Solar tracker maker Nextracker and MSS Steel Tubes USA announced the commissioning of a new factory in Tennessee on Wednesday to make low-carbon steel components for Nextracker’s solar tracking systems. Nextracker said the Memphis facility will manufacture Nextracker steel torque tubes, create 129 jobs, and generate millions of dollars in local economic investment. In February, […]
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects, including current and future steel prices, inventory strategies, supply, demand, and new mill capacity. Rather than summarizing the comments we received, we are sharing some of them in each buyer’s own words. We want to hear your thoughts, too! […]
Scrap price falls have continued, now affecting all major markets. Previously, the market weakness was due to macroeconomic concerns but is now due to weak steel demand. Turkish scrap buying has been underwhelming, while Chinese scrap consumption has been reeling back as the steel outlook turns sour. Poor Steel Demand and Production Weigh on Scrap […]
Lethbridge, Alberta-based Varsteel Ltd. has acquired Canadian tube manufacturer Atlantic Tube & Steel. “The Varsteel team is excited to join forces with Atlantic Tube & Steel Inc., broadening our company platform and delivering more value to our customers through additional products and steel services,” Gerald Varzari, Varsteel president and CEO, said in a statement on […]
Lourenco Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs’ chairman, president, and CEO—as well as the newly elected AISI chairman—and Kevin Dempsey, AISI president and CEO, discussed issues ranging from Section 232 tariffs and hydrogen in steelmaking, to steel imports from Mexico, along with a host of other topics on Tuesday at the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) General Meeting press […]
The latest Empire State Manufacturing Survey shows a steep decline in business activity in the state of New York. The headline manufacturing general business conditions index from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York fell into the negative, dropping by nearly 43 points to -31.8 in the survey taken between May 2-9. The April index […]
The Global Steel Climate Council (GSCC) addressed the Group of Seven (G7) on May 16, encouraging leaders to move towards sustainable steelmaking. The G7 Summit is currently being held in Hiroshima, Japan. G7 leaders were asked to support the transition to cleaner steel products by incentivizing steelmakers to utilize lower-emitting steel production processes and technologies. […]
Tampa, Fla. is now home to the North American headquarters of refractory provider RHI Magnesita. With operations in 37 countries, the Vienna, Austria-based company is a global provider of high-grade refractory products used in the steel, cement, non-ferrous metal, and glass industries. The new corporate hub in Tampa will serve customers in the US, Canada, […]
Flat Rolled = 51.1 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 46.1 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel inventories in April increased in terms of months of supply, according to SMU data. At the end of April, service centers had 2.69 months of flat-rolled steel on hand on an adjusted basis, […]
New York-based steel producer 72 Steel Group LLC has announced plans to build a $218-million steel manufacturing plant in Aliquippa, Pa., near Pittsburgh, according to media reports. The plant on a nearly 44-acre site will produce rebar and products widely used in construction, according to an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The current owner of the […]
Rig counts dropped in the US for the second straight week and inched up by one rig in Canada vs. the previous week, according to the latest data from oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The total US rig count was 731 for the week ended May 12, down 17 from last week. The number of active oil rigs in the US fell by two […]
SMU’s Current Steel Buyers Sentiment Index dropped four points this week compared with two weeks ago, while the Future Buyers Sentiment Index remained unchanged, according to our most recent survey data. The Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices measure how steel buyers feel about their company’s chances to succeed in the current market, as well as three to six months down […]
Steel mill lead times continue to decline for hot rolled, galvanized, and Galvalume products, while cold rolled and plate ticked up slightly, according to SMU’s latest steel market survey data. Lead times took a downard turn in mid-April after climbing for nearly five months. SMU’s hot-rolled lead time is 4 to 8 weeks with an average of […]
The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) for May fell by 6.6% month over month (m/m) to 331.0, registering its sharpest m/m decline since July 2022. While Turkish demand for metallics has stayed underwhelming due to lower-than-expected reconstruction works, steelmakers elsewhere have adopted a wait-and-see approach until steel prices stabilize. Sharp reductions in steel prices were […]
Steel sheet buyers find mills more willing to negotiate lower spot pricing now than at any time since late November, according to SMU data. All the sheet products SMU tracks saw mills more willing to talk price this week. Plate bucked that trend. Every two weeks, SMU asks steel buyers whether domestic mills are willing to negotiate […]
