Over the course of a few weeks, buyers and sellers of flat rolled steels changed their view of the direction of flat rolled steel price direction. In the middle of February only 14 percent of those responding to our flat rolled steel market trends analysis survey reported prices would move higher with the majority (52 […]
When we conducted our flat rolled market trends analysis during the middle of February we found 20 percent of our respondents had concerns regarding supply during calendar year 2017. The majority of respondents (63 percent) expressed no concerns about supply. As we move forward to last week the majority is still expressing no concerns about […]
We will begin a new analysis of the flat rolled steel market on Monday with our invitations set to go out at 8 AM on Monday morning. If you receive an invitation please take a moment to click on the link/button contained in the message which will take you to SurveyMonkey.com which hosts our questionnaire. […]
The Steel Market Update Steel Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained in positive territory for the third consecutive week after briefly dipping into negative territory three weeks ago. MoMo is a trailing indicator and shows the relationship between the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the previous […]
A quick note about our galvanized index: Effective today we are adjusting the coating extra being used on our .060” G90 galvanized benchmark items from $69 per ton to $78 per ton. We are continuing to use the US Steel extra for guidance. So, the change that you see in our G90 item is a […]
Turkey has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against U.S. countervailing duties placed on imports of pipe and tube products. Turkey requested the WTO initiate dispute consultation with the United States alleging the U.S. determination and imposition of duties was inconsistent with the WTO’s Agreement on Subsidies and Countevailing Measures (SCM Agreement) and […]
We are five and a half months (5.5) or 166 days away from the opening of our 7th SMU Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. We went over 100 registrations today and we expect 500+ registrations when we get into the month of August. There are four companies that we know of that will be […]
Twice per month, Steel Market Update conducts a detailed analysis of the trends impacting the flat rolled steel markets. We issue over 670 invitations to people associated with manufacturing, distribution, steel mills, trading companies and toll processors to assist us in our analysis. We finished conducting our early March research on Thursday of this past […]
The scrap market created a lot of buzz over the past two months that resulted in, so far, two domestic steel mill price increases totaling $60 per ton ($3.00/cwt). I got a note over the weekend from one of the national companies who told me about the scrap markets, “There is a sense the market […]
Optimism reigns supreme within the steel community and those responsible for buying and selling flat rolled steel products. The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index set new record highs for both Current and Future Sentiment indices. Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel set a new record high for a single data point at +77 for […]
The following article was written by trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz for Steel Market Update readers: “Circumvention” is a loaded word suggesting evasion of responsibility or getting around something. It smacks of dishonesty, immorality, subterfuge. Frequently, loaded words are designed to create just such an impression. When you hear words like the “People’s Democratic Republic […]
Hot rolled average lead times remain extended at 4.38 weeks compared to the 3.79 weeks SMU was reporting one year ago. Cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume lead times were running close to or just below last year’s reported average. Lead time is the average amount of time it takes for a new order of a […]
Flat rolled steel mills have become less enthusiastic about negotiating prices for new orders of hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. Based on the results of the flat rolled steel market trends analysis coming out of the survey we have been conducting over the past four days. We found 33 percent of the […]
The Steel Market Update Steel Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained in positive territory for the second consecutive week after briefly dipping into negative territory two weeks ago. MoMo is a trailing indicator and shows the relationship between the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the previous […]
During one of the breaks from the FMA/ASD/Tolling Processing meetings I am attending in New Orleans, I met with the head of commercial for one of the domestic steel mills. We had an interesting conversation about the negativity in the market not being backed up by actions. He was telling me that a number of […]
Just to make sure that everyone saw this: SMU received a note from a Nucor spokesperson that their Louisiana DRI facility would be back up later this week, “Repairs at our Louisiana DRI plant are ahead of schedule and we plan to restart the plant this week. An equipment failure resulted in the need to […]
We at Steel Market Update (SMU) have been upbeat on the steel market for many weeks. We thought sharing our Key Market Indicators (KMI) with our readers would help everyone to understand our reading on the market and from where we get our core optimism. An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at […]
The U.S. International Trade Commission issued two new final determinations on Wednesday related to imports of steel products from China. The ITC determined that the U.S. industry is materially injured by the imports of carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate from China. Countervailing subsidy rates of 251.00% and antidumping margins of 68.2 percent will be […]
The Steel Market Update Steel Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States moved back into positive territory this week following a brief negative dip last week. MoMo is a trailing indicator and shows the relationship between the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the previous 12-week average price as […]
I decided to add the Key Market Indicators to tonight’s issue of Steel Market Update because I have been bullish on the steel industry and the report, which is normally shared with our Premium members only, has some good data in it explaining why I am optimistic. Please take a few minutes to review and […]
The Department of Commerce, on March 1, issued affirmative preliminary determinations on the antidumping investigations of imports of steel concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) from Japan, Taiwan, and Turkey. Japan received preliminary dumping margins of 209.46 percent; Taiwan dumping margins ranged between 3.48 percent and 29.47 percent; and Turkey margins ranged from 5.29 percent to 7.07 […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. This will explain the difference between our view of the present situation which is subjective and our analysis of trends which is based on the latest facts available. During February our view […]
I did a whirlwind trip to Philadelphia along with John Eckstein, one of our Steel 101 instructors, for a speaking engagement with a manufacturing company in the area. We provided a hybrid Steel 101/Steel Market Update presentation to a small group of executives. More and more this is something I am being asked to do […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator to reference spot prices as moving higher from this point over the next 30 days. Our decision to move our indicator is due to the continued high prices for steel mill inputs, such as 62% Fe iron ore fines in China being sold at $91.50/dmt […]
For those of you interested in attending our April Steel 101 workshop in Toledo, Ohio we have sold out and we have people already on a waiting list. We are planning on a late spring/early summer workshop and I hope to have details up as soon as we have concluded our negotiations with one of […]
The following article was written by Mario Briccetti, one of our Steel 101 workshop instructors and the director of the consulting firm: Briccetti & Associates. Mario has written other articles about the costs associated with coating galvanized and Galvalume steels. Those articles can be found in our website in the “Steel Buyers Basics” section of […]
We are moving into another exciting week for the flat rolled steel industry. Ferrous scrap negotiations will begin this week and how they are resolved will determine whether flat rolled steel prices roar higher from here or wander around looking for a soft landing. We will be watching and listening for clues about scrap prices […]
The Steel Market Update Steel Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States turned negative this week, following a long 14 week positive streak. MoMo is a trailing indicator and shows the relationship between the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the previous 12-week average price as a percentage. A positive […]
Scrap, scrap, scrap, scrap and scrap…that is what everyone is going to be talking about for the next week to ten days. David Feldstein in tonight’s HRC Futures article suggested prime grades could go higher in March by as much as $80 per gross ton. I have read articles that suggest the numbers could be […]
Late last week the MSCI released their service center shipment and inventories data. Steel Market Update (SMU) provides detailed articles to both our Executive and Premium members about the MSCI data. One of the special articles we do for Premium only customers is our Service Center Flat Rolled Inventories Apparent Excess/Deficit model. This is a […]