The mills may have announced two increases in flat rolled steel prices in the past month, but you couldn’t tell from comments by members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. The distributors of galvanized steel to the HVAC sector report little impact on prices so far, though demand remains healthy despite some […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments for the month of October: Flat Rolled = 53 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 57 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Sheet steel prices declined rapidly throughout October, and the SMU Service Center Inventories Report shows that service centers pared down inventories […]
The composite producer price index of all commodities peaked in October last year and in 12 months through September has declined by 3.2 percent. This Steel Market Update report is an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data and is intended to provide subscribers with a view of the competitive position of sheet steel, aluminum, […]
Demand for steel sheet products declined by more than the seasonal norm in September. This analysis by Steel Market Update is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import/export data from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC). The analysis summarizes total steel supply by product from 2003 […]
October’s licensed import volume of total rolled steel products continued the decline from September and was the lowest since February 2011. Rolled product imports in October were down by 17.7 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis year over year. This follows the 15.5 percent decline in September. This early look at October’s import […]
Canadian integrated steelmaker Stelco managed to improve on its revenues and operating income from the second to the third quarter, but still reported an $11 million loss in Q3 adjusted net income. The company plans to expand its product mix by adding pig iron production and shipments in 2020. Third-quarter revenue of CAD $475 million […]
By Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Global sheet prices remain in a downtrend for November, though are starting to recover in some markets. Overall, CRU’s Global Flat Products Price Indicator (CRUspi flats) fell 3.3 percent m/m in November to 137.7, the lowest level recorded since October 2016. This indicator of global […]
Allegheny Technologies Inc. and NLMK USA have signed a one-year agreement to extend and expand carbon steel hot rolling conversion services for NLMK at ATI’s Hot-Rolling and Processing Facility (HRPF) in Brackenridge, Pa., through December 2020. ATI expects 2020 volumes to increase significantly compared to 2019 levels and provide guaranteed volumes and fixed fee-per-ton revenues, […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive-level members. For more information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. This analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into the district of entry and the source nation. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about local import […]
Steel Market Update was working on an article predicting a flat rolled price increase very soon when we received notice about 5 p.m. ET this evening that the Nucor Sheet Mill Group was raising base prices of flat rolled by a minimum of $40 per ton, effective immediately. This is the second flat rolled price […]
Despite the Oct. 28 plate price increase announcement out of Evraz ($40/ton), plate prices continue to be under pressure. [Please note: This article was completed just prior to the Nucor $40 price increase announcement, which was made on plate products at 4 p.m. this afternoon.] A large plate buyer told SMU they had just received […]
By CRU Senior Analysts Ryan McKinley (USA), Ryan Smith (Australia) and Erik Hedborg (UK) Part three of our three-part series: What’s next for U.S. iron ore production? In parts one and two of our series, we examined the U.S. iron ore industry and reviewed recent market developments. We also explored the dependency of U.S. iron […]
This report is designed to be a big picture summary of data we have reported in detail during the month. It summarizes 36 data streams that describe the state of the steel market and provide forward guidance for steel buyers and sellers. See the end of this piece for an explanation of the Key Indicators […]
Nucor Steel Arkansas opened its new cold mill complex at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Oct. 25. The $230 million specialty cold mill will expand Nucor’s capability to produce high strength, high-strength low-alloy and motor lamination steel products for the automotive industry. “As a world leader in steel manufacturing technology, Nucor is particularly focused on […]
Four more mills–Nucor, U.S. Steel, USS-Posco and Algoma Steel–raised prices on their flat rolled products by $40 per ton ($2/cwt) Friday, following on similar announcements by ArcelorMittal and NLMK USA the day before. The mills are hoping to reverse the slide that has taken the benchmark price of hot rolled steel from more than $700 […]
By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson The North American market has continued to see steel prices erode. We had previously anticipated that October scrap prices may be the lowest price seen over the next several years. We are now hearing that at least some market participants expect gains for November. The recent decline in scrap […]
Nucor and U.S. Steel raised prices on their flat rolled products by $40 per ton ($2/cwt) today, following on similar announcements by ArcelorMittal and NLMK USA yesterday. The mills are hoping to reverse the slide that has taken the benchmark price of hot rolled steel from more than $700 per ton to less than $500 […]
Speculation that steel prices were near the bottom and the mills were contemplating a price increase has proven out as ArcelorMittal and NLMK USA both announced flat rolled price increases today of $40 per ton. Other mills are expected to follow. ArcelorMittal informed its commercial team today that it is raising base prices on light […]
Speculation that steel prices were near the bottom and the mills were contemplating a price increase has proven out as ArcelorMittal became the first to hike flat rolled prices today by $40 per ton. Other mills are expected to follow. ArcelorMittal informed its commercial team today that it is raising base prices on light flat […]
Crude oil prices have returned to the levels prior to the attack on the Saudi Aramco Abqaiq crude oil processing facility on Sept. 14. The spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) FOB Cushing, Okla., exceeded $60 per barrel for one day on Sept. 16 when it reached $63.10 before falling back to $52.76 on […]
Steel price volatility was persistent in 2019, said CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores at the FMA/ASD Executive Networking Series held in Pittsburgh last week. U.S. economic growth was below the historical trend throughout 2019, but has improved since April, according to the Chicago Fed National Activity Index. Activity in two key steel sectors, fabricated metal products and […]
Nucor reported a decline in financial results as expected for the third quarter of 2019. Net earnings were $275 million, down from $386.4 million in Q2 and $676.7 million in Q3 2018. Consolidated net sales fell 7 percent from the previous quarter to $5.46 billion. Steel shipments to outside customers declined 7 percent from last […]
Based on Steel Market Update’s analysis of 10 indicators, U.S. manufacturing output is now contracting and articles manufactured from iron and steel are down by 6.1 percent year over year. This report summarizes 10 data streams that describe the state of U.S. manufacturing in general and the steel industry in particular. In data released in […]
By CRU Analyst Sam Grant Looking at our North American zinc market forecasts for 2020, there are clear arguments for either a rollover or slight decline in contract premia as we head into negotiations during the final quarter of this year. In this article, we present an overview of the North American refined market fundamentals […]
By John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update The Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index has been a mirror of the comments made by buyers of flat rolled and plate steel over the past few days. Our Sentiment Index, which measures how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to […]
By CRU Prices Analyst Estelle Tran U.S. steel sheet prices have fallen faster in early Q4 than initially expected, as lower demand levels, economic uncertainty and another $30-40 /l.ton decrease in scrap prices in October guided steel prices down. The CRU Midwest HR coil price assessment on Oct. 16 was $507 /s.ton, down $64 from […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments for the month of September: Flat Rolled = 49.9 Shipping Days of Supply Plate Steels = 52.1 Shipping Days of Supply (48.2 adjusted) Flat Rolled Service center inventories of flat-rolled steel dropped significantly in September, which the decrease in on-order volumes in August […]
February was the first month for the import market share of total steel products, including semifinished, to fall below 20 percent since August 2009. The import share remained below 20 percent through August 2019 when it was 18.4 percent. Our data goes back to January 2003 in which time period the high import share was […]
Demand for sheet products spiked to over five million tons in August for the first time since August last year, though flat rolled demand remains tepid. Construction expenditures are softening and will reduce the demand for long products through the balance of 2019. This analysis by Steel Market Update is based on steel mill shipment […]
Mill lead times for all flat rolled sheet products continued to see slight shortening over the past month. The average lead time for hot rolled is now down to nearly three and a half weeks, cold rolled is less than five and a half weeks and coated steels are less than six and a half […]