Category: SMU

US service center flat-rolled steel supply edged up slightly in June as daily shipments dropped to the lowest rate this year.

I’ll get to the market in a minute. But first the big news, for us and we hope for you too. We crossed a big threshold this week with Steel Summit – more than 1,000 people are attending the conference on Aug. 21-23 at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in Atlanta. Join more than […]

There’s been a lot of talk about AI. We’ve even used ChatGPT a bit here ourselves at Steel Market Update. But this week I had the chance to get a broader view on what’s on offer in the field at the Reuters Momentum Conference on July 11-12 here in Austin, Texas, where I live. I went […]

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects, including steel prices, demand levels, import offers, and inventory. Rather than summarizing the comments we received, we are sharing some of them in each buyer’s own words. We want to hear your thoughts, too! Contact david@steelmarketupdate.com to be included in […]

I’d halfway expected to see hot-rolled coil prices come down this week. A few of you made the case for price declines. The logic: softer demand meeting increased domestic supply and higher import volumes. Some of you also noted that lead times, while not bad, were hardly strong enough to support another round of price […]

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union will begin contract negotiations with the Detroit 3 automakers later this week, according to media reports. Talks are set to start on Thursday with Stellantis, on Friday with Ford, and on July 18 with General Motors, according to an article published by Reuters on Monday. “We have a long history of negotiating […]

US light-vehicle sales posted solid growth in June, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and sales are expected to continue pushing upward. Light-vehicle sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 15.7 million units in June. Showing 4% month-over-month growth, this beat previous forecasts. June’s sales pushed total second-quarter sales […]

It’s the time of year when I’m going to be banging the drum about Steel Summit – even in the lede to Final Thoughts 🙂 We’ll get to the latest steel market trends in a moment. But first I want to highlight that hotels are still available near the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in Atlanta, where […]

SMU’s Current and Future Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices swapped directions again this week, with current increasing and future sentiment easing, according to our most recent survey data. Every other week we poll steel buyers about sentiment. The Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices measure how steel buyers feel about their company’s chances of success in the current market, as well as […]

The ITC announced today it is taking up the fact-finding investigation requested by the US Trade Representative into greenhouse-gas emissions intensity in the US steel and aluminum industries. In steel, more than 50 products will be examined for their GHG emissions-intensity as of 2022. The study is set to be completed by Jan. 28, 2025. […]

Lead times were broadly stable this week, with sheet products rising modestly and plate unchanged from SMU’s market check two weeks ago. More meaningful movements in lead times should be seen in the coming weeks as buyers return to the market after the Fourth of July holiday. Should the mills’ recent sheet price hikes take […]

Total US construction spending increased in May by 0.9% from April and 2.4%  year-over-year (YoY), according to the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). “The data for May show there has been no letup in the feverish pace of manufacturing construction but a very mixed picture for other project types,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist of AGC. […]

The overall mill negotiation rate dropped this week following the July 4th holiday, though plate bucked the trend, increasing by four percentage points, according to SMU’s most recent survey data. The percentage of respondents saying steel mills were willing to talk price on plate stood at 63% this week, up from 59% two weeks ago, while […]

We’re now less than two months away from the kickoff of SMU’s 2023 Steel Summit Conference, which runs from Monday-Wednesday, Aug. 21-23, in Atlanta. Registrations for Steel Summit are flooding in, with roughly 820 people already registered, and hotel availability dwindling fast. Register here. The hotels within walking distance of the event – Georgia International Convention […]

It’s been a wild ride in the HRC futures market since we last wrote this column. The chart below shows the CME Futures curve at our last publication at the beginning of June (yellow) and the last three weeks since Nucor’s initial price announcement (blue). A month ago, the physical market was in the doldrums. […]

Worthington Industries Inc. announced strong earnings for its fiscal 2023 fourth quarter, boosted by an exceptional performance from its steel processing business. The Columbus, Ohio-based manufacturing and steel processing company reported net earnings of $129.9 million for fiscal Q4 ended May 31, a 62% increase from $80.3 million in the same period one year prior.   […]

