Tag: US

Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation data was released on Friday, March 29, despite the stock market being closed for Good Friday. The year-over-year (y/y) PCE price index rose 2.5% in February, in line with market expectations but up from the 2.4% growth seen in January. The core PCE index, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 2.8% y/y in February, also in line with expectations and slightly down from 2.9% in January.

The number of active rigs in the US eased to a nine-week low, while Canadian activity continued it’s seasonal wind down.

Steel import licenses through March have now reached a nine-month high according to the latest data from the US Commerce Department.

April scrap prices came in sideways in the US, sources told SMU.

AHMSA’s new investors, Argentem Creek Partners, have plans for a potential staggered restart of operations at the Mexican steelmaker.

Sheet prices continue to inch higher. That’s a welcome development for many. But it’s also a far cry from the price surge many predicted about a month ago. Remember the theory that supported a spring surge: Sheet prices would soar on a combination of mill outages, stable-to-strong demand, restocking, mill price increases, and (potentially) trade action against Mexico as well.

Nucor plans to publish a weekly spot price for hot-rolled (HR) coil beginning on Monday, April 8, according to a press release and letters to customers. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said its published HR price would be derived from “both quantitative and qualitative data” in the letter to customers on Thursday, April 4.

Steel shipments from US mills were lower in February, both from January and from last year.

OnmiSource LLC, a subsidiary of Fort Wayne, Indiana-based steel producer and recycler, Steel Dyanmics, Inc., has acquired Toledo Shredding, LLC, in Ohio.

The US Department of Energy has finalized Congressionally mandated energy-efficiency standards for transformers.

The US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) has revised upwards the antidumping duty (AD) rates on imports of cold-rolled steel flat products from two South Korean producers.

Several large buyers in the North came into the market on a sideways basis from prices paid in March. The development comes after recent speculation about what prices US-based steelmakers would pay for scrap for April shipments.

A prominent US senator has asked the White House to investigate Nippon Steel Corp.’s (NSC) ties to China as the Japanese steelmaker seeks to acquire U.S. Steel.

RHI Magnesita has announced its intention to acquire Pittsburgh-based refractory producer Resco Group for an enterprise value of up to $430 million.

On the eve of the April ferrous scrap buy, there is no firm consensus on the market’s direction. The safe predictions are “soft” sideways to “strong” sideways. That may mean down $10 per gross ton (gt) to up $10/gt.

You might have noticed that SMU has been publishing more articles about scrap in recent months. That was no accident. In fact, we’ve found enough of an audience that CRU, our parent company, has decided to launch a new publication – Recycled Metals Update, or RMU. It cover both ferrous and nonferrous scrap. RMU’s website is here. You can go there now and request a 30-day free trial. It’s that simple.

Sheet prices moved higher this week for the second consecutive week, while plate prices ticked lower, according to our latest canvas of the steel market.

US construction spending in February was mostly steady from January but showed significant gains from last year.

Reliance Inc. has acquired flat-rolled steel service center MidWest Materials of Perry, Ohio.

Domestic raw steel production rebounded from the seven-week low seen last week. It now stands at a three-week high, according to the latest release from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Total steel output in the US was estimated to have been 1,722,000 short tons (st) in the week ending March 30, up 1.1% from the week prior. Raw production is up 0.2% compared to the same week last year, when production totaled 1,718,000 st.

Following 16 months of contraction, US manufacturing activity expanded in March according to the latest report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

U.S. Steel Corp. will hold a special shareholder meeting on Friday, April 12, to vote on whether to approve or deny Japan’s Nippon Steel Corp.’s (NSC) nearly $15-billion acquisition of the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker.

Cleveland-Cliffs’ Lourenco Goncalves said the company is still interested in acquiring U.S. Steel, though no bid is currently on the table, according to a local report.

Electra has commissioned a clean ironmaking pilot plant in Boulder, Colo.

There is growing hope that the US scrap market has bottomed, according to industry sources. The steep price declines in March may have ushered in a floor because dealers say their stocks are a bit depleted. Their concern: that the flow of obsoletes could be cut severely with any further drop in prices. Is this wishful thinking, or do the fundamentals support the prediction of a market bottom? Let’s take a look!

SMU latest' steel market survey paints the picture of sheet market that has hit bottom and begun to rebound. Lead times are extending again after stabilizing earlier this month. Mills are far less willing to negotiate lower sheet prices - even if there are still deals to be had on plate, according to the steel buyers we canvassed.

After stabilizing in our last check of the market, production times for flat-rolled steel have begun to push out further, according to steel buyers responding to SMU's market survey this week.

SMU’s Current Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Index fell further week, now at the lowest reading recorded since October 2022

Steel companies in Mexico have lined up capex plans totaling $5.7 billion in the next three years. The focus is on replacing imports with domestic production, said David Gutierrez, outgoing president of sector association Canacero. “The investments are aimed at reducing imports, strengthening national production, and ensuring that the benefits stay in the country,” he was quoted as saying at Canacero’s annual congress by regional news service Business News Americas.

Oil and gas drilling activity in North America slowed this week, according to the latest figures from Baker Hughes.