Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
May 25, 2016
There could be a further divergence between hot rolled base pricing and that of coated steels. With the combination of the corrosion resistant “final determination” ruling by the US Department of Commerce and the reduction of hot rolled price offers from offshore into the United States, well, things are a little out of whack. In normal times we tend to see a $100 to $120 per ton spread between hot rolled base pricing and that of cold rolled and coated steels. In other words if hot rolled is selling for $630 per ton (SMU average for this week) you would expect CR and coated to be $730 to $750 per ton (base + extras). That is not the case right now as CR and coated price offers are well above $800 per ton.
Yesterday (Wednesday) I spoke with a Turkish trading company who reported prices are dropping based on the latest hot rolled offers for imports into the United States (July shipment). June tons (shipment) were sold up to $29.50/cwt CIF, Duty Paid, USA Port ($590 per ton). Offers right now are at $28.00/cwt-$28.25/cwt ($560-$570 per ton) and seeing resistance from buyers. Other traders reported similar findings of HRC price offers as being lower by $20 to $30 per ton since the last deals were made.
Trade, steel/metals/commodity/scrap pricing forecasts, challenges facing the steel mills as well as the challenges facing service centers and toll processors will all be addressed at this year’s Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta on August 29-31st. Clear your schedule and plan on attending what is quickly becoming THE premium steel event of the year. The location is convenient for those who have to travel by air. It is an easy (and free) short train ride to the Georgia International Convention Center (www.GICC.com) and the host Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway hotel. We have included our schedule in tonight’s newsletter but, you are also welcome to visit our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com for more details, costs and registration. Don’t let the Memorial Day holiday slow down your plans to attend. I look forward to seeing you in Atlanta!
With Monday being a holiday we will not publish our newsletter on Sunday evening and will return to normal operations on Tuesday of next week. We wish everyone in the U.S. a safe and enjoyable holiday with family and friends.
As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
John Packard
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Final thoughts
SMU has heard from some larger buyers who have stepped back into the market to buy at prices that, if not at a bottom, they assess to be close to one. Is it enough to stretch out lead times and send prices upward again? Or do we continue to scrape along the mid-$600s per short ton (st) as we have been doing for most of the last month?
Final thoughts
Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves had some insightful things to say today about the steel market and about a conference we suspect might be Steel Summit.
Final thoughts
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, when you add in some commentary from respected peers in the steel industry to those pictures, that may shoot you up to five thousand words, at least. In that spirit, we’ve added some snapshots from our market survey this week, along with some comments from market participants.
Final thoughts
I thought we’d have more clarity this week on Section 232, Mexico, and a potential carve-out for steel melted and poured in Brazil. As of right now, the only official comment I have is from the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).
Final thoughts
There are just 40 days left until the 2024 SMU Steel Summit gets underway on Aug. 26 at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in Atlanta. And I’m pleased to announce that it's official now: More than 1,000 people have registered to at attend! Another big development: The desktop version of the networking app for the event has officially launched!