Category: CRU

Global crude steel production fell by 4% month over month (m/m) in July, led by a major drop in Chinese output, which fell 9% m/m.

SSAB plans to spend $12 million to boost production capacity at its electric-arc furnace (EAF) plate mill in Mobile, Ala. The Sweden-based steelmaker will do that by expanding the existing furnace there. Shot blast equipment will also be upgraded. The expanded capacity is expected to come online late next year. The mill currently has an […]

Canada’s government has ordered an end to the brief rail stoppage which had threatened to disrupt the movement of commodities.

Chinese steel export prices decreased for the eleventh week in a row, with all steel products recording losses of 2-3.7% compared to the previous week.

The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) in the UK has proposed raising the tariff rate quota (TRQ) for imports of hot rolled sheet steel because of blast furnace closures at the Port Talbot works in south Wales. Tata Steel shut down one BF in July with the second to follow in September ahead of a switch […]

Specialty steel maker Metallus, formerly known as TimkenSteel, has officially begun work on a bloom reheating furnace at its Faircrest plant in Ohio.

CRU Principal Analyst Henry Hao discusses China's recently reconfigured policy agenda, which could have significant implications for the global commodity markets.

The US sheet market appears to have reached a bottom following consistent weekly declines since April. However, other markets remain weak due to limited demand. Trading in Europe has been slow due to summer holidays. While European mills are also undergoing maintenance outages, these have not been enough to offset ongoing price falls, with weak […]

The wind energy sector continues to be a key feature of our forecasts for steel plate demand. As overall demand in China slows, it will assume a greater importance in shaping future global trends.

Long seen as being dominated by iron ore operations in Western Australia, diversified miner Rio Tinto is at an inflection point in its growth, according to CEO Jakob Stausholm, who referred to a step change from its aluminium business and consistent iron ore production at Pilbara. “We have considerable growth in cash flow from the […]

Both iron ore and coking coal prices fell this week because of resistance from buyers. Iron ore prices have continued to fall throughout the past week, following sharp declines in steel prices in China, given no new policy announcement from the ‘Third Plenum’ meeting.

High levels of steel imports, especially from China, in recent months are worrying steel makers in India and Vietnam.

The recently announced acquisition of Stelco by Cleveland-Cliffs (Cliffs), priced at nearly three times book value, provides a great price for Stelco shareholders. And various synergies will likely leave Cliffs with tremendous runway for further growth in this deal. Cliffs expects to close this deal in 2024 Q4 upon government approval. This approval is expected but not a given.

Global Plate prices declined in all regions this week amid slow seasonal demand. With bearish outlooks on demand in the near term, market participants are watching how mills will react to low order entry levels and short lead times. In the US and China, production has been steady, but in Europe, steel mills are contemplating […]

The volume of steel shipped into Vietnam more than doubled in May to 1.1 million (mt), with China’s share above 70%, according to customs’ statistics. In the first five months, Chinese imports were more than 4.7 million mt, an increase of 91% year on year.

Canada’s industry minister Francois-Philippe Champagne has conditionally allowed a Glencore-led consortium to acquire Teck’s Elk Valley Resources (EVR) metallurgical coal business for $6.9 billion. He also raised the bar for foreign companies wanting to buy into the country’s critical mineral resources.

Most longs prices in the US were unchanged this month, except for rebar, which declined by $1.50/cwt ($30/short ton) m/m. While end-use demand is stable, inventories are well-stocked, keeping purchases limited. Domestic availability is sufficient to meet current demand, hindering the appetite for imported material. Meanwhile, prices for scrap remained under pressure in June, with […]

Low global sheet demand continued to weigh on prices around the world this week. In the US, mills were forced to remain aggressive to secure orders during this period of demand weakness. And compounded by recent new capacity ramp-ups, has forced US hot rolled (HR) coil prices down closer to levels seen in offshore markets. […]

Demand has remained persistently weak across the globe for sheet steel, weighing on prices. US HR coil prices fell the furthest this week as high-volume, low-priced deals were transacted as mills looked to fill order books and competed with one another amid relative demand weakness. Meanwhile, European prices were also down due to low demand […]

Pig iron prices have been trending higher in all key markets besides Europe. Limited exports from Brazil and Ukraine are contributing to higher prices in the USA, though soft demand cushioned a sharp price upswing. In the US, pig iron prices increased by $15 per metric ton (mt) m/m to $485/mt CFR NOLA. Buying activity […]

Sufficient inventories resulting in softer demand continued to drag down US longs prices this month. Furthermore, lower scrap prices in May added to the downward pressure and expectations for June scrap are turning increasingly bearish. Import interest was also limited, particularly as competition among domestic producers rose.

Steel sheet prices across most regions of the world were little changed this week. European buyers remain cautious regarding their outlook towards end-use demand and largely remained out of the market. A similar trend was seen across Asia, although skepticism on real estate stimulus measures in China led to w/w price falls. In the US, […]

Nucor’s Consumer Spot Price (CSP), a legitimate mill offer price, is a potential disruptor to North American steel sheet commercial and procurement strategies. We will dive into the details of what we think the CSP is and why we believe it is a potential disruption to how the North American sheet market operates.

The recent decline in US hot-rolled (HR) coil and longs prices has further restricted demand for imported material. Despite the decline in US sheet prices, CR coil and HDG imports remain attractive. While demand for imports of longs products has been limited, buyers have increased imports of wire products to avoid wire rods’ higher tariffs. […]

The China Iron and Steel Association (Cisa) has urged steel producers to cut back on record high inventories while the sector struggles with oversupply.

Japanese steelmaker JFE Holdings will invest abroad as part of a drive to lift income, says group president Yoshihisa Kitano.

Brazil-based Gerdau has announced it will carry out a feasibility study into the greenfield development of a 600,000 metric-ton-per-year (mt) special steel plant in Mexico.

Turkish scrap import prices were stable last week. CRU’s assessment for HMS1/2 80:20 and shredded was unchanged at $384 per metric ton (mt) CFR and $408/mt, respectively.

Brazil’s chamber of foreign trade, Camex, has approved quotas on imports of 11 steel products and a 25% levy on shipments 30% above a product’s average import volume between 2020 and 2022.

If successful in its overtures to Anglo American, BHP will create the world’s largest diversified miner by a country mile. The rationale for this merger is scale and in mining, size matters.