Category: Market Data

Most steel products tracked by SMU saw lead times contract this week from two weeks earlier, according to SMU’s most recent survey data.

Brazil-based Gerdau has announced it will carry out a feasibility study into the greenfield development of a 600,000 metric-ton-per-year (mt) special steel plant in Mexico.

Turkish scrap import prices were stable last week. CRU’s assessment for HMS1/2 80:20 and shredded was unchanged at $384 per metric ton (mt) CFR and $408/mt, respectively.

Construction spending in the US in March was basically steady from the previous month but showed notable year-on-year (y/y) growth.

Brazil’s chamber of foreign trade, Camex, has approved quotas on imports of 11 steel products and a 25% levy on shipments 30% above a product’s average import volume between 2020 and 2022.

SunCoke's earnings soared in the first quarter, with the company citing strong performances in its cokemaking and logistics segments.

The Index had briefly showed expansion in March, but has indicated a contracting manufacturing sector for 17 of the last 18 months.

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 chatter.

The Chicago Business Barometer slipped further in April, now at the lowest measure recorded since November 2022.

An important economic indicator for the nonresidential construction industry declined in March to its lowest point in more than three years.

The latest SMU 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.” Historical survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, or if […]

SMU’s Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices both rose this week to reach some of the highest levels seen this year.

If successful in its overtures to Anglo American, BHP will create the world’s largest diversified miner by a country mile. The rationale for this merger is scale and in mining, size matters. 

Hot-rolled coil and plate lead times contracted this week, with most other products remaining flat, according to SMU's most recent survey data. Cold-rolled products, however, saw lead times extend 0.1 weeks to an average of 7.5 weeks vs. two weeks earlier. Hot rolled and plate lead times both contracted 0.3 weeks from our last market check.

Sheet steel buyers said mills are more willing to talk price on spot orders, according to our most recent survey data.

Steel is a foundation of the global economy. It is an essential raw material for nearly every industry, from automotive and construction to transportation, machinery, and energy.

Steel sheet prices in many regions of the world were steady week over week in the week ended April 17.

While general economic conditions across the US improved slightly over the last six weeks, activity in the manufacturing sector was weak, according to the Fed’s latest Beige Book report.

Prices of steelmaking raw materials have moved in different directions over the last 30 days, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis.

A lot of economists were predicting a recession last year. Ken Simonson, chief economist for The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), wasn’t one of them.

Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market chatter.

Following a strong February, US housing starts eased through March to a seven-month low, according to the most recent data from the US Census Bureau.

Flat Rolled = 58.3 shipping days of supply Plate = 60.6 shipping days of supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel inventories edged up in March as shipments remained low. At the end of March, service centers carried 58.3 shipping days of supply on an adjusted basis, up from 56.6 shipping days in February. […]

New York state saw a continued decline in manufacturing activity in April, according to the latest Empire State Manufacturing Survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Last week was a newsy one for the US sheet market. Nucor’s announcement that it would publish a weekly HR spot price was the talk of the town – whether that was in chatter among colleagues, at the Boy Scouts of America Metals Industry dinner, or in SMU’s latest market survey. Some think that it could Nucor's spot HR price could bring stability to notoriously volatile US sheet prices, according to SMU's latest steel market survey. Others think it’s too early to gauge its impact. And still others said they were leery of any attempt by producers to control prices.

SMU’s Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices both rose this week.

The latest SMU 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.” Historical survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, or if […]

To ease trade tensions with the United States, the economy ministry in Mexico is preparing measures to strengthen definitions on steel being shipped into the country. Mexico has faced accusations it is being used as a route for steel and aluminum produced in Asia to be sent on to the US, so-called triangulation.

The market appears to be taking a pause after the heavy buying that occurred in March.

Steel buyers said mills are more willing to talk price on spot orders on all the products SMU covers, according to our most recent survey data.