Category: SMU

Most sheet and plate buyers continue to report that mills are not negotiable on new order spot prices, according to our latest market survey conducted this week.

US service centers’ flat-rolled steel supply declined for a third straight month in March, with shipping days of supply slipping to 49.3 on an adjusted basis, according to SMU data.

US steel exports held steady from January to February and remain near historical lows.

The spread between domestic hot-rolled coil and prime scrap prices widened again in April, a trend that started back in September.

We look at market participant comments from this month's SMU Ferrous Scrap Survey.

Sheet and plate prices increased yet again this week on an increasingly tight spot market. It's gotten so tight that some market participants say they're becoming more concerned about availability than about price.

After an active end to March in the Cross-Atlantic export trade, things have calmed down thus far in April.

SMU’s Current and Future Sentiment Indices for scrap rose in April, pulling even with each other for the first time, according to the latest data from our ferrous scrap survey.

Heating and cooling equipment shipments recovered in February, surging 17% from January, according to the latest data released by AHRI.

Raw steel production increased for the fourth-consecutive week last week to a new multi-year high, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).

SMU’s March ferrous scrap market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members.

Nucor has increased its consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil to $1,045 per short ton (st), a $5/st bump from last week.

Remember the “Got Milk?” advertising campaign of the 1990s. Maybe we should start a “Got Steel?” campaign. Or maybe “Got Spot Tons?” would be more accurate, if less catchy.

No doubt, events will scramble the status quo. Meanwhile, the global systems that have prevented major wars for 80 years are sagging.

Steel imports remain near some of the lowest volumes recorded in over five years.

A coalition of US wire rod producers has filed a petition seeking countervailing duties on carbon and alloy steel wire rod from Algeria.

US scrap prices came in flat on busheling in April, while shredded and HMS both traded down, sources told SMU.

U.S. Steel and the United Steelworkers filed anti-dumping and countervailing duty petitions with the US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission on Thursday.

The pig iron market in Brazil continues to rise, despite US scrap prices trading sideways to down for April.

The world definitely seems like a more dangerous place these days. And, of course, when national security is invoked, the steel industry always plays a key role.

The trade case investigating large-diameter graphite electrodes is progressing after an International Trade Commission (ITC) vote.

The US scrap market has largely settled at prices most predicted in late March. The prevailing view then: shredded and other obsolete grades, like HMS, would drop $10-20 per gross ton (gt) despite higher transportation costs. And prime grades, like #1 busheling and bundles, would trade sideways thanks to better demand and static supply. This is essentially what has happened.

The US Court of International Trade (CIT) has upheld the Commerce Department’s decision to apply adverse facts available to Nippon Steel in the 2018-2019 administrative review of hot-rolled steel from Japan.

SMU survey respondents sound off on a host of issues affecting the steel industry.

More people expect hot-rolled (HR) coil prices to continue to climb. And most respondents to our last survey predict that prices will hit or even breach the $1,100 per short ton (st) threshold.

The president’s April 2 proclamation restructures how derivative products are classified, valued, and tariffed – a shift that industry groups say will close loopholes but could raise costs for certain downstream imports.

The petitions allege that foreign producers are selling seamless and welded OCTG at unfairly low prices and, in Austria’s case, benefitting from countervailable subsidies.

A Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) official said iron ore shipments would be delayed by a few weeks on the Great Lakes because of winter weather and a lack of icebreakers. 

SMU’s Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices have both inched up, according to our most recent survey data.

If I had to sum it up, I’d say “pain at the pump” is back. AAA says gasoline now averages more than $4 per gallon nationally ($4.08 to be precise) for the first time in for years. Meanwhile, diesel prices average $5.40 per gallon, according to the US Energy Information Administration. That’s up $1.81 per gallon from a year ago.