Automaker Stellantis, Chrysler’s European parent company, and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union are at odds over a proposed worker buyout program. “In response to today’s increasingly competitive global market conditions and the necessary shift to electrification, Stellantis is thoroughly reviewing its North American operations to improve efficiency, reduce cost, and protect the competitiveness of our […]
Feelings are running high with prices inflecting downward from historically high levels. I’ve had producers say that we’ve written too negatively about higher prices. I’ve also had consumers say that we’ve written too positively about higher prices. For the record: SMU doesn’t have a position on prices. We aim to report what’s happening in the market […]
The NexGen Metals Community held its first webinar on Wednesday, featuring special guest Philip K. Bell, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association. The webinars provide an opportunity for NexGen members to get up close and personal with some well-known, highly experienced individuals in the steel industry. Bell generously shared 45 minutes of his time with […]
Canada-based miner Teck Resources withdrew a plan to split into two, hours before shareholders were due to vote on the proposal. But the company insists separation is still the best way to maximize value and it remains opposed to the $22.5-billion unsolicited takeover bid from Glencore. Teck also released its Q1 financial results, which showed a decline on […]
Sheet prices are coming down now. The question isn’t one about market direction anymore. Instead, the question is whether the declines will be “managed” by a more consolidated group of sheet mills or whether it will be more precipitous, akin to what we saw last fall. We won’t release full results of our steel market […]
Drama surrounding AHMSA – Altos Hornos de Mexico, the largest integrated flat steel plant in Mexico – may finally be coming to an end as a bankruptcy now clears the way for new owners to restart the facility with fresh capital. Due to various issues, AHMSA stopped production in December 2022. This sudden closure caused […]
We’ve written in SMU about “green” steel and whether steel consumers, including market-leading OEMs, will pay a premium for it. What about the potential for premiums in scrap too? Maybe not for green scrap. But what about for “prime grade” or prime-equivalent shredded scrap? Shred that transforms into prime – maybe we could call it […]
As the ISRI Convention and Expo this week in Nashville, Tenn., comes to a close, I’m sure everyone’s mind is on recycling. While green steel and sustainability have been buzzwords for some time now, evidence of change is growing. You may recall the announcement of an alliance between US Steel, Equinor, and Shell to establish a […]
A Mexican court has declared steel sheet producer Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) bankrupt and appointed the National Chamber of Commerce of Muzquiz city, Coahuila state, as trustee. The determination, published in the country’s Official Gazette on April 17, follows the company filing a bankruptcy petition in January. The civil first court of the first instance in […]
Has the domestic hot band pricing rally run its course? Data and market sentiment seem to suggest as much, and prices could indeed be heading down. Hot-rolled coil just slipped for the first time since late November, according to SMU’s latest check of the market. I’m certainly not willing to speculate what will happen next, […]
Flat Rolled = 52.7 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 41.0 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel inventories rose in March with a slowing daily shipping rate. At the end of March, service centers carried 52.7 shipping days of flat-rolled steel supply, according to SMU data, compared to 52.2 shipping […]
CRU expects metallics prices to continue trending down in May 2023 as supply will continue to outpace demand in most markets. In the US, obsolete scrap prices are expected to move lower as the inflow to scrap yards will pick up seasonally, and dealers get more inclined to sell. In Europe, the macroeconomic environment will […]
Not since World War II has North America been at the center of a metals manufacturing investment boom. Three new aluminum rolling mills are coming up out of the ground as testament to over $6 billion in new investments to secure domestic aluminum supply. It has been over 80 years since the last metals manufacturing […]
US heating and cooling equipment shipments were up in February, according to recently released data from the Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). Total shipments in February were 1.69 million units, compared to 1.65 million in January. While shipments were up month-over-month (MoM), they were down 8% year-over-year (YoY). On a 12-month moving average (12MMA) […]
Russian mining and steel company Metalloinvest has been added to the US sanctions list. On April 12, the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed the sanctions targeting the vast holdings of one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires, Alisher Usmanov, including Moscow-based Metalloinvest and its parent company USM Holdings. The measures are meant […]
