Category: Analysis

The price gap between US hot-rolled coil (HR) and landed offshore product tightened this week. The dynamic continues even as stateside and import prices diverged a bit vs. the prior week.

SMU’s latest steel buyers market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members.

Long products from Algeria are facing the wrath of the US legal system.

AMU: Ford and GM's results show earnings supported by tariff timing and mix, while volumes, inventory, and cash flow point to a constrained supply and uneven demand.

CRU: 62% Fe iron ore prices remained rangebound in April following the surge in the first half of March.

I attended the SAFE Summit in Washington, D.C., earlier this week. It was an out-of-this world event – and I mean that quite literally. There were serious discussions around building data centers in space.

Steel mill lead times continue to hold at or near multi-year highs for both sheet and plate products, territory they have been in two months.

This week we saw low negotiation rates across all products, though coated products are the most negotiable and plate products are the least.

Anti-dumping and countervailing duties on imports of non-grain-oriented electrical steel (NGO or NOES) will stay on the books for another five years.

Last week, Steel Market Update and CRU hosted our inaugural VIP Briefing in Chicago ahead of the Scouting America Metals Industry Dinner.

Nucor executives said US steel demand remains stable, with pockets of strength in data centers, energy, border fence work, and infrastructure.

The US domestic scrap market for May is forming a lightly bullish consensus opinion among the seller community.

Nucor has increased its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil to $1,065 per short ton (st), a $10/st increase from last week.

Imports of various iron and steelmaking raw materials are eligible. These include pig iron, direct-reduced iron (DRI)/hot-briquetted iron (HBI), iron ore pellets, and ferroalloys, to name a few.

USMCA provides strong support for North American competitiveness. US manufacturing has lost considerable capabilities over the last few decades. “Cheating” by other countries is not the only reason. Nor is it even the most important reason

World crude steel production for the 69 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) totaled an estimated 159.9 million metric tons in March. Production jumped 12.8% from a shorter February, but was down 4.0% from March 2025, according to newly released data.

This piece was first published by SMU’s nonferrous sister publication, Aluminum Market Update. To learn about AMU, visit their website or sign up for a free trial. The aluminum market has spent much of the past month focused on supply risks tied to the Middle East. As more detail has emerged, the conversation has begun to shift away from aluminum […]

Baker Hughes' latest data shows the US rig count inching up by one while the Canadian count held steady in the week ended April 24.

Over the past few years, the slab market has changed significantly – Iran filled the position previously occupied by Ukraine before the war, Brazilian merchant slab supply fell, and the introduction of CBAM drew more interest into slab imports to the EU. 

The price gap between US hot-rolled coil (HR) and landed offshore product tightened this week. The dynamic continues as both stateside and offshore prices have largely trended higher.

The countdown continues. 123. That’s how many days before Steel Summit 2026 kicks off on Aug. 24 in Atlanta. And it looks like there will be no shortage of things to talk about.

As the steel market works through the first month of Q2 and the spring outage season, the US HRC futures curve continues to reflect a market adjusting to tightening conditions. The recalibration of near-term expectations sets the stage for how the curve has developed in recent weeks.

The ferrous scrap export market from the US has been poised to rise further amid reluctance of their Turkish customers to increase prices beyond the recent bullish prices they paid earlier this month.

In a Final Thoughts las week, I asked “Got Steel?” And if you’re looking for spot tons in June, the answer still isn’t obvious.

Each of SMU’s sheet and plate price indices climbed higher this week, with most products rising further to new multi-year highs

North American steel buyers are signaling stronger interest in foreign material amid a tight market and rising global substrate costs, which are complicating purchasing decisions.

Domestic mill production ticked up to a new multi-year high last week, according to recently published American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) figures.

Pig iron availability in the US is in short supply, various sources reported to SMU. However, based upon figures for Q1'26, pig iron shipments from Ukraine and Brazil are at high levels.

Nucor has increased its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil to $1,055 per short ton (st), a $10/st bump from last week.

The flat-rolled steel market looks poised for continued gains despite widespread concerns about higher freight costs stemming from the Iran War, according to SMU's latest steel market survey.