The local United Steelworkers (USW) chapter representing hourly workers at Algoma Steel has voted nearly unanimously to authorize a strike. Local 2251 held a vote on the matter on Monday, July 4, and 99% voted in favor of a strike mandate, according to an update to union members. Algoma, a Canadian sheet and plate mill, […]
ArcelorMittal SA has completed a deal to acquire an 80% stake in a south Texas hot-briquetted iron (HBI) plant built by Austrian steelmaker Voestalpine. The Luxembourg-based steelmaker said the deal was finalized following the receipt of customary regulatory approvals on Thursday, June 30. The agreement, announced in April, values the HBI plant – located near […]
The United Steelworkers (USW) is preparing to start master contract bargaining with Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. in mid-July, according to communications sent to union members. Local union chapters will send representatives to the master negotiations, which are being held in Pittsburgh. The USW’s current labor pact with the Cleveland-based steelmaker expires on Sept. 1. Talks will focus […]
The rally was fun while it lasted, but new capacity delayed in large part because of Covid has arrived or soon will, popular analyst Timna Tanners said. And it will coincide with some demand weakness. The result: “steelmageddon” (aka “sheet storm”) might have been delayed. But it has finally arrived, she said. “Here we are with capacity starting […]
Steel Market Update’s average hot-rolled coil price has fallen below $1,000 per ton ($50 per cwt) for the first time since December 2020 – or 18 months ago. The move comes as some market participants said that a floor might be near while others said such talk was mostly wishful thinking. Our benchmark hot-rolled coil […]
A second United Steelworkers union local has voted to authorize a strike at Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Stelco. USW Local 8782, which represents the company’s steel mill in Nanticoke, Ontario, said 99.1% of its members voted on Monday in favor of the strike mandate. The moves comes after USW Local 1005, which represents Stelco’s Hamilton Works, earlier […]
US Steel plans to stop making steel at its Granite City Works near St. Louis in the second half of 2024, a company spokeswoman told Steel Market Update on Tuesday. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker expects that the mill’s blast furnaces will switch over to pig iron production as part of a deal with SunCoke Energy Inc., […]
Wolfe Research managing director Timna Tanners will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, June 29, at 11 a.m. ET. Don’t miss it! You can register here. The live webinar is free for all. A recording will be available free only to SMU members. We’ll talk about Tanners’ outlook […]
Wolfe Research managing director Timna Tanners will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, June 29, at 11 a.m. ET. Don’t miss it! You can register here. The live webinar is free for all. A recording will be available free only to SMU members. We’ll talk about Tanners’ outlook […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Prices for sheet products continued to fall rapidly around the globe this week. Mills in the US have become increasingly aggressive with their offers and are shifting their focus towards value-added products in order to obtain higher margins over costs. As a result, […]
Canadian flat-rolled steelmakers Stelco and Algoma face looming summer contract expirations with the United Steelworkers (USW) union. That’s well ahead of US mills, whose contracts with the USW don’t expire until Sept. 1. Here is where things stand now: Stelco The most pressing deadline is at Hamilton, Ontario-based Stelco, whose five-year agreement with the USW […]
Steel Market Update’s latest market check revealed that steel mill lead times continue to inch down for sheet and plate products as they move closer to historical norms. On average, lead times declined by 0.2 weeks compared to our early June figures and are down 0.4 weeks compared to one month ago. Lead times over […]
Sheet prices continued to fall this week on lower raw material costs, a buyers’ strike and concerns in some corners about a potential recession. But that gloomy sentiment was not universally shared, with some sources pointing to strong or at least steady demand despite the lower prices. SMU’s average hot-rolled coil price now stands at […]
Despite falling prices and declining lead times for galvanized sheet, overall demand is still generally strong and a good reason for optimism, according to members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International on this month’s call of HARDI’s Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council. One HARDI member in the Rocky Mountain region noted that his company […]
Wolfe Research managing director Timna Tanners will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, June 29, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available free to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about Tanners’ outlook for steel prices, raw materials costs, […]
