Category: Prices

With the aluminum industry assembled in Nashville, Tenn., for the Aluminum USA 2023 conference, word was breaking of a tentative deal between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Ford.

These were the headlines hot off the press Wednesday night:

Steel buyers said mills are less willing to budge on spot pricing for sheet products, but plate bucked this trend, according to SMU’s most recent survey data.

Radius Recycling thinks that an end to the UAW strike could relieve pressure on a tight domestic scrap market. Scrap supplies have fallen because of lower manufacturing, construction, and demolition activity as well as “the slowing economy overall,” Radius chairman, president, and CEO Tamara Lundgren said. Inflation and higher interest rates have contributed to that […]

Sheet prices rose for a fourth consecutive week following a second wave of price hikes announced by domestic mills.

ArcelorMittal and Stelco joined last week’s move by domestic mills to push sheet prices higher.

As the ferrous scrap market in the US enters the home stretch for 2023, it faces an array of issues and uncertainties.

Well, what a difference a month makes…

U.S. Steel on Thursday said it planned to increase spot base prices for steel sheet by at least $100 per ton ($5 per cwt).

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices are now more expensive than imported offshore product.

Cleveland-Cliffs said on Thursday it's targeting a minimum base price for hot-rolled steel of $800 per net ton ($40 per cwt).

Sheet prices notched a third consecutive week of gains on limited supply and stable demand outside of automotive operations impacted by the UAW strike.

Prices for ore-based metallics were mixed month-on-month (MoM) as lower finished steel production weighs on pig iron demand.

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices widened slightly this month, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.

The pig iron trade is an important element to the US steel and foundry industry.

Prime scrap prices were unchanged in October month over month, following a large Detroit-area buyer's lead, according to market sources.

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) and offshore product are nearly back even again after domestic prices moved higher for the second straight week.

If the last few years have taught us anything, it is that nothing is certain.

Sheet prices moved upward for the second week in a row despite the ongoing UAW strike and concerns in some corners that momentum from a price hike last month might be fading, market participants said.

The LME aluminum three-month price was broadly unchanged on Friday morning, Oct. 6, and was last seen trading at $2,243 per ton. Due to the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day celebrations, the SHFE is closed for holidays from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6. According to a report from Bloomberg, leaders from the EU and the […]

A large Detroit-area scrap buyer has settled scrap tags for October, with busheling scrap sideways, a source told SMU.

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) and offshore product are nearing parity again after domestic prices moved higher this week and imports declined again.

While the ongoing United Auto Workers (UAW) strike hasn’t had a significant impact on the scrap market, the strike's expansion to stamping plants could hit supply, sources tell SMU.

Sheet prices rose this week on the heels of a price increase announced by Cleveland-Cliffs last week that was quietly followed by other mills.

US plate prices have been relatively flat this year, especially when compared to sheet products. Case in point; SMU's plate prices stands at $1,455 per ton ($72.75 per cwt) on average, down 7% from a $1,560 per ton peak in April. Our HRC price is at $645 per ton, down 44% from an April peak of $1,160 per ton.

The US scrap market for October is a bit unsettled as the UAW strike against the Big Three automotive companies has expanded and shows scant signs of an imminent settlement.

Nucor Corp. will keep plate prices unchanged with the opening of its November order book.

On Sept. 15, the UAW went on strike at three plants, one of each of the Big 3. On Sept. 22, the UAW expanded its strike to 38 more GM and Stellantis plants. Since Sept. 15, the HRC futures curve has rallied $60-75 in the November – February futures months. The reason why there has been this breakneck rally is because, uh, well, um. I have no idea. I am as shocked by it as perhaps you are, frankly.

The overall steel mill negotiation rate remained level this week vs. two weeks earlier, but plate’s rate fell by 15 percentage points, according to SMU’s most recent survey data.

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices were down again vs. offshore hot band this week. Domestic HRC lost more ground relative to imported product with US tags sinking at a faster rate than those overseas.