Category: Features

Washington loomed large in our surveys this week. Two things actually: the upcoming presidential election and the trade case against imported coated products from 10 nations.

By most accounts, the issues that are most important for voters in this election are the economy, immigration, and abortion. International trade policy plays a key role in at least two of those three (the economy and immigration). Both presidential candidates recognize that trade and tariffs are an important focus. And “America first” is a rallying point for both candidates.

SMU’s latest steel buyers market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the pricing and analysis tab and look under the “survey results” section for “latest survey results.” Past survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, or if […]

Drilling activity eased in the US last week, while Canadian counts increased, according to the latest data release from Baker Hughes.

SMU’s Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices remain in positive territory and continue to indicate optimism amongst steel buyers.

On Thursday, the Department of Commerce announced it would initiate investigations into coated steel imports from ten countries.

Thanks to everyone who attended our Steel Hedging 101 workshop in Chicago on Wednesday. I learned a lot from StoneX Group’s Spencer Johnson, who instructs the course, and from your good questions. One thing that Spencer said sticks with me as I write this column. Namely, that momentum drives steel prices more than other commodity markets. If you watch steel futures, you’ll see up days and down days. But it’s rare to see the momentum shifting back and forth within any given day.

Over three quarters of the steel buyers participating in our market survey this week reported that mills are negotiable on new order prices

We saw a slight upward movement in some products compared to early September, but nothing substantial enough to signal a shift in the market.

Barry Zekelman, chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, says the import data unquestionably supports the fact that imports of Mexican conduit have been surging into the US market.

Galvanized steel buyers on Tuesday discussed the eerie stability in sheet prices of late. Expectations are for the murky market to persist in the short term, while glimmers of hope continue for prices pushing higher.

In this Premium analysis we cover oil and natural gas prices, drilling rig activity, and crude oil stock levels in North America. Energy prices and rig counts are advance indicators of demand for oil country tubular goods (OCTG), line pipe, and other steel products.

SMU's prices ranges for flat-rolled steel were mostly sideways on Tuesday even as futures market shot higher. I got some questions as to why hot-rolled (HR) coil futures shot higher. As best as I can tell, it might have been in response to news that China plans to roll out stimulus measures. We have details on those measures here thanks to our colleagues at CRU. The chart below gives you some idea of just how sharply upward the move in HR futures was earlier on Tuesday:

Flack Global Metals (FGM) Founder and CEO Jeremy Flack will sit down with SMU for a Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at 11 am ET. The live webinar is free for anyone to attend. A recording will be available only to SMU subscribers.

The amount of raw steel US steel mills produced last week slipped to the lowest rate recorded since early July, according to the latest release from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).

It’s officially fall. And here’s a funny thing about steel prices in the fall over the last few years – they tend to move in the opposite direction of the leaves. SMU’s hot-rolled (HR) coil price averaged $676 per short ton (st) in September 2023. That figure increased to $1,035/st in December 2023, a gain of 53% percent. (You can follow along with our pricing tool.)

US presidential campaigns frequently sport an “air of unreality.” No more so than the 2024 campaign, where superlatives fly around like mosquitos. Steel trade has been a feature of political discourse for at least half a century now. Just last week, it proceeded to a new level of “unreality.” Four senators  - Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) - wrote a “bipartisan” letter attacking Mexican exports of steel to the United States. They framed it as a “surge” in US steel imports from Mexico. To address this “surge,” the Senators urge the imposition of 25% tariffs on all steel imports from Mexico.

The latest Federal Reserve data paints a healthy and stable manufacturing sector. Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members.

Continued highly competitive steel exports from China, amid weakening global demand, have triggered a wave of trade protectionism across major markets.

Whether it’s the twists and turns of the presidential election, the U.S. Steel deal, or just what’s happening with the movement of steel pricing, there has been no shortage of stories for us to cover.

They say failure can lead to success. Such was the case for Nate Lerman. While liquidating the inventory of his failed toy truck business, he realized the profit potential in steel, which ultimately led to the creation of Steel Warehouse. Since its founding over 75 years ago in South Bend, Ind., Steel Warehouse has remained […]

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.

Cleveland-Cliffs is seeking $750 per short ton (st) for hot-rolled coil. That’s $20/st above where the steelmaker had been. It’s also $30/st above Nucor, which is at $720/st this week. We've seen prices increase incrementally this week. SMU's HR price, for example, stands at $690/st on average, up $5/st from last week. The questions now are whether a number well above $700/st will stick, whether other mills will follow Cliffs, and whether there is enough demand to support higher prices.

SMU’s steel price indices were steady to higher this week. Each of our sheet indices crept upwards from last week, while our plate index was unchanged.

Steel Market Update’s Steel Demand Index ticked back seven points last week, falling further into contraction territory.

Flat rolled = 66.3 shipping days of supply Plate = 57.0 shipping days of supply Flat rolled Flat-rolled steel supply at US service centers grew further in August. The dynamic resulted from some Q3 restocking efforts at a perceived market bottom, met with shorter lead times and weaker demand. At the end of August, service […]

We got a little flack for adjusting our sheet momentum indicators to neutral last week. To be clear, we didn’t adjust them to lower. Part of the reason we moved them to neutral was because there are some unusual cross-currents in the current market. On the news side, you could make a case that there should nowhere to go but up.

Shipments of heating and cooling equipment remained near multi-year highs in July, according to the latest data released from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).

SMU’s latest steel buyers market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members.

SMU has compiled a list of key dates to watch out for in the expansive trade case filed last week targeting corrosion-resistant steel imports.