Category: Region

Canada and the EU have established a Green Alliance, pledging to align their domestic and international climate policies in the pursuit of climate neutrality.

The active rig count for the US and Canada both inched up for the week ended Nov. 22, according to Baker Hughes. The rig count was released early this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

New orders for manufactured durable goods fell in the US in October.

US housing starts crept higher for a second consecutive month in October. Starts were lower, however than the same month last year, according to the most recent data from the US Census Bureau.

Turkish scrap import prices increased for a third consecutive week.

There has been almost an assumption that US mills would get the $950-1,000 per ton ($47.50-50 per cwt) they were seeking on HR base and $1,150-2,000 per ton ($57.50-60 per cwt) for cold-rolled and coated base. Recall that Cliffs initially announced an increase and said it was seeking $1,000 per minimum for hot-rolled coil. Nucor […]

Increasing mortgage rates have caused builders to lose confidence in the market, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

European Aluminium, an association representing the entire European aluminum value chain, announced in a press release that it supports the European Commission's proposed 12th package of sanctions against Russia.

The active rig counts for week ended Nov. 17 were up in the US, while the Canadian counts declined, according to Baker Hughes.

The iron ore price has been rising from the $118 /dry metric ton (DMT) level seen in the last edition, initially due to greater optimism in China after the government’s RMB 1 trillion fiscal stimulus announcement. The price has gotten some extra support from concerns over supply, though the current price level is not backed by […]

In the dynamic landscape of the steel futures market, a confluence of factors is shaping the current narrative.

US Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices continue to surge on the heels of mill increases. They have become significantly more expensive than prices for hot band imported from offshore. Domestic hot band tags moved higher for a seventh consecutive week. Imports have seen only marginal gains over the same period, according to SMU’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects, including steel prices, demand, inventories, imports, and what people were talking about in the market.

Cleveland-Cliffs announced it would seek a minimum base price of $1,000 per ton ($50 per cwt) for hot-rolled coil (HRC) on Nov. 7. Nucor said a day later that it was aiming for $950 per ton. Why didn’t Nucor follow Cliffs up to $1,000 ton? I think there might be some possible answers in our […]

For the week ended Nov. 10, active rig counts in the US dropped while inching up in Canada, according to Baker Hughes.

There seems to be a consensus that US sheet prices have nowhere to go but up in the short term, in part because offshore material ordered now won’t arrive until late March or even April.

ArcelorMittal’s earnings declined in the third quarter of 2023 both sequentially and on-year.

Several past columns in SMU have included comments about the futures forward curve, using terms like contango and backwardation

Hot-rolled coil (HRC) tags continue to rally in the US, broadening the price disparity between domestic and imported offshore product.

Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Stelco recorded a drop in third quarter profits on lower steel prices and sales volumes. The Hamilton, Ontario-based company predicted that volumes would be lower still in the fourth quarter. But it also said that financial results would improve next year on higher prices and longer lead times.

It was sort of like the UAW strike. It started out small. Then got big fast. Below is a timeline of the steelmakers’ target HRC prices since the spot market bottomed out in late September.

Declining demand and a challenging economic environment impacted Gerdau’s shipments in North America during the third quarter.

The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) increased in October thanks to stronger commercial activity, according to the latest Dodge Construction Network (DCN) data.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) scrap subsidiary OmniSource has acquired a 55-acre rail-served tract near the Port of Houston to expand its metal recycling operations along the Gulf Coast.

You could make a case that Nov. 1 was April Fool’s Day for steel – or at least for the widespread rumor that Cliffs would announce a $10-billion deal for U.S. Steel on that date. I’m not going to endorse any precise date or price tag. But I’d be surprised if a deal – or […]

The LME aluminum three-month price was unchanged on the morning of Nov. 3 and was seen trading at $2,235 per tonne.

Baker Hughes' active rig counts for the week ended Nov. 3 dropped in the US but remained steady in Canada.

The American steel industry is the backbone of the US economy and produces the cleanest steel in the world.

There was consensus that steel prices would crash on the UAW strike and then rebound just as sharply once the union and the “Big Three” automakers reached tentative deals.

Klöckner & Co. said it has agreed to acquire South Carolina-based fabricator Industrial Manufacturing Services (IMS) through US subsidiary Kloeckner Metals Corp.(KMC).