The following article has been revised as of 1-25-2017. Net income/loss was incorrectly reported. SMU apologizes for the confusion. AK Steel reported a net loss of $62.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2016 compared to net loss of 145.4 million in Q4 2015. Sales totaled $1.42 billion with an average selling price of $998 […]
Steel Market Update participates in a monthly steel conference call hosted by HARDI (Heating, Air-conditioning, Refrigeration Distributors International). The call is dedicated to a better understanding of the galvanized steel market. The HARDI wholesalers are responsible for the supply of sheet steel and coil as well as other products to the mechanical contractors involved with […]
We were asked a question by one of our readers regarding importations of fabricated steel products. They wanted to know how can their company be assured the roll-formed products made from steels covered under the AD/CVD orders are exempt from the scope of the orders. We turned around and asked trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz to […]
Chinese finished steel exports are beginning to drop month over month. In December, finished steel exports were down about 4 percent from November to 7.8 million tonnes. In comparison to a year ago, December exports had fallen approximately 27 percent from a record 112.4 million tonnes. Looking at the data by quarter finished steel exports […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has released Final Census numbers on foreign steel imported into the United States through November 2016 and has updated license data for the month of December 2016. This provides us with our first look at imports for the year so we can do a comparison against 2015 to see […]
Commercial Metals Company announced net sales of $1.1 billion for earnings of $7.2 million for first quarter 2017, ending Nov. 30, 2016. Metal margins in the Americas Mills segment took a hit of 17 percent in Q1 due to lower selling prices resulting from continued import pressure, scrap price volatility and market uncertainty. Average selling price […]
As expected, the domestic steel mills began 2017 right where they left off. Another $30-$40 per ton of price increases on top of the $140 per ton of increases leveled on their spot customers since late October through the end of 2016. The key from here is if business, both at the steel mills, as […]
When we ended 2015 benchmark hot rolled base prices averaged $375 per ton ($18.75/cwt), cold rolled base average was $515 per ton ($25.75/cwt) and the spread between HRC and CRC base prices was $140 per ton ($7.00/cwt). Galvanized base prices averaged $510 per ton ($25.50/cwt) and the spread between HRC base and that of Galvanized […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce reported Preliminary Census Data for November showing foreign steel imports totaling 2.8 million net tons for the month.This is up from 2.7 million net tons reported during the month of October. We saw increases in semi-finished of 210,000 net tons which accounted for the larger numbers. Semi-finished steels include slabs […]
The European Commission will begin a new antidumping investigation of Chinese steel imports after finding that a complaint by steel association Eurofer merits inquiry. Eurofer alleged in a complaint on Oct. 24, 2016 that imports of certain corrosion resistant steels from China are being dumped and causing material injury to the EU steel industry. The […]
Wilbur Ross Jr. has been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as Commerce Secretary. Ross is a billionaire investor known as the “bankruptcy king.” Forbes estimates the Ross fortune at $2.9 billion made by buying and restructuring troubled companies. One of those companies was Donald Trump’s bankrupt casino in the 1990s. Ross was a […]
US Steel has been at the forefront of initiating trade cases and working to strengthen enforcement laws. During the US Steel earnings call, CEO Mario Longhi made the following comments on trade. “We are pleased with the progress we have made so far on the trade front, but much more work needs to be done […]
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 […]
Steel Dynamics reported higher flat rolled prices resulted in an 11 percent increase in earnings in the third quarter. Net earnings were $284 million on net sales of $2.1 billion. Adjusted net income, including a $5 million litigation settlement charge, was $157 million for the quarter. SDI steel production was at 85 percent capacity in […]
Nucor Corporation reported net earnings of $270 million for third quarter, up from 233.8 million in Q2 and 227.1 in Q3 2015. Consolidated net sales in third quarter increased 1 percent to $4.29 billion from the previous quarter and 2 percent from a year ago. Average sales price per ton increased 11 percent QoQ. Tons […]
