I am in Blytheville, Arkansas making final preparations for our Steel 101: Introduction to Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals workshop. We have a full class which will tour the Nucor Hickman facility on Tuesday afternoon. We will send out a complimentary issue of our latest Monthly Newsletter on Monday. Once our new website comes online we […]
A quick note about ferrous scrap. From the early deals being done – and there are still a number yet which need to be completed. Our sources are advising us that scrap prices have been trading lower by $5 to $10 per gross ton in the east. However, in the Midwest there have been trades […]
Based on our survey results, hot rolled and cold rolled lead times barely moved compared to two weeks ago. Galvanized lead times shrunk slightly from 6.00 weeks to 5.84 and Galvalume lead times dropped from 6.80 weeks to 6.33 weeks. The current lead times are longer than they were one year ago on all products […]
In spite of the federal government’s decision to shut down, those involved in the flat rolled steel industry continue to remain optimistic about their company’s ability to be successful in both the current environment as well as 3-6 months into the future. Steel Market Update (SMU) just completed our beginning of October flat rolled steel […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained negative this week for the 3rd week after 15 consecutive weeks in positive territory. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12-week average spot price as recorded by Steel Market […]
I made a decision many years ago that when the domestic steel industry (multiple mills) announced price increases that I would automatically move the SMU Price Momentum Indicator to Neutral. Since we are already at Neutral it is important to understand that at this point prices could move up, down or absolutely nowhere from where […]
Our next SMU steel market survey will begin on Monday, September 30th and will run through Thursday, October 3rd. If you receive an invitation please take a few minutes to participate by clicking on the link contained in the invitation. I will be in my office first thing on Monday before traveling down to Atlanta […]
Our last newsletter was interesting enough that I fielded quite a number of phone calls and emails (I take them all and respond to them all). The main point of discussion was regarding the IHS Global Insight article from the presentation given by their steel analyst, John Anton. The essential premise of the presentation being […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained negative this week for the 2nd week after 15 consecutive weeks in positive territory. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12-week average spot price as recorded by Steel Market […]
I want to thank IHS Global Insight for allowing SMU and our readers to attend their Pricing & Purchasing Summit which was held in Chicago over the past two days. SMU is interested in conducting a similar conference dedicated to the steel industry and identifying risks next year as we strive to bring new value […]
We are finding a concerted effort on behalf of the domestic steel mills to hold the line on spot pricing from last week to this week. Stability in pricing appears, for the moment, to be the new normal and some of the service centers are questioning if the next price move might actually be for […]
I will be in Chicago on Monday and Tuesday of this week attending the IHS Global Insight forecasting conference. If you would like to meet with me during the conference send me an email: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com and we will arrange a convenient time. I will be in Chicago on Monday and Tuesday of this week attending […]
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 at present is thirty six. The present situation of eleven of the indicators based on historical standards was positive on September 22nd and thirteen were negative; […]
A majority of the manufacturing companies (57 percent) responding to our most recent steel market survey told us that the spread between foreign and domestic steel is wide enough to justify buying foreign steel. The percentage of manufacturing companies answering this way has increased by 3 percent compared to our results from 30 days ago. […]
We heard it earlier this month when during our HARDI steel conference call the wholesalers complained of reduced margins due to competitive pressures and mentioned that there were a growing number of non-traditional galvanized suppliers competing for the mechanical contractors business. During last week’s steel market review conducted by Steel Market Update (SMU), manufacturing companies […]
SMU received a note from a Severstal spokesperson that both their Columbus, MS and Dearborn, MI facilities have planned maintenance in each facility during the month of November. The Dearborn facility will have work performed on their hot strip mill (HSM) while the Columbus facility is having work done on one of their two EAF’s […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. turned negative this week after 15 consecutive weeks in positive territory. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12-week average spot price as recorded by Steel Market Update. MoMo was measured […]
SMU found lead times essentially remaining the same on hot rolled (negligible change from 4.0 weeks to 3.97 weeks) and galvanized (6.0 weeks vs. prior 6.07 weeks). Cold rolled lead times dropped from 6.2 weeks to 6.06 weeks while Galvalume lead times moved out slightly from 6.55 weeks to 6.80 weeks. Lead times are […]
Steel Market Update conducted our mid-September flat rolled steel market survey this week. The survey began on Monday with an invitation to approximately 600 companies who are active participants in the flat rolled steel industry. Part of the survey includes questions regarding attitudes within the industry regarding how successful the respondents see their company both […]
Our steel market survey began on Monday and will continue until late Thursday afternoon. If you have received an invitation to participate please click on the link and respond to the questions you can answer. We are doing triple duty so my apologies if we are missing an article here or there. We are literally […]
While attending the ASD meeting in Cleveland last week, SMU reporter, Sandy Williams heard a steel service center discussing the impact of Obamacare on their company which is located in Ohio, “Because Obamacare healthcare and some of the laws, quite frankly, in the State of Ohio, we are now forced to go to temporary employees […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has received many emails from our readers as well as interested parties regarding our SMU Price Momentum Indicator which we have had at Neutral since Friday, August 23, 2013. Since that time we have seen hot rolled pricing remain in the $630-$660 per ton level (see Comparison Price Indices article below) […]
We are tired, we have been working almost around the clock in an effort to at least be close to our forecasted Friday, September 13th launch date. When we go out and teach new steel people about the business one of the stories I like to repeat was about what I would tell virtually every […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained in positive territory this week for the 15th consecutive week. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12-week average spot price as recorded by Steel Market Update. MoMo was measured […]
The process of populating, testing, editing, fixing, testing, editing, adding content, editing, testing – well, you get the idea…. The website work continues and we continue to strive to meet the Friday the 13th deadline. My gut is telling me a week late may be a better target – but, we are going to try […]
A reminder that our “thumbnail” or smaller graphics are “clickable” so you can view them in a larger format. So, don’t squint and try to figure out some of these smaller graphics – just click on them… We still have a target date of this Friday to launch our new website. I am beginning to […]
This past week, Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted our beginning of September steel market survey. Of those responding to last week’s survey 52 percent were manufacturing companies, 35 percent steel service centers and the balance were composed of steel mills (4 percent), trading companies (4 percent), toll processors (3 percent) and suppliers to the industry […]
I read two articles recently regarding the impact of the devaluation of the India rupee against the U.S. dollar. One article (IHS Global Insight) discussed the metallurgical coal markets as the Indian steel mills have pulled back from the market as their costs spiral out of control. According to IHS Global the Indian currency lost […]
Mill lead times, as reported through our proprietary steel market survey, are shrinking on three of the four flat rolled product categories followed by Steel Market Update. Hot rolled lead times which were referenced on a weighted average basis at 4.5 weeks at the beginning of August are now at 4.0 weeks. However, the 4.0 […]
Sentiment Continues to Trend Higher (more optimistic) Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index was measured earlier today at +40, down 3 points from the middle of August and well within the optimistic range for the index. Compared to one year ago buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel are feeling much better about […]