Category: SMU

The US steel market appears to have gone from despairing over the possibility of spot HRC prices slipping into the $500s per ton to worrying about spot availability – and in just a matter of 2-3 weeks.

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

Did the price increase announced by Cleveland-Cliffs last week stick? Yes, at least partially.

Steel prices continued to decline last month – a trend we’ve seen repeated since mid-April.

Will the sheet price hike announced by Cleveland-Cliffs (and quietly followed by at least some mills) stick?

ArcelorMittal said it expects to produce less steel than previously forecast in Brazil. Gerdau has hinted at potential layoffs as imports surge. The Brazil Steel Institute is asking the government to raise import levies to 25% from the existing 9.6%. Meanwhile, Mexico has applied levies to some steel imports.

The LME aluminum 3-month price was up 4.7% during the last week of the month to close September trading at $2,325 per metric ton – its highest price since early August. Several correlations appeared to have broken down in the short term given the weakness in the US stock market, a weaker copper price, and, critically, the resurgent dollar.

The latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members.

SMU's weekly survey reflects what people in the market are talking about. Lately, a popular topic has been the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike.

SMU's Current and Future Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices both increased this week despite the United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike expansion, based on our most recent survey data.

I didn’t see the Cleveland-Cliffs price increase coming on Wednesday. And I didn’t expect to see a target base price of $750 per ton ($37.50 per cwt) for hot-rolled coil. But I’ve since heard that other mills, even if they hadn’t publicly announced anything, had been quietly raising prices before Cliffs publicized its increase. Are […]

While lead times for sheet again had mixed movements this week, those for plate collapsed, according to SMU’s most recent market survey.

Sheet prices declined less than usual this week. Does that mean we’re nearing a bottom, or is it just a pause before the market moves lower yet again?

The drop in imports continued for the second straight month, in line with license applications and falling lower year on year (YoY).

We’ve been busier than usual lately covering two major events (in addition to our pricing and data services) – the potential sale of U.S. Steel and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike. Let’s review some possible developments in each. U.S. Steel Sale – Back in the Headlines We learned last week that Stelco had […]

Last week, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers gave a major speech challenging the views of anti-trade leaders, such as (but not limited to) Bob Lighthizer.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union has more leverage than the Detroit Three automakers in the current strike that started Sept. 15, according to Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) significantly escalated its strike against General Motors and Stellantis on Friday.

A big "thank you" to Wolfe Research and Timna Tanners for organizing a lunch in today in Chicago with a group of steel industry participants and investors.

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices fell further relative to imported product this week. Domestic hot band remains cheaper than offshore HRC as US tags continue to sink at a sharper rate than those overseas.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects, including steel prices, demand levels, sheet prices abroad, inventory, the UAW strike, and what people are talking about in the market

North American auto assemblies saw its best total year to date in August, and its best mark in nearly five years, driven by a 32.8% jump in total assemblies vs. July’s output.

Ken Simonson, chief economist for The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available free to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about the outlook […]

United Auto Workers (UAW) union members in Alabama at a parts supplier to Mercedes-Benz have gone on strike.

US light-vehicle (LV) sales rose to an unadjusted 1.33 million units in August, up 12.8% vs. year-ago levels, while domestic LV sales fell 4.5% month-on-month.

Ford's Canadian subsidiary and auto workers represented by Unifor - roughly the Canadian equivalent of the UAW - have reached a new, tentative labor agreement.

Sheet prices fell again this week, this time not on fears of a United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike but on the actual thing.

United Auto Workers (UAW) union president Shawn Fain has announced a new deadline of Friday, Sept. 22, at noon, at which point the union could expand its strike.

Flat Rolled = 54.1 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 61.2 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel inventories eased back in August with stronger shipments. At the end of August, service centers carried 54.1 shipping days of supply, according to adjusted SMU data, down from 56.1 shipping days of supply […]

Steel Market Update’s Steel Demand Index remains in contraction territory despite marginal improvement, according to our latest survey data.