Steel Market Update (SMU) began our mid-July flat rolled steel market analysis (survey) on Monday of this week, shortly after Severstal announced the sale of their North American operations. We included questions about the sale both as a group and in industry segments of the survey. As a group, those responding were of the opinion […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S remained slightly negative this week for the sixth week in a row after being in positive territory for the prior ten weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil […]
A special thank you to Pacesetter Steel Service Inc. who has stepped up to sponsor our networking/cocktail reception to be held at the end of the first day of the SMU Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. For those of you who are unaware the conference will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) […]
For those of you who don’t realize it – Steel Market Update is conducting our mid-July market analysis this week. I have added a couple of questions about the sale of the Dearborn and Columbus steel mills. I will send out a reminder email first thing in the morning on Wednesday. If you receive an […]
Steel Market Update watches a number of flat rolled steel indexes and once per week we provide our readers an analysis of what movement has occurred in each during the prior week. This week we found small movements, mostly indicating higher prices, in most of the indices. Hot rolled saw two indexes moving prices by […]
At the end of May 2014 Steel Market Update calculated that the U.S. service center flat rolled steel inventories were short (apparent deficit) by -632,000 tons. At that point in time we projected that the inventory deficit would be reduced by 45,000 tons and that by the end of June the apparent deficit would be […]
In the last issue of Steel Market Update I warned that there are lots of rumors swamping the steel market as negotiations for Severstal NA heat up (or are perhaps already over) and Gallatin entertains bids on their mill (half owned by Gerdau and half ArcelorMittal). The other mill issue is the Chapter 15 (Canadian […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S remained negative this week for the fifth week in a row after being in positive territory for the prior ten weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) […]
As you may have noticed, we have been writing a series of articles highlighting the benefits of our Premium membership. Through the end of July, our Executive members will have access to our Premium content. If you have not yet explored our Premium content, such as SMU’s survey data or imports by product/port/country, I would […]
First thing I want to say is everyone needs to be aware that the market is plum full of rumors and half-truths. There are rumors about dumping suits, Severstal sale, pricing (going both ways) and more. When you hear something question the source, see if there is anything in writing or if the information can […]
I thought the train references in the articles above were fitting as the Kansas City Southern Railroad just became one of our corporate sponsors for this year’s Steel Summit Conference. They are joining Alliance Steel and Magic Coil Products as sponsors. We are in the process of negotiating with a number of other potential sponsors. […]
As you may have read last week, Steel Market Update is providing our Executive members access to Premium sections of our website as well as Premium supplement newsletters for the month of July. We are doing this in an effort to educate our customers on what is available at the Premium Level should you wish […]
One of the analytical reports that Steel Market Update shares with our Premium Level subscribers is our flat rolled steel “Imports by Product, Port & Country” analysis. Once per month, Steel Market Update produces our analysis of the U.S. government import data and we break out hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume,plates in coils […]
For those of you who would like to read the fact sheet sent out by the International Trade Administration (ITA) which contains the US Department of Commerce Final Determination on the OCTG trade case you can click on this link. As I mentioned in one of the above articles, Roger Schagrin of Schagrin Associates is […]
The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index produced a new record high this week as those responding to our market questionnaire pegged Sentiment at +65. Sentiment is now +8 points higher than the +57 produced during the middle of June and is up +11 points from just one month ago. Last year at the beginning of […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel responding to this week’s Steel Market Update survey reported steel mills as continuing to be receptive to negotiating flat rolled steel prices. However, we are seeing a moderation in the numbers as only 70 percent reported hot rolled coil (HRC) prices as negotiable compared to 92 percent just […]
Steel Market Update is providing our Executive members access to Premium sections of our website as well as Premium supplement newsletters for the month of July. We are doing this in an effort to educate our customers on what is available at the Premium Level should you wish to upgrade to Premium Level membership at […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S was negative this week for the fourth week in a row after being in positive territory for the prior ten weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) […]
I spoke with the International Trade Administration this afternoon (Thursday) and they advised me that the OCTG Final Commerce ruling announcement will come out between noon and 4 PM ET tomorrow. The deadline date is today, July 10th but the actual announcement is always made on the next business day. We will receive a copy […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S was negative this week for the third week in a row after being in positive territory for the prior ten weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) […]
The fact that steel prices have been moderating and, in some cases, moving lower has not dented the enthusiasm buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel are showing based on the Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index. The latest market analysis produced during the middle of June is pegging Sentiment at +57, up 3 […]
Earlier today I learned that the deadline for offers to buy the assets connected to Severstal North America had been moved to July 11th. We originally reported the date as being July 2nd. None of the mills we contacted today were willing to share information about the bidding process or even if they had a […]
This month will be focused on foreign steel imports. The month will kick off on Thursday evening or Friday morning (July 10th or 11th) when the US Department of Commerce is slated to report their final determination regarding the oil country tubular goods (OCTG) dumping suits. This determination is critical to those mills who support […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. We have made two changes this month to try to make this even more representative of the market. Both the long and flat products shipment rows have been changed from “shipments” to […]
A reminder right up front that Steel Market Update will not publish on Thursday and Sunday evenings due to the 4th of July holiday here in the United States. We will return to our regular schedule beginning on Tuesday of next week. If, by chance, there is some breaking news which needs to be covered […]
With the 1st of July not coming until Tuesday and Friday being a holiday in the United States, I have decided to hold off our next flat rolled steel market analysis until next Monday, July 7th. That means we will produce our first survey for the month of July next week and then the second […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S was negative this week for the second week in a row after being in positive territory for the prior ten weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) […]
We had some international reservations for our Steel Summit Conference this week and the pace of registrations appears to be picking up over the last couple of days. Thank you to those who are registering early. If you are having any issues with the registration process on our website or just have questions we are […]
Hello from Chicago, home of our first Managing Price Risk II: Strategies & Execution workshop. We have an excellent group in attendance and the program is going well. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is day 2 when we provide an opportunity to our attendees to do simulated trading based on profiles and directives that they have to meet […]
Last week Steel Market Update conducted our mid-June flat rolled steel market analysis. We sent invitations to slightly more than 600 companies which are involved in the flat rolled steel industries as buyers, sellers or toll processors of the steel. The participants in last week’s analysis came from the manufacturing industry (45 percent), service center/wholesalers […]