Steel Market Update asks our readers to interact with us anytime they need help finding information or if they have a question about the steel industry. During the process of responding to these requests many times we find ourselves doing research on a topic that would be of interest to a larger audience. On Friday […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), and financial futures markets was written by David Feldstein. As Flack Steel’s director of risk management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market and we believe he will provide insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. […]
China’s Commerce Ministry criticized the European Union for antidumping duties imposed Friday on imports of hot rolled steel and plate. The Ministry called the investigation methods unfair. A spokesperson for the Ministry said Chinese steel imports cannot be affecting EUs steel prices because they only account for 5 percent of the European market. “Reckless trade […]
On Friday Steel Market Update spoke with a number of trading companies as well as end users who are impacted by the circumvention complaint filed against cold rolled and coated steels coming out of Vietnam. The contention of the domestic mills is that the surge of Vietnamese flat rolled comes at the same time as […]
Steel Market Update spent a good portion of our day today talking with steel traders and end users who have exposure (orders on the books not yet delivered) to Vietnamese cold rolled and/or galvanized/Galvalume steels. We were trying to determine how the importers of record were handling any orders on the books. What we found […]
I got a note from Eddie Lehner, the CEO of Ryerson who attended our Steel Summit Conference for the first time this year. He dropped me a note today about our conference, “The SMU Conference is flat out worth attending. An unusual combination of candor, depth and subject matter relevance throughout the steel value chain […]
Nucor expects higher earnings in third quarter compared to second quarter due to improved performance at its raw materials division and steel mills. In its third quarter guidance, Nucor said higher average selling prices that have benefited in part from contract sales priced on a lagging quarterly basis would improve profitability of the company’s sheet […]
The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index has been showing signs of a rebound as our Current Index is being released as +63 this week. This is a +2 point improvement from the middle of August and +5 point improvement since the beginning of August. However, SMU prefers to look at our Current and Future Sentiment […]
Lewis Leibowitz opened the 6th Steel Summit in Atlanta, GA with a recap of what is happening in the trade regulation of steel imports. In a quick poll preceding the presentation, the audience by a 53 percent to 47 percent vote said they were in favor of dumping suits. An overwhelming 97 percent said they […]
Ryerson Holding Corp, a leading metals distributor and processor, reported net income of $5.6 million for second quarter 2016. Sales of $739.8 million declined 12 percent year over year due to lower average selling price, but increased 5.3 percent from Q1. Tons shipped increased 3.5 percent. Ryerson expects manufacturing growth to remain slow in the […]
Steel Market Update speaks with dozens of companies on a daily basis and hundreds over the course of a week. We also receive a large number of emails, facebook and LinkedIn posts. Every so often we like to share some of the comments being made in an article we call “Bits ‘N Pieces.” We learned […]
On Wednesday morning I received a couple of emails regarding our newsletter that I would like to share with our readers: “Your newsletter is solid. Lots of real information and educated analysis. Great job. See you soon in Atlanta. Best, Lourenco Goncalves” Mr. Goncalves is the CEO of Cliffs Natural Resources and he and I […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released Final Census Data for June as well as an update on July import license data earlier this week. Foreign steel imports came in at 2,821,894 net tons during the month of June. This is essentially unchanged from the prior month’s 2,876,358 net tons of imports. July imports, based on […]
Korean steel producer POSCO said it will take action against antidumping and countervailing duties imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce last week on exports of hot-rolled steel. Countervailing duties of 57.04 percent were levied against POSCO while competitor Hyundai Steel, and all other Korean producers, received duties of 3.89 percent. A POSCO official called […]
I did trade emails with trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz regarding the International Trade Commission (ITC) commissioners. I wanted to know if the new president of the United States could make wholesale changes with the commissioners and change the balance of the rulings being made on steel trade cases and others. Mr. Leibowitz told us, “The […]