The Global Steel Climate Council (GSCC) has released a statement ahead of this month’s G7 climate meetings. GSCC said that the International Energy Association (IEA) has indicated that a concise carbon emissions measurement standard for the steel industry is imperative for achieving global climate goals. G7 leaders were encouraged by the IEA to focus on […]
The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) dropped 8.6% in March to 183.7 from the revised February reading of 201.0, according to data and analytics from the Dodge Construction Network (DCN). Also last month, the commercial component of the DMI fell 6.6%, and the institutional component slumped 12.9% in the same comparison. “We are predicting the Dodge Momentum Index […]
Hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports remain attractive, even as US price gains have slowed, according to SMU’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis. And while domestic tags continue to inch higher, they remain well behind the targeted base price of $1,300 per ton ($65 per cwt) for HRC issued by Cleveland-Cliffs back on April 3. The price […]
Buyers of most sheet products are finding mills much more willing to talk price this week, while this number fell to 0% for plate buyers, according to SMU data. With mixed results across the products SMU surveys, galvanized products showed the biggest gain, increasing 24 percentage points to 57% of buyers saying mills were willing to […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. this week provided an early look into its first-quarter earnings – which the company will disclose in full detail on April 23. Q1 steel shipments, revenues, and adjusted EBITDA are all expected to be higher than the prior quarter, the steelmaker said in a news release. At the same time, despite higher shipments, […]
Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau has confirmed a planned outage at its mill in Whitby, Ontario. “Gerdau confirms a planned outage in its Whitby, Ontario mill. Rolling operations will undergo routine annual maintenance, lasting two weeks. The melt shop will experience a longer outage, beginning in late April and lasting approximately six weeks,” a spokesperson for the […]
Directors of Canadian miner Teck Resources have unanimously turned down what it described as an “opportunistic acquisition proposal” from Glencore. The offer values the Canadian miner at around US$23 billion (€21 bn). Glencore made the move soon after Teck announced first copper production from the QB2 expansion at Quebrada Blanca, Chile. Teck’s CEO Jonathan Price […]
Turkish scrap import prices fell in the last week of March as buying activity remained low and domestic supply improved, according to analysis from the CRU Group. CRU’s assessed Turkish scrap price for HMS1/2 80:20 is $443 per metric ton CFR, down by $17 week-on-week (WoW) and $7 month-on-month (MoM). Turkish buyers are taking a […]
Fresh off another rate hike from the Fed, US macro data came in mixed during the month of March. The final update for GDP in Q4 2022 showed 2.6% growth, which was down slightly month over month and below expectations. Consumer spending has also been revised down consistently over each update on the Q4 figures. […]
The risks of doing business in Australia are greater following a slew of government interventions and tax rises, according to Gary Nagle, CEO of miner and commodity trader Glencore. His comments coincided with the South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy issuing figures showing the resource sector’s increased importance to the state. “Australia has become […]
Both SMU’s Steel Current and Future Buyers Sentiment Indices have increased from two weeks ago, according to SMU’s most recent survey data. The Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices measure how steel buyers feel about their company’s ability to be successful in the current market, as well as three to six months down the road. Every other […]
The latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the Analysis tab and look under the “Survey Results” section for “Latest Survey Results.” Historical survey results are also available in the Survey Results section under “Survey Results History.” If you need help […]
After working in the steel industry for nearly six years, I’m comfortable with my knowledge about flat-rolled products. I do enjoy talking about the market and furthering my steel education any chance I get. Back in October 2022, I attended the Steel 101 training in Corpus Christi, Texas. It was nice to chat with metallurgists […]
Teck Resources is now producing zinc with a low-carbon footprint. A new report independently reviewed by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows the extremely low-carbon footprint of refined zinc from Teck’s Trail Operations in British Columbia, Canada. The report shows that Trail Operations’ zinc generates far less CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) per ton than the global average: 0.93 metric […]
The appeal for imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) remains strong even as US price gains have slowed, according to SMU’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis. And while we haven’t seen an official mill pricing notice in nearly three weeks, domestic tags continue to inch higher towards the targeted base price of $1,200 per ton […]