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.
What’s something going on in the market that no one is talking about? That’s a question on our survey, and was also posed to many who graced the stage at our Tampa Steel Conference. Perhaps another way to phrase that is “not talking about publicly” or connecting the dots of steel market chatter to find a uniting central issue. I thought one respondent to our survey really summed up the current moment: “Right now it is all politics.”
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.
What's being talked about in the US steel market this week?
Employees at the Mercedes-Benz plant near Tuscaloosa, Ala., have kicked off their public campaign to join the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.
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.
U.S. Steel on Thursday afternoon said it expected lower earnings in the fourth quarter compared to the third. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker predicted fourth-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda) of approximately $250 million, or $0.20-$0.25 per diluted share.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain outlined the union’s strategy to unionize nonunion auto workers in the US.
Volkswagen USA Workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., have launched a campaign to join the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.
I want to thank the Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) for the opportunity to speak at their annual conference in Phoenix. I enjoyed the proceedings and participating in a panel for HARDI’s sheet metal/air handling council. I can’t recap all that we discussed in a few hundred words. But I’d like to share […]
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 […]
Oct. 26 was my previous Steel Market Update contribution. The night before, Ford and the United Auto Workers (UAW) announced they had reached a tentative agreement for a new labor contract.
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.