Wolfe Research managing director Timna Tanners will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, June 29, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available free to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about Tanners’ outlook for steel prices, raw materials costs, […]
The 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta, is just 63 days away. The dates for this year’s conference are Aug. 22-24. We begin with a pre-Summit program at 9 a.m on Aug. 22. The official start of the conference will be at 1 p.m. The […]
The 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta, is just 63 days away. The dates for this year’s conference are Aug. 22-24. We begin with a pre-Summit program at 9 a.m on Aug. 22. The official start of the conference will be at 1 p.m. The […]
By CRU Economist Veronika Akhmadieva, from CRU’s Global Economic Outlook With a higher-than-expected headline CPI inflation reading of 8.6% in May, the Fed opted for an even more aggressive monetary tightening. After a 50 bps increase in the federal funds rate in May – which is the highest increase since 2000 – the Fed raised […]
Editor’s note: Steel Market Update is please to share this abbreviated Premium content with our Executive members. For information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. If you are part of a service center company and interested in becoming a data provider, please contact Estelle.Tran@CRUGroup.com. Flat Rolled = 54.7 Shipping Days of Supply […]
There have been some interesting developments in the plate market lately if you’ve been paying close attention. Let’s start with Nucor’s price decrease on cut-to-length (CTL) plate. For starters, let’s be clear that it’s only CTL prices that were dropped. Prices for discrete plate are unchanged. First, a little background. CTL plate refers to material […]
Imports of less expensive sheet and plate products continue to arrive at US ports, though at a much slower pace in April. Following a boost in volumes in March, imports of flat products decelerated in April and saw their share of the domestic steel market fall, according to Commerce Department data. Imports’ share of US sheet […]
Total mill shipments of steel products slipped in April following a slight uptick the month prior. April’s mill shipments totaled 8.12 million tons, 2.6% decline from March’s 8.34 million tons. Apparent supply also fell in April, down 4.7% versus the prior month. This analysis is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel […]
Flat Rolled = 54.7 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 55.2 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat rolled inventories rose in May as many service centers reported signs of slowing demand. At the end of May, service centers carried 54.7 shipping days of supply on an adjusted basis, according to SMU […]
Nucor Corp. expects to post the most profitable quarter in its history, the company said, for its second-quarter ending July 2 earnings guidance. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker expects earnings of $8.75 to $8.85 per diluted share in the second quarter, according to figures released on Wednesday, June 15. That’s up from the previous record of […]
High steel prices continued to benefit Canadian flatrolled steelmaker Algoma Steel Group as it posted strong results for its fiscal 2022 fourth quarter and full year ended March 31. “Our strong results for the fiscal fourth quarter capped off an incredible year at Algoma, one that produced record revenues, profitability and cash flows. Relentless execution […]
Sheet prices are falling at the fastest clip we’ve seen since before the war in Ukraine. Let’s call it the great rewind. But where are we rewinding to – earlier this year or 2019, the last “normal” market we had before the disruptions caused by the pandemic and the war? First come context: SMU’s average […]
Hot-rolled coil prices have suffered their biggest week-over-week decline since before the war in Ukraine sent tags sharply higher. Steel Market Update’s average hot-rolled coil price stands at $1,100 per ton ($55.50 per cwt), down $90 per ton from $1,190 per ton last week and down $265 per ton from $1,365 per ton in mid-May. […]
The European Union is adjusting its steel safeguard measures, according to a document filed at the World Trade Organization. The EU’s safeguard instrument is entering its fifth year of application. The liberalization rate, which is meant to progressively allow more import competition into the market while the domestic industry adjusts to it, had previously been […]
Antidumping and countervailing duty (“trade remedy”) cases provide a rare glimpse into tariffs on imported goods that entered the US before they were subject to these burdensome duties. In the opinion of some, retroactively applied tariffs are always unfair to importers and their downstream US customers. Others disagree, believing that they deter imports competing with […]