Steel Products Prices North America
Ice Breakers Still Working to Clear Great Lakes
Written by Ryan Packard
April 10, 2014
Ice conditions for the Great Lakes are still pretty severe, particularly for Lake Superior with 83.2 percent of the surface still frozen according to analysis reports from the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. Total ice coverage on the Lakes as of April 9 is 58.6 percent. With shipping season officially underway in the St. Mary’s River, it will be about two weeks until iron ore freighters can cross Lake Superior-Huron without the assistance of icebreakers, according to Mark Gill, director of vessel traffic service for the U.S. Coast Guard in Sault Ste. Marie.
An ice breaker is due to begin ice breaking operations April 13 – April 20 in Georgian Bay, working its way through Owen Sound, Midland and Whitefish River.
This excessive ice coverage prevents ships from delivering iron ore from the Minnesota Iron Range to Northwest Indiana mills like Gary Works, which has caused the Indiana mill to slow production.
Coast Guard ships USCGC Mackinaw and CCGS Pierre Radisson, powerful icebreakers, are leading a convoy of five empty freighters across Lake Superior to Duluth and Two Harbors, Minn. Glen G. Nekvasil, Vice President of Lake Carriers Association, told SMU that after loading the ships will be escorted back through the icy waters of Superior to their next destination. At this time there are no iron ore loads headed towards the mills.
Ryan Packard
Read more from Ryan PackardLatest in Steel Products Prices North America
HRC vs. prime scrap spread widens in June
The price spread between HRC and prime scrap widened in June.
SMU price ranges: Steel prices rise in response to tariffs
Steel prices climbed for a second straight week across all five sheet and plate products tracked by SMU.
Nucor lifts list price for spot HRC by $20/ton
The $20/short ton increase applies to all of the steelmaker’s sheet mills, including West Coast joint-venture subsidiary CSI.
Nucor pauses month-long slide in weekly HR price
Nucor halted a four-week decline in its spot price for hot-rolled coil this week, maintaining its weekly consumer spot price (CSP) at $870/st.
Nucor lowers HRC by $10/ton in fourth straight cut
Nucor has lowered its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled coil by $10 per short ton (st), marking the fourth consecutive weekly decrease.