US steel shipments fell 5.9% in March vs. the same month last year, according to the most recent figures released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) on Tuesday. Domestic steel mills shipped 7,372,430 net tons in March, off from 7,835,600 net tons shipped a year earlier, but up 6.6% from the 6,917,842 net […]
Steel prices peaked at the start of the month, with hot-rolled coil reaching $1,160 per ton ($58 pet cwt) on average on April 10. Tags began to decline near the month’s halfway mark and closed out the month $40 per ton lower at $1,120 per ton. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator for sheet products was […]
Rig counts fell in the US and remained flat in Canada vs. the previous week, according to the latest data from oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The total US rig count was 748 for the week ended May 5, off seven rigs from the previous week. The number of active oil rigs in the US fell by three to 588 in the same comparison. Gas rigs were […]
Weather events significantly disrupted commodity markets in 2022, fueling already significant price volatility. La Niña has ended in Australia, but other weather events and permanent climate change continue to impact global commodity supply chains. Weather – A Significant Disruptor in 2022 Heightened seasonal weather and extreme weather events disrupted multiple commodity markets in 2022. Heavy […]
New calculations suggest that the lifespan of steel might be shorter than originally believed, according to a report released by the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA). The report provides new calculations suggesting that the lifespan of steel is in the range of 25 to 35 years, rather than 40 years. The shorter lifespan increases the availability of […]
Metallurgical coke producer SunCoke Energy Q1 net earnings were hit by a “lower export coke contribution margin.” Beyond the earnings results, SunCoke reported an extension of its coke agreement with Cleveland-Cliffs. “Last week we announced the extension of our Indiana Harbor coke agreement with Cleveland Cliffs through September 2035,” Katherine Gates, president of SunCoke Energy, said […]
The Great Lakes Clean Hydrogen Coalition (GLCH) has officially submitted its full application for federal funding to create a $2-billion clean hydrogen hub in the Midwest. GLCH’s plan is to develop a hub to serve Ohio, Michigan, and portions of Pennsylvania and Indiana to help industries in the region decarbonize. Cleveland-Cliffs already has plans to […]
Turkish scrap import prices continued to fall last week. Subsequently CRU’s assessed Turkish scrap price for HMS1/2 80:20 is $415 per metric ton FOB Turkish port, down $11 per metric ton week-on-week and $28 per metric ton month-on-month. This is based on several deals concluded before and sooner after the Eid holidays. Turkish scrap deals […]
The US manufacturing sector looks to have contracted for another month, albeit at a slightly slower pace than in March, according to the latest monthly report on business from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The ISM’s manufacturing PMI came in at 47.1% in April. Although 0.8 percentage points higher than the previous month, the […]
Canada-based miner Teck Resources withdrew a plan to split into two, hours before shareholders were due to vote on the proposal. But the company insists separation is still the best way to maximize value and it remains opposed to the $22.5-billion unsolicited takeover bid from Glencore. Teck also released its Q1 financial results, which showed a decline on […]
The Global Steel Climate Council (GSCC) has released a draft of the Steel Climate Standard, a global standard to measure and report steel carbon emissions. The GSCC has been participating in efforts to reduce steel carbon emissions and encourage investments in lower emission technologies within the steel industry. “Steel companies and associations from around […]
Drama surrounding AHMSA – Altos Hornos de Mexico, the largest integrated flat steel plant in Mexico – may finally be coming to an end as a bankruptcy now clears the way for new owners to restart the facility with fresh capital. Due to various issues, AHMSA stopped production in December 2022. This sudden closure caused […]
A Mexican court has declared steel sheet producer Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) bankrupt and appointed the National Chamber of Commerce of Muzquiz city, Coahuila state, as trustee. The determination, published in the country’s Official Gazette on April 17, follows the company filing a bankruptcy petition in January. The civil first court of the first instance in […]
Flat Rolled = 52.7 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 41.0 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel inventories rose in March with a slowing daily shipping rate. At the end of March, service centers carried 52.7 shipping days of flat-rolled steel supply, according to SMU data, compared to 52.2 shipping […]
Raw steel production by US mills rose slightly last week, up 0.7% from the week prior and moving higher for the second straight week, according to data released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) on Monday, April 17. Domestic production stood at 1,687,000 net tons in the week ended April 15 vs. 1,675,000 tons […]