By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Steel sheet prices in the U.S. Midwest market were mixed this week with slight declines for both HR and HDG coil, while CR coil was slightly higher. Market contacts have noted that markets are weakening as demand has not come about as previously expected. Lead […]
CRU analysts, speaking during a virtual version of their Annual New York Steel Briefing earlier today, said volatility is in the cards for steel pricing as demand increases and new EAF capacity comes online. CRU forecasts sheet consumption will fall 17.6 percent or 12.4 million metric tons year-over-year in 2020, and long and plate products […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary, from CRU’s Zinc Monitor U.S. industrial production increased by only 1.4 percent in May, well short of expectations, but market sentiment is generally positive as the Fed has confirmed it will do “whatever it takes for as long as it takes” to help get the economy back on track […]
By CRU Prices Analyst Estelle Tran, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service U.S. automaker restarts in May drove an increase in steel demand and helped to prop up sheet prices. There is concern, however, over whether there is enough new demand to support mills restarting or if manufacturers are mainly managing pent-up demand. We’ve heard […]
Flat rolled steel price momentum, for spot pricing out of the domestic mills, continues to be in transition, and the SMU Price Momentum Indicator is at Neutral. Neutral means spot mill pricing could go in either direction over the next 30 days. However, SMU and our parent company CRU have both been reporting lower spot […]
Flat rolled steel price momentum, for spot pricing out of the domestic mills, continues to be in transition, and the SMU Price Momentum Indicator is at Neutral. Neutral means spot mill pricing could go in either direction over the next 30 days. However, SMU and our parent company CRU have both been reporting lower spot […]
U.S. Steel anticipates the second quarter will “mark the trough for the year.” In earnings guidance issued on June 17, the company said it expects an adjusted EBITDA loss of $315 million, exclusive of approximately $100 million of estimated restructuring and other charges. The guidance was significantly lower than analyst consensus and nearly five times […]
Nucor is guiding to better-than-expected second-quarter earnings in the range of $0.10 to $0.15 per diluted share. First-quarter earnings were $0.07 per diluted share and included asset losses related to the mill’s equity method investment in Italy. Nucor’s downstream steel products segment remained strong during the quarter due to resilient demand in nonresidential construction. COVID-19 […]
Flat Rolled = 67.6 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 61.0 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Service center flat roll inventories edged down in May, which was consistent with lower on-order volumes seen in April as well as higher shipments in May. Service centers carried 67.6 shipping days of supply at the end of […]
Flat Rolled = 62.5 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 58.7 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Service centers reduced their flat rolled supply to 62.5 shipping days of supply at the end of June, from 67.6, according to adjusted data. In terms of months on hand, June inventories represented 2.84 months of supply, down […]
It’s time to register for CRU’s 5th Annual New York Steel Briefing. The event, now virtual due to the coronavirus, will feature CRU analysts sharing their outlooks for steel and how to manage through volatile markets. Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2020 Time: 10:00 – 11:00 AM EST Overview: The Covid-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption across domestic […]
It’s not too late to register for CRU’s 5th Annual New York Steel Briefing. The event, now virtual due to the coronavirus, will feature CRU analysts sharing their outlooks for steel and how to manage through volatile markets. Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2020 Time: 10:00 – 11:00 AM EST Overview: The Covid-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption […]
By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson, from CRU’s Steel Monitor In the U.S. Midwest market this week, sheet prices were somewhat mixed with HR coil near steady w/w while HDG coil fell by $19 /s.ton to $650 /s.ton and CR coil inched up by $4 /s.ton to $697 /s.ton. Our full HDG coil price, reflecting […]
It’s time to register for CRU’s 5th Annual New York Steel Briefing. The event, now virtual due to the coronavirus, will feature CRU analysts sharing their outlooks for steel and how to manage through volatile markets. Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2020 Time: 10:00 – 11:00 AM EST Overview: The Covid-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption across domestic […]
Join us for CRU’s 5th Annual New York Steel Briefing, now virtual, featuring the outlook for steel and how to manage through volatile markets. Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2020 Time: 10:00 – 11:00 AM EST Overview: The Covid-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption across domestic and global commodity markets, with steel among those most impacted. With scenarios for a post-pandemic outlook […]
