Steel production at ArcelorMittal Mexico has been interrupted due to an “illegal protest” and blockade outside the company’s mill in Lazaro Cardenas, Mich. Some Sindicato Minero union members, dissatisfied with the profit-sharing payments they received, have been obstructing access to the mill since Friday, May 24. As a result, ArcelorMittal had to stop blast furnace […]
A strike outside the ArcelorMittal Mexico plant in Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacán, is threatening to impact blast furnace operations at the mill.
The free market operates best when it is freest. But all governments intervene in markets in response to conditions that threaten peaceful progress. President Biden decided last week that market intervention was justified. He approved a report from the US Trade Representative (USTR) that recommended continuing the “Section 301” tariffs on Chinese imports into the United States.
Our spot price is little changed this week after moving sharply lower last week on the heels of Nucor’s unexpected price cut. Here’s one thought on that trend: Nucor's weekly HR price (aka, its “Consumer Spot Price” or CSP) has to date functioned almost more like a monthly price.
United Auto Workers (UAW) members at Stellantis' Warren Stamping Plant in Michigan have voted to authorize a strike at the factory.
United Auto Workers (UAW) members at a Stellantis plant in Michigan have health and safety grievances so severe they are considering going on strike.
Daimler Truck North America and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union have reached tentative bargaining agreements covering over 7,000 US workers at various locations in the South.
We've used the word "unprecedented" a lot over the last four years to describe steel price volatility. Over the last two months – despite earlier predictions of a price surge - we've seen unprecedented stability.
With strength in the sector and customers needing the product it produces, Cleveland-Cliffs’ chief executive says the company will be more selective with the automotive customers it chooses to serve.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. continued to lose money in the first quarter, with the steelmaker blaming the loss in part on the idling of its tinplate facility in Weirton, W.Va.
The steel market appears to be finding a new, higher normal with the shocks of the pandemic and the Ukraine in the rearview mirror. The good news: a more profitable and consolidated post-Covid US steel industry has been able to invest in operations. That includes efforts to decarbonize. The bad news: That “new normal” could be tested. Because it’s not just domestic sheet prices that have been volatile. Geopolitics are too.
I’ve had questions from some of you lately about how we should think of the spread between hot-rolled (HR) coil prices and those for cold-rolled (CR) and coated product. Let’s assume that mills are intent on holding the line at least at $800 per short ton (st) for HR. The norm for HR-CR/coated spreads had been about $200 per short ton (st). That would suggest CR and coated base prices should be ~$1,000/st. Good luck finding anyone offering that.
SMU’s price for hot-rolled (HR) inched lower this week. I wouldn’t be surprised, however, if we start to see prices and lead times move higher in the weeks ahead. The modest declines in HR this week are probably the result of lingering deals cut at “old” prices, as sometimes happens after mill price increases. But those deals will probably be out of the market soon if they aren’t already. So why do I float the idea of higher prices? Some big buys have been placed. It reminds me a little of what we saw last fall, when people restocked in anticipation of higher prices once the UAW strike was resolved.
Volkswagen employees at its assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., have filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to become part of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.
Economic activity across the US increased marginally from early January through the end of February, according to the latest Beige Book report from the US Federal Reserve.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) union said that over 50% of workers at Mercedes-Benz’s plant in Vance, Ala., “have signed union cards in support of joining the UAW.”
Domestic prices have been sliding since the beginning of the year, and I don’t see any obvious reasons why the slide might stop this week. But let’s put the timing of a bottom aside for a minute. The question among some of you seems to be whether we’ll see another price spike, or at least a “dead-cat bounce,” before the typical summer doldrums kick in.
A United Auto Workers (UAW) local has reached a tentative agreement with Ford, avoiding a strike at the automaker’s Kentucky Truck Plant (KTP).
Australia's BlueScope Steel has begun making plans to potentially add cold rolling and coating capabilities in the US.
Everyone knows the old saying that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Just because it’s a cliché doesn’t mean that it’s wrong. A lot of inked has been spilled trying to figure out why prices are falling now. I thought it might be as simple as this: Market dynamics in the fourth quarter (UAW strike, companies buying ahead of an anticipated post-strike price spike, etc.) pulled forward restocking activity that typically happens in the first quarter.
Approximately 9,000 United Auto Workers (UAW) members at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant said they will strike on Friday, Feb.. 23, if local contract issues are not resolved.
The iron ore market has been largely calm, with China observing the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday period, while demand in Europe and JKT has been slow to pick up. Supply has been somewhat weaker, but overall, the price has held steady. Supply from Port Hedland remained unchanged w/w despite Roy Hill having no shipments […]
There seems to be bit of high-stakes chicken going on in the domestic sheet market. Prices have been moving lower for most of the year, and our hot-rolled (HR) coil price on Tuesday fell below $1,000 per short ton (st) on average. Crossing that threshold does not seem to have resulted in a flurry of buying activity.
Algoma Steel reported a wider loss in its fiscal third quarter amid lingering impact from the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike and “heavy seasonal maintenance.” Additionally, the Canadian steelmaker said it has completed repairs at it blast furnace and “restored partial coke-making capabilities” after a previously reported incident on Jan. 20.
It was another steady drip lower, down $20/st to $980/st. In other words, the kind of on-and-off declines we’ve been seeing since the start of the year.
SMU’s latest survey results make it clear that the sheet market has hit an inflection point and headed lower. But while some market participants think that sheet prices might bottom within the next month or so, others expect a more protracted downturn.
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. shipped more than 4 million short tons (st) of steel in each quarter of 2023, pushing its full-year shipments to a record 16.4m st.
Much discussion has centered on HRC futures and option liquidity. The perceived lack of liquidity is often used as a reason for not engaging in risk management, a profound folly in our opinion. Looking back over the last decade, the futures market has seen increased volume. The HRC futures volume in 2023 was 617% of 2013 numbers.
Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Algoma Steel Group Inc. guided toward lower earnings in its fiscal 2024 third quarter, citing the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike and lower steel prices last fall.
As we look back at the scrap market for 2023, it basically followed its normal seasonal pattern. Most of the disruptive geopolitical events that riled ferrous raw materials occurred in 2022. So, with those things out of the way—or settling down at least for now—2023 resumed its normal pattern.