Following the exceptional rate of vehicle sales in the US in May the June rate fell from 17.8 million annualized to 17.2 million which is a more sustainable rate. The June pace was still higher than the 16.9 million units average of the past 12 months. Demand is being supported by easier credit terms, sustained […]
On Friday, Steel Market Update (SMU) adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Higher to Neutral. Now why did we go and do that? We have been stuck in a very tight trading range on most flat rolled steels since late April of this year. Benchmark hot rolled, which is used by most in the […]
There seems to be more inaccurate analysis published on this subject than on any other that we track at Steel Market Update. For example on Saturday AMM reported that, “US steel service center shipments improved in June compared with the previous month ——-.” At a superficial level this statement is correct, but as an analysis […]
Contract negotiations are currently underway between the United Steel Workers and steel companies US Steel and ArcelorMittal. The companies each met with USW bargaining committee members in Pittsburgh to begin working out details of new three-year contracts to replace the current ones expiring Sept. 1. USW Committee members are expecting the first proposal from ArcelorMittal […]
US Steel Canada is requesting a new DIP (Debtor in Possession) Lender to replace parent company US Steel Corp. in its creditor protection proceedings. An agreement has been made with Brookfield Capital Partners Ltd for financing up to $150 million Canadian. Brookfield was one of the hedge funds that originally helped Stelco out of creditor […]
We have two data sources for this report. These are the Federal Reserve and the Oanda forex trading platform. An explanation of these sources is given at the end of this report. Oanda is current every day but the Federal Reserve daily broad index (BI) is normally about eight days in arrears. This month the […]
Not too hot (prices aren’t rising at a breakneck pace – or at all for that matter), not too cold (and they aren’t dropping either – at least not yet), just about right (Goldilocks pricing). Of course this perspective will vary depending on your view of the market and your ability to pass through the […]
Normally, when the market is starting to heat up and the first of the domestic steel mills announces a price increase, it is matter of a day or two before the others either follow the lead or make a new announcement at a level higher or lower than the first announcement made. The April and […]
Steel Market Update found the results of one of the group of questions about service center spot sales from this past week’s flat rolled steel survey quite interesting. There have been two price increase announcements by all of the domestic mills and a third laying there from US Steel and our results suggests – well, […]
ArcelorMittal responded Monday to rumors of a potential closure of Indiana Harbor West in East Chicago. Key Banc reported that sources indicated “ArcelorMittal USA is taking steps to reduce its sheet hot end and finishing capabilities via the closure of Indiana Harbor West.” A spokesperson at ArcelorMittal USA, in an email to Steel Market Update, […]
According to the latest data released from the US Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute, apparent steel supply for the month of May 2015 was 9,069,541 net tons. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished US steel imports and subtracting total US steel exports. May supply […]
Steel Market Update queried U.S. domestic steel mills to hear what they have to say on the recently passed trade legislation. One of the executives who responded was Jim Baske, chief executive officer, ArcelorMittal North American Flat Rolled who said, “The steel industry in the United States faces significant competitive challenges from dumped and subsidized […]
Contract negotiations have kicked off between the United Steelworkers and US Steel Corp. USW officials and US Steel representatives met in Pittsburgh to begin ironing out the details of a new three year contract to replace the current one due to expire Sept. 1. The talks come at a time when the steel industry is […]
Something different from Steel Market Update this week. I would like for you to forward our newsletters to your friends, customers, suppliers or anyone who might have an interest in the steel industry. We continue to offer an incentive to companies that recommend our newsletter to others. As long as the new customer provides us […]
The following article is written by Spencer Johnson of FC Stone LLC. With six years of experience, Spencer provides his customers strategic and tactical advice on protecting themselves against commodity price volatility in the steel markets. Spencer will rotate weekly futures articles with Andre Marshall of Crunch Risk, LLC. Spencer can be reached at spencer.johnson@intlfcstone.com. […]
