United Steelworkers Local 2251 wants clarification from the Ontario court on whether it has permission to talk with Essar Global backed Ontario Steelworks about its bid for Essar Steel Algoma. Local 2251 favors a bid by Ontario Steelworks saying it would preserve the pension plan and union rights under the collective agreement. In July, the […]
If you are a steel buyer thinking that this rash of price increase announcements has run its course you may want to re-think the market forces again. One of the major scrap exporters booked a cargo of 80/20 mix to Turkey at $296 per metric ton delivered. They also sold shredded scrap at $301 delivered. […]
M&M Manufacturing, a subsidiary of MiTek Industries and a leading producer of sheet metal products, for the air distribution and ventilation markets, has acquired Snappy Company. Snappy is a leading supplier of metal duct systems for the residential HVAC market, with manufacturing facilities in Detroit Lakes, MN; Medina, NY; and corporate offices in Marietta, GA. […]
November service center daily shipments declined by 3.7 percent from October which was disappointing because since 2009 on average November has declined by 2.1 percent. Carbon steel shipments decreased by 107,400 tons, the number of shipping days was unchanged at 21 and tons/day shipments decreased by 5,100 tons. Intake and shipments In November total carbon […]
Nucor announced today that fourth quarter results are likely to be lower than third quarter due to lower margins in the steel mills segment, particularly at the company’s sheet mills, and seasonal slower activity. The raw materials segment is also expected to decline significantly, returning to a loss position due to lower pricing at Nucor’s […]
Members of the USW were headed to court today for the hearing regarding the sale of Stelco, the former US Steel Canada, to Bedrock Industries. The sale has the support of the Ontario government and Stelco but is meeting some resistance from union workers and the City of Hamilton. The USW says the proposal leaves […]
US Steel announced today that it will begin processing slabs on the currently idled hot strip mill at Granite City Works in Granite City, Ill., in mid-February 2017. The slabs for the mill will be sourced from US Steel’s own domestic facilities. US Steel said in a press release that it is making the adjustment […]
Mingo Junction Steelworks has been sold to investor group Acero Junction by the Frontier Group of Companies. Frontier bought the former RG Steel facility in Mingo Junction four years ago out of bankruptcy. “Our goal was always to improve the site and find a viable buyer for the steel making assets at Mingo. Today, we […]
We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about regional import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis of tonnage by district of entry is to describe in detail what is going on in a company’s immediate neighborhood and thus provide a negotiating advantage for premium subscribers. We are now publishing […]
This report summarizes total steel supply from 2003 through October 2016 and year on year changes. It then compares domestic mill shipments and total supply to the market. It quantifies market direction by product and enables a side by side comparison of the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron […]
Licensed data for November was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on December 6th. An explanation of the methodology that we at SMU use to analyze the trade data is given at the end of this piece. All volumes in this analysis are reported in short tons. Total rolled […]
Early December logistic reports show no major problems in the shipping markets. Shipments on most transportation modes are expected to slow as the holiday season approaches. A new Secretary of Transportation has been appointed by President-elect Donald Trump. Elaine Cho, former Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush and Deputy Secretary of Transportation under […]
Scrap prices still appear to be up anywhere from $40 per ton (very early deals) to as much as $50 per ton with most of the deals done late this week in the +$50 range. Dealers have sold all of the scrap they want to dispose of during the month of December. One of our […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. This will explain the difference between our view of the present situation which is subjective and our analysis of trends which is based on the latest facts available. At the end of […]
October service center daily shipments improved 1.0 percent from September which is better than it seems because since 2009 on average, October has declined by 2.3 percent. Carbon steel shipments increased by 29,700 tons, the number of shipping days was unchanged at 21 and tons/day shipments increased by 1,400 tons. Intake and shipments In October […]
Licensed data for October was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on November 8th. An explanation of the methodology that we at SMU use to analyze the trade data is given at the end of this piece. All volumes in this analysis are reported in short tons. Total rolled […]
On Tuesday of this week Steel Market Update (SMU) and one of our Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshops toured the Big River Steel facility in Osceola, Arkansas. We conducted the classroom portion of our program in Memphis and then drove to the mill for our tour and then we moved […]
A note to our Premium level members, we put out a Premium supplemental newsletter this afternoon that covered an extensive analysis of the MSCI data (long and flat rolled), there is also an article on currency values for steel trading nations (not good news for domestic mills as dollar has been strengthening), there is a […]
On Monday ArcelorMittal USA announced their third flat rolled steel price increase in less than a month. The mill informed their customers of their intention to raise base prices on all flat rolled products. On Tuesday NLMK USA followed the AM lead while Nucor and AK Steel came out with a $40 per ton price […]
Good evening from Memphis, Tennessee and Ocseola, Arkansas home of Big River Steel. Earlier today our Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop held our class on the steel making and rolling process. The morning session was then followed by a trip to Osceola and a tour of the brand new (so […]
We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about regional foreign steel import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis of tonnage by district of entry is to describe in detail what is going on in a company’s immediate neighborhood and, thus, provide a negotiating advantage for our premium subscribers. […]
The annualized GDP growth rate in the first estimate of the third quarter of 2016 was 2.91 percent which was the best result since the Q3 of 2014. Economy.com had this to say: “Prospects remain bright. Consumers are doing their part and spending growth will remain strong as labor markets tighten and wage increases accelerate. […]
Once per month HARDI* wholesalers conduct a galvanized steel conference call so they can better understand what is happening in the broader markets as they deal with steel pricing, demand and inventory issues. The HARDI monthly call was held on Wednesday, November 9, just one day after the presidential election. Not surprisingly, the future of […]
On Monday, November 7, 2016 ArcelorMittal USA began advising their customers of their intention of raising steel base prices to specific minimum levels. The announcement came from an internal memo (or email from the various sales representatives of the mill) which stated, “Effective immediately, the following minimum base prices will be applicable to all new […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) ferrous scrap sources advised us over the weekend that strength in the Ohio Valley, as well as in the export markets, has led to ferrous scrap prices trading higher than originally thought. Talks continue in many of the regions of the country which have not yet completed scrap pricing negotiations for […]
Inventories, and whether they are too tight right now, have been a topic of discussion lately. Eddie Lehner, CEO of Ryerson Holdings commented on this during the Ryerson earnings call last week. In his prepared remarks Lehner said, “Notwithstanding, the decline of CRU carbon sheet prices from a peak late in the second quarter of […]
Flat rolled steel prices have begun their ascent as the $30 per ton price increase begins to be collected by the domestic steel mills. Both Platts and Steel Market Update have hot rolled prices moving up by $10 per ton this past week with SMU at $480 and Platts at $485 per ton by week’s […]
Ryerson Holding Co., a processor and distributor of metals in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and China, reported net income of $8.2 million for third quarter. Sales for the quarter totaled $735.1 million, essentially unchanged from second quarter. Shipments fell 5.0 percent sequentially and 2.4 percent year-over-year to 480,000 tons. The lower volume was partially offset […]
Cliffs Natural Resources reported iron ore pellet sales volume in third quarter was 5.3 million long tons compared to 5.6 million long tons in 2015. Production was also down at 3.86 million long tons compared to 4 million long tons the year before. The decrease was attributed to customer inventory mix that was partly offset […]
On Friday morning US Steel got the ball rolling by announcing a $30 per ton price increase on all spot sales of flat rolled steel (hot rolled, cold rolled and coated products). Before the afternoon was out two other steel mills followed: Nucor and California Steel Industries. On Monday a number of mills were heard […]