Based on Steel Market Update proprietary analysis of the recently released MSCI shipment and inventory data, we have determined that the Apparent Deficit of flat rolled steel for October now totals 361,000 tons. This is a reduction of 21,000 tons compared to the end of September. At the end of October 2012, service centers had […]
I have a question for our members – I have just received the new bill for what it will cost me to publish the CRU indices in our Sunday night comparison of various indexes. Before I agree to pay what I believe to be an excessive amount for the right to publish their numbers I […]
We saw all of the indices capturing higher flat rolled steel prices this past week. Benchmark hot rolled range from $665 to a high of $675 per ton as price assessments rose from $5 to $15 per ton compared to the prior week. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator continues to point toward higher prices over […]
We have had a number of inquiries (and a couple of payments) from our existing members wanting to upgrade to Premium Level. If this is something you are considering please contact our office. If you are a single member we will prorate from your existing membership. If you are a corporate member pricing will depend […]
Light vehicle (autos + light trucks) production surged in October, up 13.5 percent, the rolling 3 months production was up by 13.1 percent. Year over year production was up by 8.3 percent in total and the Detroit 3 made up some ground being up 10.1 percent. Light vehicle production has now exceeded the pre-recession level […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained positive this week for the fifth week in a row after four consecutive weeks of being in negative territory. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12-week average spot price as […]
We are working into the night to get all of our existing members into the new website. Transition is always a fun project and our company has grown over the past 5+ years. So, this project has been a real challenge for us to complete. There are bound to be bugs in the system. Sometimes […]
As of 8 PM ET on Tuesday evening – here is where we are regarding the launch of our new website. We are integrating the PayPal system into the new site and the design team is reworking the Events section and the way we will take payments for our workshops, conferences, etc. These last two items […]
All of the indices continue to show strength at the domestic steel mills as prices remained relatively steady to rising this past week. Even with the minor drop in hot rolled and galvanized by our own index which we attribute to just the way the data fell this past week. Steel Market Update continues to […]
Service centers are attempting to collect higher flat rolled spot steel prices from their end user customers and each other. Steel Market Update has seen a dramatic rise in the percentage of service centers raising spot prices to their customers during the last 30 days. Based on responses from service centers the percentage of distributors […]
Based on the SMU steel market survey which was concluded this past week, less than 50 percent of 2014 flat rolled steel contracts have been settled. When asked if negotiations with the domestic steel mills had resulted in at least having contract pricing in place for the 1st Quarter 2014, 34 percent of manufacturing companies […]
What a week we have in store for us (and you) this week. John Temples and I will be traveling to a domestic steel mill where we will meet two of our instructors we use for Steel 101 and we will conduct two one-day workshops for approximately 50 people. This is a custom program specifically […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel who participated in our latest review of the steel industry continued to be optimistic regarding their company’s ability to be successful in the current market environment. The latest Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index was measured at +40 during the first full week of November. The […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) concluded our early November research on the flat rolled steel market earlier today. One of the areas we queried was if those responding to our questionnaire believe that the domestic mills will raise flat rolled steel prices within the first two weeks of November. With 72 percent of the respondents responding […]
According to our latest steel market survey results, lead times have begun to move out on all of the flat rolled products scrutinized by Steel Market Update. Hot rolled lead times extended from 4.07 weeks to 4.36 weeks, cold rolled moved from 6.10 weeks to 6.38 weeks, galvanized moved from 6.26 weeks to 6.39 weeks […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained positive this week for the 4th week in a row after 4 consecutive weeks of being in negative territory. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12-week average spot price […]
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We continue to slave away on the combination of our new website as well as the work needed to conclude a special steel training workshop we are doing with a domestic steel mill next week. Our next Steel 101 workshop is available for registration on our existing (and soon new) website or you can contact […]
The Department of Commerce economic data is running late and in the case of CPIP the September data will be released along with October on December 2nd. We now have August data released almost a month late. Normally, this would be a Premium Level analysis only. Since the reports are running behind we decided to […]
On Thursday, October 31st Steel Market Update adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral to Higher. We now believe domestic flat rolled steel prices will rise over the next 30 to 60 days. We have already begun reporting prices as rising over the past three weeks. Prices on benchmark hot rolled coil had been bouncing […]
The flow of higher pricing slowed this past week as a number of indices – including Platts – did not move their flat rolled steel price assessments compared to the previous week. The range between high and low on benchmark hot rolled coils shrunk to $6 per ton with Steel Market Update being in the […]
U.S. automakers sales were up by 10.4 percent in October to 1.2 million vehicles. Early October sales slowed during the government shutdown as customers waited to see how the fiscal standoff resolved, but auto sales picked up later in the month. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate fell slightly to 15.22 million, down from 15.26 million […]
Last evening (Thursday, October 31st) Steel Market Update adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral to Higher. We now believe domestic flat rolled steel prices will rise over the next 30 to 60 days. We have already begun reporting prices as rising over the past three weeks. Prices on benchmark hot rolled coil had been […]
This will be a crazy busy week for all of us here at Steel Market Update. Besides working on final preparations to launch our new website we will be conducting our early November steel market survey and we are finishing up on a private steel industry training workshop for one of the domestic steel mills. […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered at present is thirty six. The present situation of eleven of the indicators based on historical standards was positive on October 31st and thirteen were negative; […]
Last evening (Thursday, October 31st) Steel Market Update adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral to Higher. We now believe domestic flat rolled steel prices will rise over the next 30 to 60 days. We have already begun reporting prices as rising over the past three weeks. Prices on benchmark hot rolled coil had been […]
It seems to be a foregone conclusion that there will be a flat rolled price increase announcement within the next few working days. Spot prices have remained firm with benchmark hot rolled averaging $665 per ton ($650-$680 range) based on our SMU index. Scrap is forecast to be up by $20 to $40 per gross […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained positive this week for the 3rd week in a row after 4 consecutive weeks of being in negative territory. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12-week average spot price […]
It has now been three consecutive months that the SMU Price Momentum Indicator has been at Neutral. Flat rolled steel prices have broken out of the $640 per ton doldrums with benchmark hot rolled coil haven risen to $665 as of earlier this week. The monthly average for benchmark hot rolled is $651 per ton […]
The S&P/Case-Shiller Index reported existing home prices accelerated in August as indicated by a 12.8 percent year-over-year increase and 1.3 percent monthly increase. Both the 10-city and 20-city composites were at their highest annual increase since February 2006. “The monthly percentage changes for the 20-City composite show the peak rate of gain in home prices […]