Category: Region

A roundup of this week's CRU aluminum news.

The Chicago Business Barometer fell to a five-month low in October and continues to indicate deteriorating business conditions, according to Market News International (MNI) and the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

Cleveland-Cliffs has received all the required approvals to finalize its $2.5-billion acquisition of Canadian steelmaker Stelco Holdings Inc.

Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.

Primetals Technologies renewed two long-term maintenance service contracts with steel producers in the Americas.

We all know the American news cycle moves pretty fast. Viral today, cached tomorrow. So it is with the US presidential election on Tuesday, Nov. 5. People have election fatigue. They've moved on to other things like planning holiday parties, debating Super Bowl hopefuls, or even starting to look forward to our Tampa Steel Conference in February.

The price spread between US-produced cold-rolled (CR) coil and offshore products was negligibly tighter in the week ended Oct. 25, on a landed basis.

US drill rig activity remains near multi-year lows, hovering within a narrow range over the last five months. Canadian counts have stabilized in recent weeks but remain near some the highest levels recorded in the past seven months.

SMU’s Current Sentiment Index suggests steel buyers are still optimistic about their businesses’ ability to succeed in today’s market, though their confidence has significantly declined compared to recent months.

In this Insight piece, CRU economists explore the possible economic effects of Trump's and Harris' agendas.

Architecture firms continued to experience soft business conditions through September, according to the latest Architecture Billings Index (ABI) release by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Deltek.

More than nine out of every 10 steel buyers polled by SMU this week reported that mills are flexible on prices for new orders. Negotiation rates have been strong since April and on the rise since early September.

The construction sector added 25,000 jobs in September, driven by labor shortages and improved wages, according to data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Growth in the US economy continues to crawl with little change in most districts. The Federal Reserve’s October Beige Book report showed three-quarters of reporting districts with flat or declining economic activity.

Mill lead times have declined on both sheet and plate products this week, according to steel buyers responding to our latest market survey,

The US Department of Commerce is conducting annual administrative reviews of antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders on certain imports of steel pipe and tube.

US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices moved lower again this past week. A similar trend was seen in offshore markets, keeping domestic tags marginally above imports on a landed basis.

Heavy equipment manufacturer John Deere blamed soft demand and a reduction in orders for a spate of layoffs in Iowa this year, according to a local report.

Zekelman Industries has filed a lawsuit in Washington against the Republic of Mexico for allegedly violating trade agreements and dumping steel in the US.

The Canadian government announced a remission process for businesses for recently announced tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum products and electric vehicles .

Sweden’s SSAB has been awarded €128 million by the European Commission for the steelmaker’s efforts at decarbonization.

US rig counts continue to hover near multi-year lows, a trend observed since July. Canadian activity remains strong, just a few rigs shy of a seven-month high.

On Friday, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) voted to continue the trade case investigation of corrosion-resistant (CORE) steel imports from 10 trading partners.

The price spread between US-produced cold-rolled (CR) coil and offshore products was negligibly wider in the week ended Oct. 18, on a landed basis.

Aloca reports strong results Alcoa‘s performance improved in Q3 due to reduced costs and higher alumina prices, the Pittsburgh-based company said in its Q3 financial results. The report coincided with an announcement on the future of Alcoa San Ciprián operations, in the Galicia region of Spain – a strategic agreement with IGNIS EQT, a Madrid-based […]

We had an October surprise here at SMU on Wednesday. I was working from the CRU office in Pittsburgh, and the internet connection briefly went out. As luck would have it, that happened smack in the middle of a live Community Chat webinar. Fortunately, my colleague David Schollaert stepped in, Zekelman Industries CEO Barry Zekelman rolled with the punches – and the show went on. Could there be any more October surprises in store for us and for the steel market?

Steel Dynamics Inc. remains optimistic about its prospects as it ramps up flat-rolled steel operations and prepares for the production of aluminum products next year. Executives from the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker provided an update on the company’s operations on a conference call on Thursday held to discuss SDI’s third-quarter earnings results.

After a relatively stable and boring September, CME hot-rolled coil (HRC) futures have been on the move lower thus far in October. Since Sept. 30, the November and December futures have declined $63 and $65, respectively, with the curve’s contango steepening.

US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices slipped again this past week, mirroring movement in offshore markets. This kept domestic tags marginally higher than imports on a landed basis.

Domestic steel champion Barry Zekelman joined SMU to discuss the latest issues impacting the US steel market.