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects, including steel prices, demand levels, and import offers. Rather than summarizing the comments we received, we are sharing some of them in each buyer’s own words. We want to hear your thoughts, too! Contact david@steelmarketupdate.com to be included in our […]

China’s recent reopening, coupled with increased government spending on infrastructure, has led Fitch Ratings to upgrade the outlook for the global steel sector from deteriorating to neutral. The New York-based ratings agency revised China’s steel sector outlook to neutral as well, according to a research note sent to SMU. China’s “stronger-than-expected infrastructure growth and a […]

While a lack of inventory is constraining existing-home sales in the US, it’s proving a boon for sales of new homes. Existing-Home Sales Constricted by the lack of inventory, existing-home sales rose just slightly in May, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Sales of existing homes reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) […]

A rare state visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India culminated in a joint statement by President Biden and the prime minister last Thursday. This was a blockbuster statement, covering 58 paragraphs and resolving or narrowing differences on a host of issues. Some disputes had been festering for years. Despite pre-meeting statements advising that […]

European sheet prices have declined sharply by €112-146 per metric ton ($110-144 per net ton) month-on-month (MoM), around 12-18% across all sheet products. In CRU’s latest assessment, German hot-rolled coil decreased by €125 MoM to €689 per metric ton ($680 per net ton), while Italian HR coil saw a drop of €146 to €657 per […]

The US and India have agreed to end six outstanding disputes at the World Trade Organization (WTO), some directly involving steel, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said Thursday. Also, USTR Tai said that India has agreed to remove retaliatory tariffs, which it had imposed as a response to the US Section 232 national security measures […]

Offshore hot-rolled coil (HRC) remains at a discount to domestic product, though the US premium is at its lowest mark in nearly four months, according to SMU’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis. Prices for hot band stateside have eroded sharply over the past few weeks, down $115 per net ton so far in June, […]

The overall mill negotiation rate was steady this week, though plate was an outlier, jumping 16 percentage points, according to SMU’s most recent survey data.  The percentage of respondents saying steel mills were willing to negotiate price on plate rose to 59% this week, up from 33% two weeks ago. Every two weeks, SMU asks […]

Positive structural trends in the North American market are supporting strong earnings results for Commercial Metals Co. The Irving, Texas-based longs producer and metals recycler reported lower fiscal third-quarter sales and earnings compared to levels seen in the year-ago quarter during the 2022 earnings boom, but its results remain strong, said CEO Barbara Smith. “CMC […]

Ternium announced this week that its new slab mill will be built in Pesquería, Nuevo León, Mexico. The Luxembourg-based Latin American steelmaker had said earlier this year it would build an electric-arc furnace (EAF) and direct-reduced iron (DRI) facility in North America. Brownsville, Texas, had been rumored to be in the running for the new […]

How can SMU’s sheet prices go down shortly after a round of $50-per-ton mill price hikes? Long story short: It’s because we’re capturing both pre- and post-increase pricing in our survey as well as in calls and emails with some of you. And, as those of you who’ve been in the industry for a while […]

North American auto assemblies saw nearly an 11% boost in May, posting the second-best monthly total year to date. The month’s assemblies were also nearly 18% higher year-on-year (YoY), according to LMC Automotive data. A modest decline was seen in supply levels in April, but that easing was in part due to seasonal factors and […]

Flat Rolled = 51.4 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 55.4 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel inventories were nearly flat month on month in May with shipments still strong. Service centers carried 51.4 shipping days of supply at the end of May, according to adjusted SMU data. This was […]

What to make of the latest round of sheet prices hikes: Are they aimed at stopping the bleeding, getting buyers off the sidelines, or actually getting sheet prices back up again? These are serious questions now in a way that they weren’t after U. S. Steel first announced its price hike last Wednesday.  That hike […]