Steel prices continued to rally last month on the back of repeated mill price increases after tags reached a 2023 low of $645 per ton in late September. Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices ended November at an average of $923 per ton ($46.15 per cwt), rising by $140 per ton during the month. The SMU Price […]
Activity in the US manufacturing sector contracted once again in November.
It’s no surprise why spot prices are on the rise: Mills have been announcing higher flat-rolled tags for the better part of the past three months, according to our steel mill price increase calendar. A leading cause of the $305-per-ton rally since prices reached a recent bottom of $645 per ton in late September has […]
Non-union workers from 13 automakers are making moves to join the Detroit-based United Auto Workers (UAW) union.
I want to address a few things in this 'Final thoughts': the latest SMU survey results, the plate market, and the potential sale of U.S. Steel.
SMU’s Current and Future Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices have both increased, based on our most recent survey data as of Wednesday, Nov. 22.
U.S. Steel said it has indefinitely idled steelmaking at its Granite City Works in southern Illinois near St. Louis.
Galvanized steel buyers reported a seller's market with steady demand, long lead times, and strong pricing on this month’s call of the Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) association.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) union has released the final tally of member votes, with a combined total of 64% voting in favor of labor agreements across the Detroit-area “Big Three” automakers.
United Auto Workers (UAW) union members at Ford and Stellantis have joined their compatriots at General Motors in voting to ratify new labor contracts. That’s according to vote tallies posted by the union. The count was lopsided in favor of the new deal at Ford (69% of votes for ratification) and Stellantis (70% of votes […]
United Auto Workers (UAW) union members seem poised to ratify contracts at Ford and Stellantis, according to UAW vote trackers and media reports.
Surging US sheet prices and expanding lead times are making imports more attractive. The automotive workers’ strike is essentially over, and domestic US sheet prices have rocketed higher alongside lead times. There is little to suggest that the momentum of these price increases will slow over the next month or two, and thus imports have […]
United Auto Workers (UAW) members have ratified a new labor contract with Detroit-based General Motors, the largest US automaker. In other words, the UAW strike that began on Sept. 15 - and that rattled the steel industry in the months leading up to it - is almost in the rear-view mirror.
In the dynamic landscape of the steel futures market, a confluence of factors is shaping the current narrative.
Steel Market Update’s Steel Demand Index has moved into growth territory after seeing steady improvement since mid-September, according to our latest survey data.
Sheet prices are up again. That shouldn’t come as a surprise on the heels of mill price hikes, scrap settling up and expected to move higher over the next few months, and inventories – as our premium subscribers will learn tomorrow – moving lower for a third month.
Domestic scrap prices rose in November month over month for all grades that SMU covers, market sources said.
Cleveland-Cliffs announced it would seek a minimum base price of $1,000 per ton ($50 per cwt) for hot-rolled coil (HRC) on Nov. 7. Nucor said a day later that it was aiming for $950 per ton. Why didn’t Nucor follow Cliffs up to $1,000 ton? I think there might be some possible answers in our […]
Center for Automotive Research (CAR) president and CEO Alan Amici will be the featured speaker on Steel Market Update’s next Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, Nov. 15, at 12 p.m. ET. You can register here.
The leader of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) warned that members on the East and Gulf Coasts could go on strike in October of next year when the union’s contract expires.
Alan Price discussed the deep complexity of issues in the Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum negotiations between the US and EU on Wednesday’s Community Chat.
United Auto Workers (UAW) members at auto parts supplier Mobis North America in Toledo, Ohio, have authorized leaders to call a strike when their contract expires next week, according to a UAW post on X.
Unifor members at the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. (SLSMC) have voted to ratify a new labor agreement.
SMU gives an overview of the steel market and economic indicators for October.
You could make a case that Nov. 1 was April Fool’s Day for steel – or at least for the widespread rumor that Cliffs would announce a $10-billion deal for U.S. Steel on that date. I’m not going to endorse any precise date or price tag. But I’d be surprised if a deal – or […]
Algoma Steel said its quarterly earnings were impacted by falling steel prices and lower buying associated with the United Auto Workers (UAW) strikes in the US. But with the strikes wrapping up, it expects a recovery in both pricing and demand moving forward.
A large Detroit-area scrap buyer has settled scrap prices for November, with busheling, shredded, and plate and structurals (P&S) all notching gains vs. October, a scrap source told SMU.
There was consensus that steel prices would crash on the UAW strike and then rebound just as sharply once the union and the “Big Three” automakers reached tentative deals.
Manufacturing activity in the US contracted once again during the month of October.
The “Big Three” Detroit-area automakers' tentative labor agreements are set to expire on April 30, 2028, six months longer than the normal four-year agreements.