On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce released preliminary steel import license data for August and updated license data for September. The latest August figure has total imports at just under three million net tons, less than 1 percent lower than July levels. Compared to our monthly averages, August preliminary data is 6 percent less […]
U.S. tariffs on steel imports appear to be having the expected effect. Two-thirds of the way through a year when the economy and steel demand are booming, imports are down by double digits. Citing preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute reports that the United States imported 23,839,000 net tons of steel […]
World crude steel production increased by 2.6 percent in August and was up by 4.8 percent through the first eight months of 2018. Leading the way was China with a 5.8 percent increase in production for the year to more than 617 million metric tons, reports the World Steel Association. WSA members represent about 85 […]
The slippage in spot pricing has slowed as flat rolled and plate prices continue to remain firm. We saw a tightening of the spread on hot rolled as both the upper and lower ends of the range moved closer. The other flat rolled products saw strength at the lower end of the range with adjustments […]
The percentage of manufacturing companies and service centers reporting distributor spot prices as weakening is nearing the SMU level of capitulation. Capitulation is the point at which steel distributors are panicking and dumping what is perceived as high-priced steel into the spot market at ever lower prices. The process feeds on itself and the distributors […]
Ferrous scrap prices have been on the decline, but may find a bottom in October, as most Steel Market Update sources forecast flat to slightly higher pricing next month. CRU Steel Analyst Ryan McKinley reports that sentiment seems to be building for a “strong sideways” market in October. “If this play’s out, it will be […]
U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Sept. 22 totaled 1,863,000 net tons, up 8.9 percent from the same period last year and 0.1 percent from the prior week, reports the American Iron and Steel Institute. The mill capability utilization rate of 79.5 percent, up from 73.4 percent this time last year, once again […]
TransCanada plans to begin construction on the Keystone XL pipeline next year now that the State Department has released an environmental review for an alternative route through Nebraska. A report released Friday by the State Department concluded that it is unlikely a pipeline leak would cause major environmental damage due to extensive safeguards put in […]
The following calculation is used by Steel Market Update to identify the theoretical spread between foreign hot rolled steel import prices (delivered to USA ports) and domestic hot rolled coil prices (FOB domestic mills). We want our readers to be aware that this is only a “theoretical” calculation as freight costs, trader margin and other […]
On Friday, Steel Market Update received a note from one of our readers asking why foreign steel import totals have not dropped. The domestic mills have won countless antidumping and countervailing duty suits against flat rolled and plate products. The president has placed 25 percent tariffs on steel, citing national security as the reason to […]
When looking at the last four years of import data, as well as the first seven months of data available from the U.S. Department of Commerce, we are seeing a reduction in most flat rolled products. Of the past four years, 2014 was by far the biggest year for foreign steel imports into the United […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Steel The HR spot market has continued to decline, however we have a bit of a divergence as the HR futures curve prices […]
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Commerce released license data for the month of September. Steel Market Update takes that data, turns it into a daily average and then uses that number to project where we see the trend taking the total by the end of the month. The past few months have been […]
Steel Market Update saw slippage in the lower end of the ranges on hot rolled, cold rolled and Galvalume steel prices this week. Galvanized remained the same, as did plate. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $810-$890 per ton ($40.50/cwt-$44.50/cwt) with an average of $850 per […]
U.S. raw steel production slipped by a slight 0.9 percent last week, nudging the mill capability utilization rate back below 80 percent once again. The American Iron and Steel Institute reported an average utilization rate for the week ending Sept. 15 of 79.4 percent, down from the 80.2 percent level in the prior week. But steel […]
The United Steelworkers bargaining team presented Cleveland Cliffs with an economic proposal to address issues ranging from pay increases to the sustainability of Hibbing Taconite. The proposal is based on feedback from a survey of member concerns conducted earlier this year. In an interview with reporters on Friday, CEO Lourenco Goncalves said ore from the […]
Earlier last week, the U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest foreign steel import license data for the months of August, and the new data for September. The August number suggests the month will come in around 3 million net tons, which is higher than July as well as the 3-month and 12-month moving averages. […]
Steel Market Update was speaking with one of the plate mills regarding their maintenance schedules and order books, which we reported on in Thursday evening’s issue of our SMU newsletter. During the conversation, there was a discussion about what was causing the tightness in the marketplace, and the mill mentioned the drastically lower plate imports […]
This analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into the district of entry and the source country. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about local import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis is to describe in detail what is going on in a […]
Steel Market Update is sharing the following Premium-level content on flat rolled imports with Executive-level members. For more information about upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, contact info@steelmarketupdate.com. This analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into the district of entry and the source country. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) […]
Premium subscribers to Steel Market Update have access to reports on our website that break out the import tonnage into district of entry and source nation for six sheet and plate categories. SMU has now developed reports that drill down the HRC and CRC into product detail both nationally and for each district. We report […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Director of Risk Management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
Both the plate mills and their customers are advising Steel Market Update that, unlike the hot rolled markets, the plate markets are hot and are expected to continue to be hot for some time to come. The plate mills continue to be on “controlled order entry” (allocation) and all of the mills are struggling to […]
U.S. steel exports in July totaled 655,937 net tons (595,057 metric tons), down 28.2 percent over June and down 18.7 percent from July 2017. This is the lowest total export figure seen since May 2009 when 627,968 tons were shipped out of the country. Prior to July, total exports had averaged around 875,000 tons the […]
Ferrous scrap prices in most regions have settled down by $20 to $30 per ton in September and could fall further in October as mills schedule maintenance outages, report some Steel Market Update sources. Others believe stronger export demand could help sustain prices next month. Prime grades declined by $20, while obsoletes dipped a bit […]
Flat rolled spot base prices continued to drop over the past week. There are mixed emotions from steel buyers with some believing the weakness being seen is an “overreaction” to a “perceived” weakness in the steel mill order books. Comments were made to Steel Market Update during the data gathering process that weakness is mill […]
Manufacturing companies and service centers are in agreement, service center spot prices to their customers are negotiable and dropping. Our most recent flat rolled steel market analysis conducted this past week found a growing percentage of manufacturing companies reporting their service center suppliers as lowering spot steel prices. At the beginning of July 2018, there […]
U.S. raw steel production finally topped the 80 percent capaciity utilization level the industry considers necessary for sustainable profitability. The American Iron and Steel Institute reported a utilization rate for the week ending Sept. 8 of 80.2 percent, up from 79.8 percent in the prior week, and up from 73.4 percent the same week one […]
Over the past few weeks, a number of domestic steel mills have announced new zinc coating extras for galvanized steel. The reason behind the adjustment has been due to the price of zinc moving lower on the LME spot market. Steel buyers should not assume that all of the steel mills are using the same […]
Written by John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update When I was selling steel for a domestic mill (Winner Steel, now called NLMK Sharon), there was always cause for concern when steel buyers would contact me and reference a price from a trade publication that I knew to be “out of date” with the […]