Category: Market Data

While lead times for sheet again had mixed movements this week, those for plate collapsed, according to SMU’s most recent market survey.

Ford of Canada union workers represented by Unifor ratified a new, three-year labor agreement on Sunday.

Demand will be the determining factor in what happens to steel sheet prices globally for the remainder of the year, and most risks right now are to the downside. An autoworkers strike has started in the USA and could increase price volatility in the domestic sheet market. The longer and more severe this strike is, […]

The LME aluminum 3-month price was up 0.8% on the morning of Friday Sept. 22. It was last seen trading at $2,238/metric tons, remaining above the $2,200/t mark for most of the past week.

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices fell further relative to imported product this week. Domestic hot band remains cheaper than offshore HRC as US tags continue to sink at a sharper rate than those overseas.

August’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) reading from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Deltek showed a moderate decrease.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects, including steel prices, demand levels, sheet prices abroad, inventory, the UAW strike, and what people are talking about in the market

U.S. Steel and the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) plan to test carbon-capture technology at the company’s Edgar Thomson Plant in Braddock, Pa.

Flat Rolled = 54.1 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 61.2 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel inventories eased back in August with stronger shipments. At the end of August, service centers carried 54.1 shipping days of supply, according to adjusted SMU data, down from 56.1 shipping days of supply […]

Steel Market Update’s Steel Demand Index remains in contraction territory despite marginal improvement, according to our latest survey data.

Mixed trends were observed in prices of ore-based metallics as demand stayed subdued in Europe and the US. Buying activity had been limited in the US due to several upcoming mill outages and ahead of the UAW strike. However, prices have found stability despite declines in prices of prime grades of scrap. In the CIS, […]

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and galvanized sheet base prices widened throughout the summer as hot rolled prices declined faster than those of galvanized.

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices continued to narrow this month, according to Steel Market Update’s most recent pricing data.

SMU's Current and Future Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices both ticked up this week before the United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike was declared, based on our most recent survey data.

he latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members.

The overall steel mill negotiation rate jumped 14 percentage points this week vs. the last market check, with plate's rate rising by eight percentage points, according to SMU's most recent survey data.

Steel mill lead times were basically flat again this week compared to our previous market check, with production times shrinking slightly for hot rolled and cold rolled, and extending for galvanized, Galvalume, and plate.

Turkish scrap import prices rose due to conclusion of several deals towards the end of last week as key buyers and sellers re-entered the market.

US apparent steel supply declined 2% in July to 8.28 million net tons compared to the previous month, according to data from the US Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). 

Steel prices kept falling throughout last month. Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices ended August at $725 per ton ($36.25 per cwt) on average, having fallen by $105 per ton during the month.

Luxembourg-headquartered ArcelorMittal has placed the contract for a reversible 6-high cold rolling mill to produce high-grade, non-oriented silicon steel strip (NGO) for use in electric motors. The unit will be installed at the group’s Mardyck plant near Dunkirk in northeastern France where it is adding a 200,000 t/y rolling mill to produce electrical steels for electric vehicles […]

The US Federal Reserve said that although overall economic activity was modest in July and August, per its latest Beige Book Report released on Sept. 6, the report was still slightly more optimistic than the previous one.

The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) moved lower in August, driven by a slowdown in planning from tighter lending standards, according to the latest data from the Dodge Construction Network (DCN).

Activity in the US manufacturing sector continues to slow, according to the latest monthly report on business from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects, including steel prices, demand levels, sheet prices abroad, inventory, and what people are talking about in the market. Rather than summarizing the comments we received, we are sharing some of them in each buyer’s own words.

Steel Market Update’s Demand Index is still in contracting territory and moving lower, where it has been for the better part of the past four-plus months, according to the latest survey data.

Turkish scrap import prices have remained relatively stable over the past two weeks due to slow trade activity. This was partly due to the holiday on August 30. CRU’s latest price assessment for HMS1/2 80:20 is $368 /metric ton CFR, up $1 /metric ton week-over-week (WoW) and up $21 /metric ton month-over-month (MoM). The holiday […]

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 […]

The Chicago Business Barometer edged up in August. This is the third consecutive monthly increase according to the latest indicators from Market News International (MNI) and the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

Steel mill lead times were largely unchanged this week, with hot rolled extending slightly and plate falling back marginally.