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
September Import Share of US Sheet and Plate Markets
Imported sheet and plate products arrived at US ports at a slower clip in September, accounting for a lower share of the domestic market for the third straight month. That’s according to a Steel Market Update analysis of import data from the US Commerce Department and domestic shipment figures from the American Iron and Steel […]
US Apparent Steel Supply Falls Further in September
US apparent steel supply eased further in September, down 8% from August to 8.29 million net tons, according to data from the US Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). As the lowest monthly figure since February 2021, this was a 19-month low. September supply was 10% below the average monthly rate […]
Northwest Pipe Reports Sharply Higher Q3 Results
Engineered pipe and tube producer Northwest Pipe Co. posted sharply higher profits for the third quarter ended Sept. 30. The Vancouver, Wash.-based company said the boost was driven by strong demand and increasing backlogs from its engineered pipeline systems and precast products, according to earnings data released on Tuesday, Nov. 8 All told, Northwest Pipe posted net […]
SMU Price Ranges: Flat-Rolled Steel Falls (Yet Again)
Sheet prices fell across the board again this week as the slow grind lower that we’ve seen since last spring continued to gain speed. Hot-rolled coil prices fell $30 per ton ($1.50 per cwt) week-over-week. Declines in coated products were more pronounced, with cold rolled down $55 per ton, galvanized down $35 per ton, and […]
US Steel Exports Slip 10% in September
US steel export volumes shrunk 10% from August to September, according to the latest US Commerce Department data. 723,000 net tons of steel products exited the country during the month, now the fourth-lowest monthly export rate over the past year and a half. Recall that exports levels in August were at the third-highest monthly rate […]