Census Bureau data for downstream steel product shipments lags but supports American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) data for crude steel production. The Census Bureau provides monthly data on manufacturing inventories, shipments and new orders for total U.S. manufacturing and for individual industries, one of which is steel products. Therefore, the Census Bureau provides a […]
Imports of rolled products through May, year over year, were not affected by the pandemic, but the longer-term decline continued, according to the latest Commerce Department data. Year over year, total rolled product imports in May were down by 24.8 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This was the seventh consecutive month where […]
The House has proposed an infrastructure bill that would provide $494 billion over the next five years to improve the nation’s highways, rails and transit systems. The INVEST in America Act includes $319 billion for highway investment, $105 billion for transit agencies, $10 billion for motor vehicle safety and $60 billion for rail investment. The […]
By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Sheet prices in the U.S. Midwest market have continued to rise with HR coil assessed at $510 /s.ton, a w/w gain of $23 /s.ton. While prices are higher, overall volume of transactions has been limited. This is due not only to low demand and plentiful […]
Join us for CRU’s 5th Annual New York Steel Briefing, now virtual, featuring the outlook for steel and how to manage through volatile markets. Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2020 Time: 10:00 – 11:00 AM EST Overview: The Covid-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption across domestic and global commodity markets, with steel among those most impacted. With scenarios for a post-pandemic outlook […]
By CRU Analysts Alexander Ordosch and Iris Speelmanns, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor: The Covid-19 crisis has resulted in a rapid fall in market activity and steel demand, which has resulted in steelmakers across the globe responding quickly by lowering steel production. Steelmakers have two options to reduce steel output in response to lower […]
Olympic Steel is expanding its southeastern footprint with the opening of a new 120,000-square-foot metal processing facility in Buford, Ga., that will act as a primary flat rolled fabrication hub for the region, which also includes facilities in Locust, N.C., Winder, Ga.; and Hanceville, Ala. Olympic Steel’s facilities in the Southeast offer a wide array […]
By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson, from CRU’s Steel Monitor In the U.S. Midwest, sheet prices have continued to strengthen while plate prices have weakened further. HR coil prices increased for the third consecutive week, albeit by just $5 /s.ton to $487 /s.ton. The volume-weighted average of transactions remains below recent mill targets of $500 […]
Ferrous scrap remains in limited supply, prompting predictions that scrap prices will settle still higher in June, on top of the big increase in May. Steel Market Update sources forecast an increase of $10-20 per ton for obsolete grades and $20-30 per ton for prime grades in June from May levels. Higher scrap prices may […]
By CRU Economists Jumana Saleheen and Economist Yingrui Wang, from CRU’s Steel Metallics Monitor Special Feature: China will set out its major economic objectives and policy goals for 2020 at the National People’s Congress. We expect fiscal stimulus of 5-8 percent of nominal GDP to be announced, half the size of the stimulus that followed […]
Wholesalers of HVAC products for the construction market report surprisingly strong sales given the coronavirus situation, but also concerns about construction demand in the second half when current work is completed and there are fewer new projects in the pipeline. In a conference call this morning, members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors […]
Wholesalers of HVAC products have weathered the pandemic surprisingly well so far and are more concerned about construction demand months from now than they are about their near-term prospects. Consider what has happened since April as a result of the market’s response to the virus: Steel mills are operating at just above 50 percent of […]
We had to change the way we calculate the adjusted data, which will also change how we derive our analysis. Previously, we adjusted the data to mirror the exact mix of service centers that responded to the previous month’s survey. We saw a decrease in participation in the March survey, which we can understand given […]
Bank of America is forecasting a slow recovery from the coronavirus crisis, one that will take years not just months, said Metals and Mining Analyst Timna Tanners, who was the featured guest speaker during Steel Market Update’s Community Chat on Wednesday. Bank of America economists anticipate a global recession in the second and third quarters. […]
By CRU Research Manager Paul Butterworth and Analyst Alexander Ordosch, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service The global Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in sharply falling steel demand all over the world. For the steel industry, it is a challenging task to reduce production levels as ~75 percent of global output is produced through the BF/BOF, […]