Dynamics Inc. The Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker and recycler reported net income of $914 million on sales of $5.65 billion in the third quarter ended Sept. 30. While sales were 11% […]
Total US mill shipments of steel products were down in August, slipping to their second-lowest total year-to-date (YTD). Mill shipments have been fluctuating up and down all year with little consistency. August’s shipments totaled 8.04 million tons, a 0.9% decline from July’s 8.11 million tons. Apparent supply also saw a month-on-month (MoM) decline in August, down 1.3% […]
Steel prices trended lower again this week, the second consecutive week of moderate declines, according to Steel Market Update sources. Sheet prices declined between $10–30 per net ton compared to last week, now at levels not seen since late 2020. Plate prices were broadly unchanged from last week, but are slowly easing towards levels last […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Sheet prices took split paths between eastern and western regions. Prices in Asia found support from restocking in China and supply disruptions in South Korea. Meanwhile, western markets remained weak, and we expect this to persist over the near term. October is the […]
Imported sheet and plate products arrived at US ports at a slower clip in August, resulting in them accounting for a lower share of the domestic market for the second straight month, according to a Steel Market Update analysis of import data from the US Commerce Department and domestic shipment figures from the American Iron […]
Flat Rolled = 52.7 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 50.2 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat rolled supply on hand edged down in September, reflecting a higher daily shipment rate. At the end of September, service centers carried 52.7 shipping days of supply of flat rolled, down from 53.9 shipping […]
News that the Biden Administration is considering a total ban on Russian aluminum imports lifted the market Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 11. The LME aluminum three-month price increased sharply to a high of $2,400 per ton before some of the gains were reversed by the close. The price saw some volatile shifts during the week but […]
Green iron startup company Electra has raised $85 million to support its production of low-temperature iron (LTI). The process will utilize commercial and low-grade ores and zero-carbon electricity. The Boulder, Colo.- based company focuses on iron refining without a green premium and is backed by various organizations, including the Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Amazon, […]
Time for a contrarian, optimistic thought experiment. First the bad news: Sentiment is increasingly bearish on months of falling steel and scrap prices, nearly all respondents to our latest survey report that mills are willing to negotiate lower still, and flattish lead times provide paltry evidence for a rebound. A quick check of the headlines […]
Steel mill lead times were relatively unchanged this week for four of the five products tracked by Steel Market Update. Our latest lead times analysis shows that production times on hot-rolled steel held steady compared to our previous market check. Galvanized, Galvalume, and plate lead times all extended just 0.1 weeks, while cold rolled lead […]
US Steel has indefinitely idled the tin mill at its Gary Works in northwest Indiana, a company spokeswoman confirmed in an email to Steel Market Update on Thursday, Oct. 13. The move could be a prolonged one, upwards of six months, according to an unconfirmed report. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker had temporarily idled Gary’s No. 5 tin […]
Domestic sheet prices fell sharply this week, marking their first substantial drop following nearly two months of mostly sideways or modestly downward moves. Another month of falling scrap prices appears to have been the catalyst. Another is this: Mills that had talked about discipline on the way up are now fighting for market share, sources […]
Flat-rolled steel processor JM Steel Corp. is expanding into Georgia with the acquisition of Five Star Roll Form LLC and Sun States Steel Corp. Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed. Five Star is a fabricator serving the trailer, garage door, roofing, and solar industries. Sun States Steel is a flat-rolled steel distributor. Both […]
We’ve spilled a lot of ink over labor contract talks between US Steel and the United Steelworkers (USW) union. That issue is no doubt important. But here are two more that are just as important, if not more so. And you should have both on your radar as you start this week. First is the […]
US plate prices have been unchanged for nearly three weeks. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t under pressure. Buyers remain mostly on the sidelines of the spot market and are working through inventories as demand slows to a crawl. The market has been quiet since Nucor announced a $120-per-ton ($6-per-cwt) price cut on discrete plate […]
The number of active drilling rigs declined in the US this week, while Canadian counts increased, according to data from oilfield services company Baker Hughes. Activity in both the US and Canada has leveled out in recent weeks. The number of oil and gas rigs in operation is important to the steel industry because it […]
Sheet pricing continues to grind lower and contract negotiations drag on. Let’s first look at why prices have been slipping and think about a few theories as to who or what the culprit might be. Spot Market Dynamics I’ve heard from buyers in the Midwest that discounts for large-volume orders negotiated by an integrated producer […]
US Steel Corp. began construction on its $150 million direct-reduced-grade iron pellet plant in Keewatin, Minn., on Thursday, Oct. 5. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz joined US Steel’s President and CEO David Burritt, and other leadership members to celebrate the company’s project and tout its “commitment to produce products that are mined, melted and made in […]
Stainless steel sheet and strip imports from China will continue to be subject to antidumping and countervailing duties for at least another five years. This comes as a result of the US International Trade Commission’s final vote in a sunset review of the duties. The agency voted that revoking the current duties would likely lead to […]
Tube producer Webco Industries says it has successfully been able to pass on higher costs to its customers in the form of higher prices, allowing it to increase sales in its 2022 fiscal year fourth quarter ended July 31, 2022. During the quarter, Webco experienced volatility in the price of its raw materials including carbon […]
Bull Moose Tube Co. (BMT) is nearing completion of its new, 350,000-tons-per-year welded tube mill on the campus of Steel Dynamics Inc.’s new sheet mill in Sinton, Texas. The new hollow structural sections (HSS) and sprinkler pipe mill, Bull Moose’s eighth facility, will allow the company to expand, grow, and increase its total operational capabilities […]
The ongoing trend for steel sheet prices has remained mostly flat over the past several weeks, and this week was really no exception. We’ve seen a tightening of spreads between hot-rolled coil prices and those for cold rolled, galvanized, Galvalume. And the trend of narrowing spreads is even more pronounced when it comes to plate. […]
Sheet prices continued to tread water this week, with modest declines in hot-rolled coil and galvanized base prices offset in part by minor gains in cold-rolled coil and in Galvalume. Plate prices were also flat, following declines in prior weeks, on the heels of Nucor on Monday announcing unchanged pricing for discrete plate. Our benchmark […]
Steel service center Willbanks Metals Inc. is expanding in Fort Worth, Texas. The company recently purchased property across the street from the current location of its headquarters and flat-rolled steel sheet and plate service center, allowing it to expand with a new Red Bud stretcher leveler and additional processing equipment. “We are thrilled to continue […]