The next shale oil and gas boom could be in Texas according to the estimates of volume of recoverable oil in the Cline Shale formation. More than 30 billion barrels of recoverable oil lie underground in Cline Shale according to studies by Devon Energy and Chesapeake Energy. It is estimated there are approximately 3.6 million […]
Steel Market Update asked one of our Steel Summit Conference speakers, Mike Marley of MetalPrices.com to comment on why scrap prices moved lower as the month of July progressed compared to the early indications of higher ferrous scrap prices during the first few days of the month. Here is his response: There were a couple […]
The world export price for hot rolled bands was at $506 per net ton ($558 per metric ton) according to data released by SteelBenchmarker this past week. The world hot rolled export price is up $2 per ton compared to the report produced in late-June.With an estimated $70 per ton added in order to get […]
The hot rolled steel futures market has perked up in the past few weeks with recent bullish events in the physical market supporting prices. After months of trading in a strong backwardation, prices on the nearby months July, August and September have pushed higher trading near parity with spot prices, between $650-665 per ton. Further […]
Because we are a media outlet we receive from the International Trade Administration notification of all kinds of dumping filings against any number of countries. Earlier this week there was a filing against Chinese tires, this morning it was something I couldn’t even pronounce and didn’t have a clue what it was. What we are […]
Based on a quick analysis of the just released July steel import license data (through the 15th of July) we see the foreign steel imports continuing at very high rates. The import data suggests we will see July imports at levels similar to that of May and June. May had the highest level of imports […]
Spot zinc prices on the LME are closing in on $1.05 per pound as the metal has traded just above $1.04 over the past four business days. The metal has moved from $0.9508 per pound on the 16th of June to its current level at $1.04 per pound. It is important to watch zinc pricing […]
Severstal NA has been actively informing their customers that they want hot rolled spot base prices to $700 per ton ($35.00/cwt) and cold rolled and coated to $820 per ton ($41.00/cwt). Other mills are mulling a move and we expect price announcements to be imminent. Whether specific base prices are announced or the mills go […]
Flat rolled steel prices have begun to firm, especially on hot rolled. Whether this is due to an adjustment of the psychology of the market related to the OCTG final determination by the US Department of Commerce or for some other reason we are not quite sure. However, as discussed in the article above, market […]
Just as the steel industry took a breath of relief at the OCTG decision, the World Trade Organization announced that the United States was unfairly imposing countervailing duties on steel exports from China and India. According to the July 14, WTO decision, the United States acted inconsistently with articles 1, 2, 10, 11 and 32.1 […]
For the week ending July 12, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,903,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 2.7 percent increase over the previous week and a 2.8 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 79.1 […]
The following article comes from one of our contributing writers, Peter Brebach. Peter is an active trader who deals in the pipe and tube markets and understands the impact of the US Department of Commerce final determination on oil country tubular goods (OCTG). Here is what Peter has to say: The just published final determinations […]
The final determination on oil country tubular goods (OCTG) was released on Friday afternoon (Friday, July 11, 2014). The steel industry believes that a positive ruling in favor of the domestic steel industry will prompt a new round of dumping cases aimed at flat rolled products – specifically cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume. However, these […]
This past week saw very little movement in any of the indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Benchmark hot rolled averages ranged from a low of $670 per ton (SMU) to a high of $671 per ton (SteelBenchmarker). The only change from the previous week was in the CRU which rose $1 per ton to […]
The International Trade Commission and Commerce Department issued the following determination on antidumping relief on OCTG imports from South Korean steelmakers: “Today, the Department of Commerce announced its affirmative final determinations in the AD investigations of imports of OCTG from India, Korea, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam, and CVD investigations […]
Apparent steel supply is defined as domestic mill shipments to domestic locations plus imports. Sources are the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Department of Commerce. The three month moving average of the total tonnage of sheet and strip supply in the period March through May was 4,603,548 tons, up by 11.5 percent from […]
It is still too early in the month of July to provide a trend analysis of where we think import numbers will fall by the end of the month. The first eight days (with three being holidays) of the month saw a relatively large number of license applications but we will wait until next Tuesday […]
Total US Steel Exports in May were 1,035,608 net tons, down 4.1 percent over April tonnage and down 10.9 percent over May 2013 levels. Eighty Nine percent of May exports were to Canada and Mexico, receiving 559,231 and 363,325 tons respectively. Exports of plate cut lengths were 136,490 tons, up 6.0 percent over April and […]
Apparent steel supply for May was 10,321,747 net tons, the highest figure Steel Market Update has in its recorded history back to January 2010 (by no means a historical record). Steel Market Update calculates apparent steel supply by adding domestic shipments and finished US imports and subtracting total US exports. May supply represents a 1,262,877 […]
May ferrous scrap exports totaled 1,708,695 net tons (1,550,104 metric tons) with Turkey, Taiwan, Korea, Canada, and Egypt being the top five countries where scrap was sent. These countries accounted for 69.1 percent of all scrap exports. Total May ferrous scrap exports were 15.7 percent higher than previous month but 27.8 percent lower than the […]
Steel buyers have returned from the 4th of July Holiday ready and willing to buy steel. Steel Market Update spoke with a number of commercial people at various steel mills who told us they were receiving an increasing amount of inquiries and orders. One of the conversion mills told us earlier today that their order […]
The sense, the tone of the market, is that prices are firming a bit. The slide we experienced over the past few weeks (modest as it was) has been moderating and shrinking in size. That is the sense that we have been receiving as we spoke to both buyers and steel mills over the past […]
The Detroit scrap market settled on Monday with cut grades (such as heavy melt or HMS) rising by $10 per gross ton and shredded scrap by $15 per gross ton. Prime grades, such as #1 busheling traded sideways compared to last month. Our scrap sources are telling us that the best deals made (from a […]
Many within the steel industry are looking toward Washington, D.C. to right was has been perceived as a wrong committed by South Korea against the OCTG manufacturers and supporting domestic steel mills. According to the US Department of Commerce website, the final determination is supposed to be announced on Thursday of this week so we […]
Steel Market Update did not publish on Sunday evening due to the extended 4th of July holiday here in the United States. We know that there are a number of our readers who enjoy our Comparison Price Indices (CPI) articles on Sunday evening. Here is what the CPI looks like as of Monday evening: Benchmark […]
For the week ending July 5, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,853,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 0.5 percent decrease over the previous week but a 0.5 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 77.0 […]
The month began pretty much the same way it ended with one of the domestic integrated mills attempting to influence pricing by making a flat rolled steel price announcement. Early in June ArcelorMittal announced specific base price levels in an attempt to stem the slide which had already begun at that point in time. The […]
On Monday, United States Steel (USS) announced a base price increase on all new flat–rolled steel orders. The $25 per ton increase ($1.25/cwt) was to be “…applicable to all open quotations and/or negotiations where an agreement is not yet concluded….” As with most price announcements all published pricing extras were to be applied to any […]
During the month of June we saw all of the steel price indexes followed by Steel Market Update decline by double digits ($10 per ton or greater). The only exception was on plate which saw two of the three indexes taking prices higher and one remaining the same. Looking at the indices as a whole […]
For those of you who have never gone to New York City to participate in or be around the Steel Success Strategies Conference, you are missing an experience. The sheer concentration of steel mills, trading companies, service centers and manufacturing companies as well as scrap, logistics, shipping, toll processors, equipment can be overwhelming. After spending […]