Earlier this week US Steel came out with a $40 per ton price increase. Since then the other mills have been eerily quiet not yet jumping on the bandwagon. It is normal for the smaller mills to wait and see if the larger mills will follow the lead. So far this week, they have not. […]
Even with a new price increase announcement out of US Steel (+$40) lead times remain flat compared to what we saw during the middle of June. All of the products, hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume lead times are shorter than what we reported at the beginning of July 2014. Hot rolled lead times […]
A month ago one of our dealer sources echoed the views of many in the ferrous scrap business, he expected nothing worse than a sideways (no change) market for July scrap prices. He pointed to stronger demand at the steel mills and continued weak collection of obsolete scrap grades. We will hear more from him […]
The four year contract between USW local 1196 and Allegheny Technologies expired at 11:59 on June 30, 2015 but an agreement has been reached, for now, to keep the plant operational under terms of the previous contract. ATI and USW officials say there are still a number of significant issues to be resolved before a […]
The domestic steel mills are determined to keep pricing momentum on their side as US Steel became the first mill to announce a new round of price increases on flat rolled products. The US Steel announcement, which was made via the use of an internal memo to their sales group leaked to the industry, advises […]
Flat rolled steel prices have been struggling to keep momentum and move higher. We have not yet seen full compliance with the second price increase and now we have a new round of price increases beginning with the $40 per ton announced by US Steel this morning. We did see some minor changes to hot […]
ArcelorMittal USA warns that low capacity utilization of hot strip mills cannot continue. “It is not sustainable to operate multiple HSMs at low utilization rates when the same volume of steel could be produced by few HSMs at higher utilization rates,” writes CEO Andrew Harshaw, in the ArcelorMittal USA blog Raw. Harshaw notes record levels […]
Chevy is taking on the aluminum Ford F-150 with a series of ads sure to tickle consumers and annoy Ford marketers. The new ads for the Chevy Silverado poke fun at the F-150 while lauding the benefits of steel construction. The ads which are currently running in social media, point out the disadvantages of aluminum. […]
Today (June 25, 2015), the House passed HR 1295 which includes extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act and other trade preference programs, as well as the renewal of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) and improved AD/CVD laws that will benefit the steel industry. The measure passed by a vote of 286-138. Today’s vote follows […]
The Department of Commerce said Wednesday that it will proceed on AD/CVD investigations of imports of corrosion-resistant steel products from China, India, Italy, Korea, and Taiwan. A petition to investigate the products was filed on June 3, 2015 by US Steel, Nucor, ArcelorMittal USA, AK Steel, Steel Dynamics, and California Steel Industries. The products covered […]
The big picture is as follows: from the 2015 Article IV Consultation with the United States of America Concluding Statement of the IMF Mission May 28, 2015 (heavily abridged by SMU). “At current levels of the real exchange rate, the U.S. dollar is assessed to be moderately overvalued. As a result, the current account deficit […]
Light vehicle sales in the US skyrocketed in May to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 17.8 million units. This is the strongest pace in almost 10 years. Auto sales were 7.4 million in April and rose to 8.1 million in May. Light trucks rose from 9.1 to 9.7 million. Imports in May were 3.8 […]
Union workers at Hamilton and Lake Erie works have asked the Superior Court to order US Steel Canada to release the identity of potential bidders for the CCAA protected assets. The information on the 39 companies that have shown interest in buying all or part of USSC is crucial to the interests of workers said […]
Steel Market Update reported in the Tuesday issue of our newsletter that negotiations have started between the USW (United Steelworkers Union) and ArcelorMittal. The issue was raised at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch dinner where SMU publisher, John Packard, spoke last night. We have been anticipating that the posturing by the union and AM, […]
Steel Market Update has been asked if the domestic steel mills have made any moves to restart idled blast furnaces in order to increase production due to dumping suits, price increases and the anticipated stronger order book. People also want to know if ArcelorMittal and US Steel are building slab inventories in order to have […]