Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel may be starting to level out after lengthening week after week since early November. The latest data shows slightly longer lead times for cold rolled and galvanized products, but slightly shorter lead times for hot rolled, Galvalume and plate. Lead times for steel delivery are […]
As flat rolled steel prices rise, it comes as no surprise that negotiations between mills and steel buyers continue to tighten. Responses to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week indicate that mills are less flexible on price as they work to collect three increases announced since late October totaling $110 per ton. In […]
Editor’s note: President Trump’s surprise decision to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Argentina and Brazil stunned the industry and leaves many questions unanswered. Paul Nathanson, executive director of the Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users (CAMMU), addressed the issue in the following op-ed: President Trump announced via tweet on Monday that […]
John Packard is traveling…. With President Trump making more headlines this week with his tweet calling for new tariffs on steel from Brazil and Argentina, the timing seems right to ask the question: Have the Section 232 tariffs helped your business? Your industry? Your country? Obviously, that depends entirely on the criteria each individual selects […]
President Trump stunned the market with an early-morning tweet Monday calling for new Section 232 tariffs on steel imports from Brazil and Argentina, which he accused of currency manipulation. No word yet on whether the White House will make the tariffs official, or even if they would be legal. But the prospect of higher priced […]
This morning President Trump tweeted that due to the decline in the Brazilian and Argentinian currencies, he intends to place 25 percent tariffs on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum from both countries. His tweet has created a great deal of confusion in the U.S. steel markets. Steel Market Update is attempting to […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from the CRU Steel Monitor President Trump sent three tweets this morning that said, effective immediately, he would restore the steel and aluminum tariffs on Brazil and Argentina because the countries “have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies, which is not good for our farmers.” No […]
This report is designed to be a big picture summary of data SMU has reported in detail during the month. It summarizes 36 data streams that describe the state of the steel market and provide forward guidance for steel buyers and sellers. See the end of this piece for an explanation of the Key Indicators […]
Did everybody buckle up on your way to work on Monday morning? Boy, what a week it has been, and it’s only Tuesday! For those of you who are not aware of the events of the past few days, I will do a quick recap. Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, U.S. Steel had a large water […]
Last week Steel Market Update conducted our mid-November flat rolled and plate steel market analysis. We invited 480 individuals involved in manufacturing, service centers, steel mills, trading companies and toll processors to participate in our questionnaire. On purpose, the survey is heavily weighted to manufacturing companies and service centers since they purchase the vast majority […]
Editor’s note: The following commentary in support of the Trump administration steel tariffs was contributed by Barry Zekelman, chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, the largest steel pipe and tube manufacturer in North America. We often hear that the Trump administration’s steel tariffs are hurting the U.S. economy. News commentators certainly think so. They talk […]
Steel Market Update will not publish on Thursday, Nov. 28, or Sunday, Dec. 1, due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. Our offices will be closed on Friday, Nov. 29, and will reopen on Monday, Dec. 2. Our early December flat rolled and plate steel market trends survey will begin on Monday, Dec. 2. We will also […]
Steel buyers’ sentiment has been trending up for the last six weeks along with steel prices, which is a positive development. But like the prices, sentiment has yet to really take off and prove it has sustained strength, according to Steel Market Update’s latest Steel Buyer’s Sentiment Index. The goal of the index is to […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: As the Section 232 tariffs continue, their market effects continue to pile up. The tariffs cause effects on investment and employment, both for steel producers and their customers. Tariffs reduce imports of steel, for example, but they increase […]
The domestic steel mills were busy on Friday with SSAB USA announcing a $40 per ton price increase on steel plate, and then U.S. Steel coming out with a $30 per ton price increase on flat rolled. The SSAB increase was the second on plate this month. Flat rolled has seen three price increase announcements […]
Pricing from the mills is considerably tighter than it was a month ago, when virtually every deal was open to negotiation. Yet Steel Market Update data indicates the flat rolled mills are still surprisingly flexible when it comes to spot prices even as they work to collect two $40 price increases announced in the past […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel have lengthened by roughly a week following the mills’ price increase announcements over the past month. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level. Thus, this data indicates the mills have gotten busier as buyers step up to place […]
The U.S. ambassador to the World Trade Organization singled out China on Tuesday for its withdrawal from the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity. In comments delivered at the WTO Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, Ambassador Dennis Shea said it was “regrettable” that China chose to terminate its membership in the Global Forum. “Unfortunately, […]
So, tonight I thought I would write about a couple of text messages that I received over the past 24 hours. Both messages have to do with steel prices, just looking at information out of SMU and other publications or indices differently. The first message was from the president of a Midwest-based service center. They […]
Using U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) data, Steel Market Update has taken the import tonnage of cold rolled sheet and broken it down into coil and leveled; then it breaks out four thickness ranges and identifies how much was full hard, annealed and high strength. Through September 2019, of the total cold rolled sheet and […]
The Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users (CAMMU) and other trade associations are calling for sunset provisions to be included in any comprehensive Section 232 tariff reform legislation considered by Congress. A letter sent today to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley and Ranking Member Ron Wyden emphasizes the damage Section 232 tariffs are […]
Today I was on a conference call with steel buyers associated with HARDI, the trade organization whose members sell galvanized steel and other products to mechanical contractors. We have an article about the call in this evening’s issue, but there was one fact that was brought up by multiple executives: the price increases “have not […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments for the month of October: Flat Rolled = 53 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 57 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Sheet steel prices declined rapidly throughout October, and the SMU Service Center Inventories Report shows that service centers pared down inventories […]
Do you think the country is going to be a little distracted this week with all the witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment hearings? A reminder of the results of one of our real-time polls where 53 percent of the 493 individuals responding to a question about who they were going to vote for in the […]
Earlier this week Steel Market Update went out to a group of steel buyers to gather pricing information and market intelligence regarding how they were reacting to the recent price announcements, and if they thought this round of increases would result in yet another dead cat bounce. (A dead cat bounce is one where prices […]
Flat rolled steel prices are on the way up following two recent rounds of price increases. Steel Market Update has been anticipating the turnaround in prices as the market has been near the point of “capitulation” for several weeks. Capitulation is the point when 75 percent or more of our service center survey respondents are […]
As flat rolled steel prices move higher, we need to remember that prior to the price increases there was an abnormally large spread between hot rolled based prices and those of cold rolled and coated. Instead of being $100-$140 per ton, they had been running as high as $180-$200 per ton. The spread was created […]
Although too early to be called a trend, the latest readings in Steel Market Update’s Steel Buyer’s Sentiment Index show a slight uptick in optimism following recent price increase announcements by the mills. The goal of the index is to measure how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful […]
Not surprisingly following the mills’ $40 price increase announcements Oct. 24-25, negotiations between steelmakers and steel buyers have tightened somewhat. What is surprising is that roughly two out of three buyers still report mills actively negotiating spot prices on hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized, as well as plate. In the hot rolled segment, 62 […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled showed early signs of lengthening in the first week of November following the $40 per ton price increase announcements Oct. 24-25. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level. Thus, this data suggests the mills are getting busier as buyers […]