The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price MoMo Index for hot rolled steel in the United States was positive this week for the third consecutive week, following a 21 week negative streak. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements against the […]
As those of you up north look out your windows at a winter wonderland (ice, snow, cold, windy…) I want you to think about our Leadership Summit Conference which will be held in warm, sunny Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. It’s the kind of place you want to bring your family – kids can play on […]
With all of the key flat rolled products, hot rolled, cold rolled and corrosion resistant steels involved in antidumping and countervailing trade suits and the results of the preliminary determinations coming out it can be daunting to keep track of where each case rests at this point in time. Steel Market Update reached out to […]
I am pleased to announce that we have been given permission to take our next Steel 101 workshop to Ohio and to tour the Northstar Bluescope steel mill. Northstar Bluescope Steel has an exceptional reputation for both quality and efficiency and we are looking forward to seeing the mill in action. We will have more […]
Twice per month Steel Market Update conducts a review of the flat rolled steel markets and one of the items on our questionnaire is how far out are steel mill spot lead times. We also follow lead times as published by the domestic mills to their customers which we share with our readers from time […]
SMU will begin our mid-January flat rolled steel market analysis beginning at 8 AM on Monday. If you receive an invitation to participate, please take a few moments to click on the link (button) which will take you to SurveyMonkey.com where our questionnaire is housed. Premium level members, as well as those who participate in […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price MoMo Index for hot rolled steel in the United States was positive this week for the second consecutive week, following a 21 week negative streak. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements against the […]
After reviewing the results of last week’s flat rolled market analysis (our survey) I continue to be optimistic that business conditions will continue to improve as 2016 progresses. We broke the negative trend in our Sentiment Index, we are seeing more optimistic results from manufacturing as they look out three to six months into the […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce issued their Preliminary Determination on countervailing duties (CVD) of hot rolled coil from Brazil, Turkey and South Korea. Affirmative results were found against Brazil with CSN and Usiminas both receiving subsidy rates of 7.42 percent. All other Brazilian mills not named also received 7.42 percent subsidy rates. Turkey and South […]
We thought our readers might find it interesting to review the past four years worth of imports from the three countries mentioned in the countervailing (CVD) duty preliminary determination just released by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The numbers in the table below are net tons and are annualized (yes, Brazil only shipped 4,467 tons […]
The last couple of days have been hectic as we worked through the articles seen in tonight’s newsletter as well as numerous articles that we are working on various topics. The two headline articles are, of course, the next round of flat rolled price increases. The Nucor $20 hot rolled and $30 cold rolled and […]
Steel Market Update received the following press release from the US Department of Commerce International Trade Administration regarding the release of the preliminary determination for the hot rolled countervailing duty portion of the hot rolled trade case: On January 11, 2016, the Department of Commerce is scheduled to announce its preliminary determinations in the CVD […]
The Canadian International Trade Tribune determined on Jan. 6 that the dumping of hot-rolled carbon steel plate and high-strength low-alloy steel plate originating in or exported from India and Russia have not caused injury and are not threatening to cause injury to the domestic industry. CITT also found no injury from the subsidizing of those […]
I will be in our home office all week this week (a rarity lately). Next week we will be in Starkville, Mississippi to conduct our Steel 101 workshop. Thank you again to Steel Dynamics Columbus for working with SMU and allowing our group to tour the Columbus facility. We remind everyone who has been thinking […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel are slowly beginning to feel better about their company’s prospects both now and into the future, according to the results of the Steel Market Update (SMU) flat rolled steel market analysis just completed earlier today. SMU is reporting current market sentiment as being up +1 point to +44. […]
We discussed mill lead times a little earlier this week based on the first two days of data received by our flat rolled steel market analysis (survey). We also reported on what we were seeing from the mills themselves last week when we went through and analyzed a number of the lead times being published […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price MoMo Index for hot rolled steel in the United States was positive this week for the first time in 21 weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements against the previous 12-week average spot […]
I was speaking with a large service center which buys mostly hot rolled this afternoon. We were discussing what each of our opinions were regarding the direction of pricing and how 1st quarter will ultimately come out. In the process this executive (who buy the way will be attending our Leadership Summit Conference) told us […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered in this analysis is currently 36. We have made a change to our analysis this month by removing the capacity utilization of both the flat rolled […]
A quick note about December import license data reported as of this evening: Vietnam for December has requested 63,932 net tons of import licenses. Of those 42,114 net tons are cold rolled and 11,787 net tons are galvanized.The average for cold rolled and galvanized exports from Vietnam over the past twelve months was less than […]
I want to take a moment to welcome everyone back to your offices and back to the daily reality that is the steel business. I think everyone is happy that 2015 is behind us and that everyone is looking forward to a new year and new opportunities. I will keep it brief this evening as […]
Spot lead times have begun to move out according to the lead time sheets shared with customers this week by their domestic mill suppliers. The most strength was seen in cold rolled and coated steels while hot rolled lead times remained stuck at 3-4 weeks in most cases. Steel buyers continue to prognosticate that there […]
Last week the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the Preliminary Determination of the Antidumping (AD) portion of the CORE (corrosion resistant – galvanized, Galvalume, aluminized, etc.) trade suit. We have received a number of questions/comments regarding the actual impact of the various rulings and what the ultimate cash deposits (not duties yet) will be. Last […]
This is the last issue of Steel Market Update for this calendar year. We will not publish an issue on Thursday as it is New Year’s Eve and we will all be out celebrating what we hope will be a much stronger New Year. our offices will be open on Wednesday and for the first […]
Late this afternoon the US Department of Commerce released their Preliminary Determination regarding antidumping of corrosion resistant steels from China, India, Taiwan, Korea and Italy. China was smacked the hardest and received margins of 255.80 percent while India (6.64-6.92%), Korea (2.99-3.51%) and Italy (0.0-3.11%) were slapped on the wrists. Taiwan received no antidumping margin what-so-ever. […]
On Dec. 21, the Department of Commerce (Commerce) announced its affirmative preliminary determination in the countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of imports of heavy walled rectangular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Turkey. The investigation covers heavy walled rectangular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes, which are rectangular (including square) welded carbon steel pipes and […]
The news today (late today) is all about the antidumping Preliminary Determination announcement made by the U.S. Department of Commerce. China hit hard (they don’t participate as they think they are going to get hit no matter what), Taiwan nothing and the others (Korea, India and Italy) were hit with modest AD duties. The battle […]
On Friday, SMU was speaking with the CEO of a Midwest-based service center who was advising us that, in his opinion, based on the conversations he was having with his mill suppliers, we should expect more flat rolled steel price increases to come. The mills were already asking his company for more and the mills’ […]
Mexico will launch an antidumping probe on imports of Chinese cold-rolled flat coated steel. The investigation was prompted by a complaint by steelmakers Ternium Mexico and Tenigal which claimed the surge of imports between 2012 and April 2015 harmed domestic production. In October, Mexico instituted a 15 percent tariff on steel products from counties with […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price MoMo Index for hot rolled steel in the United States was negative (indicating lower prices) for the 17th consecutive week. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements against the previous 12-week average spot price […]