• Skip to main content

    Prices

    Slight Slip in November U.S. Raw Steel Production

    Written by Brett Linton


    U.S. raw steel production in November fell 2.2 percent to 7,812,925 net tons, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington. November production is below the 2019 average of 8,063,863 tons and down 4.2 percent compared to the same month last year.

    Broken down by production method, 5,646,674 tons (72.3 percent) were produced by electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and 2,166,251 tons (27.7 percent) were produced by blast furnaces. While the November EAF production level is not record breaking, the percentage of steel produced by EAFs in relation to total monthly production is at the highest level seen in our ~10-year limited history, surpassing the previous months’ high of 70.8 percent and the prior high in November 2017 of 70.7 percent.

    Brett Linton

    Read more from Brett Linton

    Latest in Prices

    Mills seek more scrap after lower prices fail to attract tons

    Several mills that bought October scrap early last week are still asking for additional supplies, scrap market participants said. The reason: the mills' initial prices did not attract enough of the raw material, they said. A trading source based in northern Ohio said three mills have contacted his firm seeking offers for additional tons. He said the mills asked for offers even if prices were higher than their original buys last week.

    Nucor increases spot HR to $1,240/ton

    Nucor said on Monday, Oct. 12, that its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil will be $1,240 per short ton (st) this week, a $10/st increase from a week earlier. The CSP for HR coil from California Steel Industries (CSI) on the West Coast will be $1,305/st, up $15/st from the prior week. Nucor is still offering lead times of three to five weeks, according to the letter to customers. You can track mill price announcements on our website. Steel Market Update (SMU) published a weekly price assessment on Tuesday, Oct. 6, showing HR coil prices averaging $1,270/st, up $10/st from the previous week. We will update our prices on the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 13.