Volatility in the steel industry is a given. So rather than trying to predict when or what will be the next big event to trigger a change in the market, why not instead create strategies to help drive volatility down and capital return up for your business? Jeremy Flack, founder and CEO of Flack Global […]
Volatility in the steel industry is a given. So rather than trying to predict when or what will be the next big event to trigger a change in the market, why not instead create strategies to help drive volatility down and capital return up for your business? Jeremy Flack, founder and CEO of Flack Global […]
Sheet and plate prices continue to fall. That’s not a surprise, as there is little reason for them to do otherwise. What is surprising when you step back is just how quickly prices have fallen, and how much further they could continue to fall. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price now stands at $1,255 per ton ($62.75 […]
Preliminary Census data recently released shows that steel imports in April declined 12% month-over-month to 2.73 million net tons, falling from March’s 26-month high of 3.09 million tons. May import licenses through May 23 and are currently at a 15-month low of 2.02 million tons, down 26% compared to April and 35% lower than the […]
Construction of a new pig iron caster has begun at US Steel’s Gary Works with start-up expected early next year. US Steel employees joined United Steelworkers leaders and others this week in Indiana to celebrate the $60 million investment. The company’s Minntac and Keetac Minnesota ore operations will feed the pig iron facility, which […]
SteelZero has released a series of suggestions in a new policy paper that it feels governments must take to support and speed up the global steel industry’s goals of achieving net zero emissions. SteelZero, a global initiative led by international non-profit Climate Group in partnership with ResponsibleSteel, believes decision makers in government first need to […]
What a whirlwind last week was. I want to thank Wolfe Research and Bank of America for inviting me to speak, the former virtually, the latter in person. I also want to thank Stanislav Zinchenko and the GMK Center for taking time to join us for what I thought was one of our better Community […]
What a whirlwind last week was. I want to thank Wolfe Research and Bank of America for inviting me to speak, the former virtually, the latter in person. I also want to thank Stanislav Zinchenko and the GMK Center for taking time to join us for what I thought was one of our better Community […]
Carbon border adjustments could be an effective tool for rewarding clean steel production, but any efforts need to be comprehensive and very closely monitored, US steel industry executives said this week during the Town Hall Forum at the Association of Iron & Steel Technology’s AISTech 2022. To truly be effective, carbon border adjustments need to […]
Mill executives said they are ready for the demand infrastructure spending would generate during AISTech 2022’s Town Hall Forum in Pittsburgh this week. “The infrastructure bill is positive for the entire industry and for downstream industries, but we need to cut red tape,” Cleveland-Cliffs chairman, president and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said. “The bill is great. […]
Strict and strictly enforced trade laws are key to backing the steel industry’s investments in decarbonization. That was the takeaway from a press conference on Tuesday, May 17, at the AISTech 2022 conference in Pittsburgh. Executives from Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI), Commercial Metals Co. (CMC), the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), and the American Iron and […]
US apparent steel supply rebounded from February to March, rising 14% to 9.51 million tons, according to the latest US Department of Commerce and American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) data. Recall that supply reached a six-year high last September at 9.92 million tons, declining each month thereafter and reaching an 11-month low in February (8.37 million […]
At the request of the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations, the US International Trade Commission has begun an investigation into the economic impact of the Section 232 and 301 tariffs on US industry. The Commission is asking for detailed information on US trade, production, and prices in the industries that have been most affected […]
US steel exports jumped 16% in March to 843,000 net tons, now the highest monthly level seen since June 2018, according to the latest US Department of Commerce data. On a 12-month moving average, March exports continue to hold onto a 3-year record high at 741,000 tons per month. Total March exports are 7% higher than levels seen […]
Final US Department of Commerce data shows that steel imports in March rebounded 32% month-over-month to 3.09 million net tons, a 2+ year high. But April import licenses through May 4 are currently at 2.58 million tons, down 17% from March. (That said, April is still up 10% compared to February.) Final finished steel imports were 2.52 […]
