NLMK USA sales in 2012 grew 5 percent to 1.742 million tonnes (1.920 million net tons) from 1.658 million tonnes in 2011 (1.827 million net tons). Of the total, NLMK Indiana had a record hot rolled steel output of 725,000 tonnes (799,175 net tons), a 19 percent increase year-over-year. The balance of the hot rolled […]
Steel Market Update likes to review the transcripts of the earnings conference calls between analysts and the steel mills to see what we can glean from the comments being made by the top executives at the mills. We found a number of items of interest in the U.S. Steel conference call. USS Running at 90% […]
Utilizing a trailing average hot rolled coil (HRC) price, the SMU Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained below zero percent this week for the third week after eight consecutive weeks of positive momentum readings. MoMo is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12 week […]
This will most likely be the last time Steel Market Update will use the table below. We will begin rolling out some new products in the coming days which are meant to replace and improve upon what we have been providing our members to date. We will go into more details on the changes soon. […]
Written by: Brett Linton The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported their final raw steel production numbers for the month of December 2012. This estimation is different than the weekly raw steel production as it is based on 75 percent of the domestic mills reporting versus 50 percent for the weekly estimates. Total raw […]
Written by: Brad Clark, Director of Steel Trading, Kataman Metals U.S. Midwest #1 Busheling Ferrous Scrap (AMM) Uneventful Before Next Month Pricing Begins The physical busheling market has been characteristically quiet this week as both dealers and mills jockey for position ahead of next week when price negotiations will begin in full swing. All signs […]
Written by: Brad Clark, Director of Steel Trading, Kataman Metals Settlement prices have barely moved this week as the recent price hikes have done little to inspire the futures market. After a couple of month of sideways movements in the physical market the last couple of weeks have seen the market take a steep turn […]
Our Steel 101: Introduction to Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals Workshop is quickly filling up. We have about 6 spots left available for our February 27-28 workshop which will be held in the Columbus, Mississippi area and include a tour of the Severstal Columbus mini-mill. You can learn more about our program on our website or […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Caterpillar Inc. had its best year on record for sales and profit. Revenue for 2012 was $65.875 billion, up 10 percent from 2011. Earnings per share were $8.42, up 15 percent compared with last year despite an impairment charge related to a Chinese acquisition. Fourth quarter revenues were at $16.075 billion, […]
Written by: Sandy Williams New orders and shipments for manufactured durable goods both rose in December. New orders increased $10 billion or 4.6 percent to $230.7 billion, rising for the fourth consecutive month according to figures released by the Department of Commerce. New orders have been up seven of the last eight months, with transportation […]
As if the south is not already flooded with flat rolled steel mills, Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe and Big River Steel CEO John Correnti announced earlier today that if the bonds are approved by the Arkansas legislature a new $1 billion steel mill will be built in Arkansas. Details were lacking regarding the type of […]
The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported their estimated raw steel production data for the week ending January 26, 2013. According to AISI estimates the U.S. steel industry produced 1,806,000 net tons of raw steel last week. This represents a decrease of 1.0 percent compared to the week earlier and is 5.8 percent lower […]
Written by Sandy Williams United States Steel Corporation reported a net loss of $50 million for the fourth quarter of 2012 compared to net income of $44 million in the third quarter and a net loss of $211 million in fourth quarter 2011. Total earnings for the year 2012 showed a net loss of […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Nucor Corporation announced today that fourth quarter earnings were $136.9 million and flat compared to net earnings of $137.1 million in the same quarter of 2011. Earnings were up in the fourth quarter from $110.3 million in the third quarter of 2012. Total net earnings for 2012 were $504.6 million, compared […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Steel Dynamics doubled its fourth quarter earnings from last year. Net income was $60.57 in fourth quarter 2012 compared to $30.20 million in 2011, and $13 million in third quarter 2012. Results included a positive tax adjustment of $16 million. Steel shipments for the quarter dropped slightly from 1.464 million tons […]
