The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) provided license data through Oct. 17 (today) regarding the amount of foreign steel slated to come into the United States during the month of October. Based on the license data, the trend is for yet another 3 million net ton (or higher) month. There are some significant changes to […]
U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Oct. 14 totaled 1,744,000 net tons, a 5.4 percent increase from the same period last year, and up 0.2 percent from the prior week. The mill capability utilization rate for the week averaged 74.8 percent, up from 74.7 percent the prior week and 70.8 percent the prior […]
One of the questions we get regularly is what are steel buyers and sellers of steel saying about their business (demand) and inventory levels? Over this past week, Steel Market Update spoke with quite a few companies and asked them how they were seeing business and if their company was building flat rolled or steel […]
The pace of the slide affecting flat rolled and plate steel prices quickened this past week. Steel Market Update (SMU) analyzed the price movements reported by Platts, SteelBenchmarker and SMU and found that almost every product was lower by the end of the week than it was the previous week. Benchmark hot rolled broke through […]
The expectation has been for a huge swing lower in the amount of flat rolled foreign steel imports coming into the United States in October. The industry is waiting for the combination of the drying up of the surge of orders placed to “beat” any Section 232 duty and the impact of higher world steel […]
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 (USA) 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 […]
Zinc prices continue their rally that began in early 2016, taking the metal’s price to a 10-year high and raising the cost of producing galvanized steel and other products. Zinc prices have managed to breach the psychological ceiling of $3,000 per metric ton, which stalled rallies in November 2016 and February 2017. Breaking this ceiling […]
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 As the HR index retreated to $598/ST[$29.90/cwt] this week, we saw further price declines of the nearby futures while the medium to longer-term […]
This Steel Market Update analysis of sheet and plate imports by district of entry and source through August 2017 includes both coiled and cut-to-length plate for the first time. We believe that misinformation (or a lack of) about regional import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis of tonnage […]
Some key price levels have been left in the dust when it comes to flat rolled and plate prices. On Friday of this past week, Steel Market Update (SMU) reduced the lower end of the range on hot rolled and our average dropped below $600 per ton. This week our HRC took a hit on […]
U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Oct. 7 totaled 1,741,000 net tons, a 5.2 percent increase from the same period last year, and up 2.1 percent from the prior week. The mill capability utilization rate for the week averaged 74.7 percent, up from 73.2 percent the prior week and 70.8 percent the prior year, […]
On Tuesday of this past week, Steel Market Update (SMU) advised our readers that our range on hot rolled pricing was $580-$630 per ton with an average of $605 per ton ($30.25/cwt). As the week progressed, we received more information that has caused us to drop the lower end of our range to $560 per […]
The negotiations for ferrous scrap were pretty “easy,” according to one ferrous scrap analyst who told Steel Market Update on Friday that virtually every market in the United States was down $30 per gross ton on heavy melt and shred and other obsolete grades, while prime grades such as bundles and #1 busheling dropped $40 […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) found steel prices mixed this past week on not only our own index, but also that of Platts. In the past, we have seen this when there is limited buying due to a slowdown in business or in relationship to an expansion of inventories. Benchmark hot rolled was lower this past […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures markets 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 […]
Total rolled steel imports declined by 5.8 percent in the three months through September, compared with the three months through June. Sheet product imports were down by 3.9 percent on the same basis. The final license data for September was reported by of the U.S. Commerce Department on Oct. 3. The data is reported within […]
Despite the major flat rolled trade cases concluded in 2016, flat rolled steel imports continue to surge. Coated imports are at their highest levels ever and cold rolled imports are near record levels. This article, by Paul Lowrey of Steel Research Associates, provides some historical context to the current situation. This analysis includes all products […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has been speaking with a number of our ferrous scrap sources over the past few days to get a better feeling as to where scrap will trade for the month of October. Early reports are that Detroit (which tends to lead the charge most months) saw cut/obsolete grades down $30 per […]
Governor Mark Dayton expressed his support of Chippewa Capital Partners to revive the Essar Steel Minnesota iron ore mining site. In an open letter to people on the Iron Range, Dayton said Chippewa has satisfied its obligations under the bankruptcy proceedings and may move forward with plans to construct a taconite pellet plant. Chippewa has […]
Cleveland Cliffs is now complete owner of Tilden Mining Company located in Ishpeming, Mich. Cliffs purchased U.S. Steel’s 15 percent equity interest in the mine for $105 million. With the closing of this transaction on Sept. 29, Cliffs added 1.2 million long tons of annual pellet production capacity and 55 million long tons of proven […]
Flat rolled steel prices continue to “drift,” with some items drifting lower, some staying the same and cold rolled actually increasing by $5 per ton. One commercial officer at a steel mill told SMU that in his view the range has shrunk for the products they produce. Even so, “We are finding business, and it […]
Total raw steel production for the month of August was 7,824,820 net tons, with 5,344,663 tons produced by electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and 2,480,157 tons produced by blast furnaces. This is the highest monthly production figure seen since January 2015 when 8,002,074 tons were produced. August raw steel production was 150,877 tons or 2.0 percent […]
U.S. raw steel production totaled 1,706,000 net tons in the week ended Sept. 30, a 7.2 percent increase from the same period last year, but down 0.8 percent from the prior week. The mill capability utilization rate for the Sept. 30 week averaged 73.2 percent, up substantially from the 68.0 percent at the same time […]
Flat rolled steel prices slipped across the board this past week. All three steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update (SMU) saw prices as being down from as little as $1 per ton to as much as $20 per ton. Benchmark hot rolled continues to close in on $600 per ton with SMU down $5 […]
The ferrous scrap market is softening and SMU’s sources expect prices to drop by $10 to $20 per gross ton in October. Domestic mills are beginning to cancel September orders that have not been completed (delivered) by the end of the month. This is a sure sign the mills believe ferrous scrap negotiations for October […]
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 (USA) 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 […]
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 HR futures have been pretty active the last week as sellers reached and we hit a new near-term low in prices […]
As was mentioned in the previous issue of Steel Market Update, foreign steel imports for September continue to trend toward another 3.0 million net ton month based on SMU analysis of import license data. If imports come in around 3.0 million tons it would be the lowest level since February 2017 when total steel imports […]
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma were devastating for the many Americans still struggling to recover from the damage. But for the scrap metal market, contrary to common belief, the storms will be a mere blip. “Everyone’s immediate reaction to Harvey is, ‘Oh, there will be so much scrap coming out of Houston, prices will drop.’ The […]
The price of iron ore is falling but zinc is at a 10-year high. In this report, we examine the latest prices for iron ore, scrap, coking coal and zinc and their relationship to the dollar. “Right now, the dollar has a lot going against it. The administration in the U.S. continues to hope the […]