The US steel market continues to revert to where it was before the outbreak of war in Ukraine. SMU’s prices for sheet products are lower. Prices abroad are too. The latest bit of evidence: Published mill lead times. Case in point: Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) published updated lead times on Tuesday, May 3. They indicated […]
Sheet and plate prices were flat or down modestly again this week. And it has become clearer and clearer that the market has gotten over the initial shock of the war in Ukraine. Mill after mill lined up during earnings calls last month to say that they were no longer sourcing pig iron from Russia […]
Friedman Industries has acquired PlatePlus Inc. facilities in East Chicago, Ind., and Granite City, Ill., including real estate, buildings, equipment, inventory, and other assets. The deal between the two service center groups closed on April 30, Friedman said. It includes not only steel inventory but also customer and supplier networks from Plateplus locations in Loudon, Tenn. […]
The steel market has adapted to the shock of the war in Ukraine – and it’s become clearer with each passing week that a steeper price decline than we have seen to date might be in store. I wrote on Thursday that the headline data from our latest survey indicated the market had peaked. I […]
US Steel is in the midst of a 45-day planned outage on the No. 8 blast furnace at its Gary Works in northwest Indiana. The outage began on April 11 and is for typical repairs, a spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker told SMU. She did not have an end date for the repairs. That said, […]
For the first four months of this year, the US and global economies have endured one shock after another. It’s hard to know what to expect whether you are running a business, regulating an industry, or feeding a family. This past week, the government announced that the US economy shrank in the first quarter at […]
US Steel is no longer importing pig iron from Ukraine and Russia for its Big River Steel Works – now the official name of its Osceola, Ark., electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker has also mostly weaned its integrated steel mill in Košice, Slovakia, off Russian raw materials as well, they said. […]
US Steel posted the best first quarter earnings in company history and expects to set another new record in the second quarter. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker recorded net earnings of $882 million in the first quarter of 2022, up nearly tenfold from $91 million in the first quarter of 2021 on revenue that increased nearly 43% […]
Preliminary Census data shows that steel imports in March increased 31% month-over-month to 3.09 million net tons, rising from an 11-month low to a 2+ year high. April import licenses through April 24 are currently at 2.07 million tons, down 33% from March and down 12% compared to February. Preliminary finished steel imports were 2.52 million tons in March, up […]
We’ve all grown used to worrying about global supply chains and their shortcomings – as underscored by the pandemic, the chip shortage and the war in Ukraine. But it’s important not to forget that foreign supply chains aren’t the only ones that can get tangled up. And exotic problems don’t mean that long-standing issues – […]
US Steel is planning a 21-day maintenance outage on its No. 3 blast furnace at its Mon Valley Works in western Pennsylvania, a company spokeswoman confirmed to Steel Market Update (SMU). The outage, scheduled for mid-October, will be used to apply shotcrete – a sprayed concrete – and other standard upkeep. The furnace is located […]
Earlier this week, US Steel and Big River Steel notified customers of an upward revision to their galvanized steel coating extras. New USS extras are effective May 29, 2022, while BRS extras are effective June 4, 2022. “Input costs of zinc and aluminum for our Hot Dipped Galvanized and Galvalume products have continued to rise, […]
On Monday, April 18, Nucor and USS-UPI both notified customers of an upward revision to their galvanized steel coating extras. New Nucor extras are effective June 4, 2022, while USS-UPI extras are effective immediately (April 19, 2022). “Consistent with our practice to monitor the cost of zinc, we have revised our galvanized coating weight extras […]
US apparent steel supply levels slipped 11% from January to February, down 997,000 net tons to 8.37 million tons, according to the latest US Department of Commerce and American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) data. Recall that just last September, the market saw the highest monthly supply level in over six years (9.92 million tons). […]
US steel mills shipped 7.233 million net tons in February, a 7.4% increase from the same month last year when shipments totaled 6.753 million net tons, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) said. But while shipments were up year over year, they were down 6.8% from January. Shipments by US steelmakers year-to-date through February […]