One of the key leaders of the "Buy American" push here in the United States has been Dan DiMicco and Nucor Steel. Nucor reported earnings earlier this week (another loss) and during the analyst conference call Mr. DiMicco was asked if there had been evidence of stimulus related spending - his response was "zero". Read more ...

For those who don't know there is a little "tiff" between U.S. Steel (the mill) and Canada (the country located just north of Minnesota). The disagreement has to do with the idling of the former Stelco steel plants which U.S.Steel purchased in 2007 with the permission of the Canadian government. Read more ...

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The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) officially reported today shipments out of U.S. and Canadian service centers continued to decline during the month of June. Here is a copy of the MSCI press release:

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I just read this article out of Australia regarding the Chinese iron ore negotiations. I want to remind everyone Steel Market Update's main Asia source predicted the failure of the Chinese in these negotiations. One of our analyst friends here in the United States told me recently it is not unusual for the government to get involved with negotiations (like the iron ore negotiations going on now) and ending up paying a premium over what they could have gotten. Read more ...

Many of you are probably well aware of the detention of one of the negotiators for the Australian iron ore mining company - Rio Tinto. The Rio Tinto employee has been accused of stealing "state secrets" by the Chinese government. I asked one of my contacts in Asia what the steel people in China/Taiwan think is happening - this is the response I got:

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The most recent price increase announcement out of the domestic steel mills was made late last week by AK Steel. A copy of the announcement is below. Steel Market Update finds it interesting and advises our members to be careful since AK Steel has continued to be "reasonable" regarding price negotiations for orders being placed in August. Read more ...

Besides watching flat rolled steel prices SMU likes to keep our eyes on the scrap markets as they are one of the key drivers of future steel pricing. This week saw increases in scrap prices on HMS (heavy melt), shredded scrap as well as prime grades such as number 1 busheling which Nucor uses as the benchmark for their flat rolled contract customers raw material surcharge.

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Earlier this week (week beginning June 29th) Steel Market Update conducted a market survey of steel buyers and sellers. Our survey is done by invitation only to qualified buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel. The results of the survey are published in multiple areas of the site:

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Nucor, Berkley is the first mill to move as they have told their customers spot prices on any remaining August orders will be higher. Hot rolled has been taken up to a $24.00/cwt base ($480 per ton) and Cold Rolled has been moved to a $28.00/cwt base. Their galvanized order book is full for the month of August.

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