Steel Products
January Sheet Steel Shipments
Written by Peter Wright
March 13, 2013
Written by: Peter Wright
Sheet steel shipments in January were 4,343,000 tons, an increase of 322,000 tons over December’s volume. These figures are shipments to domestic locations plus exports based on the AISI AIS10 and Commerce Department trade reports.
The following table breaks the total down into individual products and measures the growth and contraction over the last two years. The rolling three month change compares the shipping volume in November through January with the October through December period. A rolling three month change is used to smooth out monthly variations which are frequently extreme for commercial reasons.
Total sheet and strip shipments on this basis were up by 3.5 percent in the latest three month period. All individual products had similar performance on this basis except electro galvanized which was almost unchanged.
The change in the 12 and 24 months columns compares the November through January shipments with the same period one and two years ago. Total shipments were down 3.7 percent from one year ago but up by 14.3 percent from two years ago. On a one year comparison, growths across products were similar though, in this case, negative. Cold rolled was the only exception. There were wide variations across products on a 24 month basis. In the three months through January, all other metallic coated products were up by 46.7 percent compared to two years ago while electrolytic galvanized was down by 1.7 percent.
This is another “premium product” under development by Steel Market Update as we work to expand our view of the market and expand our ability to analyze past performance and forecast future steel needs.

Peter Wright
Read more from Peter WrightLatest in Steel Products

US and Canadian rig counts stabilize
US counts continue to hover just above historic lows, while Canadian figures remain comparatively healthy.

Plate market sources critique mill hikes amid current market conditions
Following spot market plate price increase notices issued by domestic mills this past week, participants are contemplating the rationale behind the increases and whether they will stick. Some sources anticipate that current market conditions will shift in November and believe the increases may set a new "pricing floor."

Oregon Steel Mills lifts plate prices by $60/ton
Oregon Steel Mills has joined other producers in announcing a price increase of at least $60 per short ton on steel plate.

CRU: Construction of pilot plant for green steel process starts
Voestalpine and partners have begun building an industrial-scale Hy4Smelt demonstration plant in Linz, Austria, which they hope will become key in the decarbonization of steel.

Rig count increases in the US and in Canada
Oil and gas drilling activity increased this week in the US and Canada for the third consecutive week, according to the latest Baker Hughes rig count data. US counts continue to hover just above historic lows, while Canadian figures remain comparatively healthy.