Written by: Sandy Williams AK Steel reported net loss of 230.4 million for the fourth quarter 2012 compared to a net loss of 193.9 million in fourth quarter of 2011. Results include a pre-tax pension corridor charge of $157.3 million and a non-cash income tax charge of $96.4 million. Excluding these charges AK Steel […]
Mid-Atlantic Projected Higher – Midwest Sideways to Slightly Lower The February scrap markets are beginning to take shape and our sources are advising SMU that the negativity which existed one or two weeks ago may be waning. Indications are now for a rising market in the east and a sideways market (with a chance for […]
As we made our rounds over the past few days we found a number of the smaller mills who had not yet announced price increases and were continuing to collect orders at the previous prices. We also found a few instances of larger mills continuing to collect prices at the lower end of our scale […]
On Thursday I attended the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) West Coast Dinner in Long Beach, California. Many thanks to David Phelps, president of the AIIS and his West Coast team who did a great job with the dinner and the program. A couple of quick notes to share with our readers, Marcel Van […]
According to Baker Hughes data from January 25th, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,753 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This number represents an increase of 4 rigs from last week. Compared to last year the 1,753 count is a decrease of 255 rigs. Canadian rigs increased by […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Moody’s cut ThyssenKrupp’s credit rating to “junk” status reported Reuter’s on Thursday. Continued cash losses in the ThyssenKrupp Americas business and challenging market conditions were cited for the downgrade. Moody’s said the Steel Americas current market value may be lower than the 3.9 billion Euros ($5.25 billion) written down last year […]
Written by: Sandy Williams The American Iron and Steel Institute commended Ambassador Ron Kirk for his cooperation with the steel industry during his four years of tenure in the Administration. AISI President and CEO Tom Gibson issued the following statement. “Ambassador Kirk is a dedicated public servant who helped lead U.S. trade policy at a […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Buyers bought less new homes in December but overall sales were the best since 2009. New home sales dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 369,000—7.3 percent below the revised November rate of 398,000, but 8.8 percent above the December 2011 estimate of 339,000, according to data released by the […]
This week, the SMU Fair Value HRC (hot rolled coil) Model has spot HRC pricing below Fair Value for the second week in a row after nine consecutive weeks of higher HRC prices. This is due to the SMU average spot HRC index decreasing $10 per ton to $610 per ton and scrap inputs remaining […]
With the exception of Steel Orbis (which if you haven’t noticed tends to take few positions on a weekly basis) and SteelBenchmarker who did not produce new numbers this past week, CRU and SMU both dropped HRC price assessments by double digits by the middle of the week. By the end of the week, Platts […]
Based on the most recent data released by the Department of Commerce projects 2012 total steel imports to be 33,347,611 net tons – this represents an increase of just shy 17 percent versus the 28,515,247 net tons imported into the U.S. during 2011. Galvanized tonnage was up by 36 percent, Galvalume by 22 percent, cold […]
December Imports Down 15% Imports dropped by 377,746 net tons compared to the prior month. On a day’s adjusted basis December imports were 15 percent lower than November. Based on preliminary license data January imports are projected to be approximately 2.9 million net tons – well above both the 3-month and 12-month moving average. Semi-finished […]
Written by: Sandy Williams New construction starts leapt 23 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $530 billion according to data released by McGraw-Hill Construction. Total constructions starts for 2012 grew 6 percent to $463.6 billion for a moderate gain at a faster rate from the previous two years. Construction growth overall […]
A quick reminder that our Steel 101 workshop registration is open – details about our program, our instructors, and the tour of Severstal Columbus which is part of the program and discount details for SMU member companies are on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com – or you are welcome to contact our office with any questions you […]
Written by: Sandy Williams ArcelorMittal is permanently closing six finishing lines and a coke plant at its Liege facility in Belgium. A seventh line will be maintained only as a repairing line. The company announced in October 2011 that it would permanently idle its liquid phase at Liege due to over-capacity in Northern Europe. Liege […]