What a difference a month makes. In late March, it seemed like the US hot-rolled (HR) coil market was poised to cycle upward. Large buyers had re-entered the market and placed big orders earlier in the month. Several outages were underway or upcoming. And expectations were that lead times would continue to extend. Cliffs said […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. would still be interested in acquiring some or all of U.S. Steel’s assets, if the proposed deal by Nippon Steel stumbles, according to an article in Bloomberg.
The number of active rigs in the US is now at the lowest level seen in over two years, while Canadian rigs have fallen to a four-month low.
Constellium reported its latest quarterly results for Q1'24. Adjusted Ebitda came in at €137 million (USD$147 million), down 8.6% year over year (y/y) amid revenue of €1.7 billion (USD$1.8 billion), down 12% y/y. Shipments totalled 380,000 metric tons (mt) in Q1, representing a drop of 2% y/y.
Foreign cold-rolled (CR) coil remains much less expensive than domestic product, according to SMU’s latest check of the market.
SMU’s Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices both rose this week to reach some of the highest levels seen this year.
If successful in its overtures to Anglo American, BHP will create the world’s largest diversified miner by a country mile. The rationale for this merger is scale and in mining, size matters.
Hot-rolled coil and plate lead times contracted this week, with most other products remaining flat, according to SMU's most recent survey data. Cold-rolled products, however, saw lead times extend 0.1 weeks to an average of 7.5 weeks vs. two weeks earlier. Hot rolled and plate lead times both contracted 0.3 weeks from our last market check.
Week-over-week trading activity in US steel derivatives markets was relatively muted, with prices maintaining their downward direction since the beginning of the month. Bids have materialized at the lower end of this range in the May, as the nearby backwardation continues to roll on - just as we saw with April being a premium over May.
I’ve gotten some questions lately about whether the huge gap between domestic hot-rolled coil (HR) prices and those for cold-rolled (CR) and coated is sustainable. I remember being asked similar questions about the wide spread between HR and plate that developed in early 2022. I thought at the time that there was no way that spread could hold. Turned out, I was wrong. That was humbling. And so I’m not going to make any bold predictions this time.
Destocking at service centers and a downturn in steel pricing impacted Ternium’s shipments in Mexico in the first quarter of the year.
Steel imports held steady in March, up just 1% from February according to preliminary Census data released earlier this week.
US hot-rolled (HR) coil remains more expensive than offshore hot band, though with a tighter premium as prices stateside and abroad have ticked lower in recent weeks.
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) executives said the company's Sinton, Texas, sheet mill should be able to increase melt capacity after an outage earlier this month. Sinton should see "additional improvements in production" after taking "several maintenance days in April," Barry Schneider, SDI president and COO, said in a Q1 earnings conference call on Wednesday.
Lower demand and prices for steel plate impacted SSAB Americas’ results in the first quarter, Swedish parent company SSAB said in its Q1'24 interim report.
Cleveland-Cliffs is working on a solution for its recently idled mill in Weirton, W.Va., that will address pent-up demand for transformers, increase the need for its electrical steel, and get its workforce back to work.
We've used the word "unprecedented" a lot over the last four years to describe steel price volatility. Over the last two months – despite earlier predictions of a price surge - we've seen unprecedented stability.
With strength in the sector and customers needing the product it produces, Cleveland-Cliffs’ chief executive says the company will be more selective with the automotive customers it chooses to serve.
Steel Dynamics Inc.'s (SDI's) earnings fell in the first quarter of 2024 as the company cited steel order volatility early in the quarter and lower scrap prices.
Sheet prices were again mixed this week – all seemed to highlight the momentum shift seen over the past two weeks.
Nucor executives explained their recently introduced hot-rolled (HR) coil consumer spot price (CSP) is a way to serve their customers and deal with market volatility.
Global steel output jumped 8.3% in March, according to World Steel Association’s (worldsteel's) latest release. Production is now at the highest level seen in 10 months, rebounding from a near six-year low observed just three months prior.
Cleveland-Cliffs’ chief Lourenco Goncalves and US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm stressed the importance of the US steel industry and domestic manufacturing at Cliffs' Butler Works in Pennsylvania on Monday.
Domestic raw steel production slipped last week and now stands at a four-week low, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
ArcelorMittal plans to build a new electrical steel manufacturing facility near its AM/NS Calvert joint-venture mill in Alabama.
I was in Las Vegas last week for ISRI’s annual convention. I like Vegas. I’ve had some fun there over the years. (I was married there nearly 20 years ago. We're still together.) And last week was no exception. So let’s start with the big news from Sin City. When the recycled materials industry meets for the big event next year, it will be under the banner of "ReMA" – not "ISRI".
Workers at Volkswagen's assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., have voted overwhelmingly to join the United Autoworkers (UAW) union. More than 3,600 ballots were cast, with 73% of Chattanooga workers voting to join the UAW and only 27% voting against unionization, per the UAW.
Last week gave us a glimpse into the effect of the 2024 election campaign on trade policy. In a major announcement, the Biden administration pressed the US Trade Representative (USTR) to triple certain Section 301 tariffs on steel and aluminum. It’s a lot to unpack. You can find the full text of the announcement here. […]
Steel is a foundation of the global economy. It is an essential raw material for nearly every industry, from automotive and construction to transportation, machinery, and energy.
Steel sheet prices in many regions of the world were steady week over week in the week ended April 17.