For the week ending November 9, 2013, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,829,000 net tons of raw steel, a 0.2 percent decrease over the previous week but a 4.9 increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.3 percent, down […]
In the last issue of SMU, the Final Thoughts article had information from the financial community with a Bloomberg graphic pointing out the difference between U.S. benchmark hot rolled coil prices and those from the rest of the world. The premise being the $190 spread recognized by the financial community was unsustainable. The net result […]
Scrap prices settled higher as the first full week of November came to conclusion. Our sources pegged the Upper Midwest/Chicago area prices up approximately $30 per ton compared to the beginning of October. #1 Heavy Melt (HMS) was referenced at $375 per gross ton ($370-$380 range). Our previous price level for the area averaged $348 […]
According to Baker Hughes data from November 8th, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,754 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 12 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 7 to 1,383 rigs, gas rigs up 5 to 365 rigs, […]
As expected a couple of mills have announced hot rolled coil price increases today, with more expected to follow in the coming days. These hikes have been anticipated by most in the physical market but appear to have caught a few in the paper market off guard as bids quickly entered the market at extremely […]
TSI Iron Ore: Market Remains Firm Iron ore prices have continued to be strong as Rebar futures have bounced off recent months lows last week and spot steel in China continues to go higher. Over the past couple of weeks iron ore prices have pushed up around $5/ton down the curve with Q1 trading around […]
Vale reported net earnings of $3.5 billion in the third quarter, up 120 percent from the same quarter in 2012. Iron ore production was 85.9 million tonnes, up 17.3 percent from the previous quarter and the second best quarter of production in Vale’s history. Iron ore production for the first nine months of 2013 was […]
Spot flat rolled steel prices remained relatively stable compared to where they were at this point in time last week. Hot rolled was down $5 per ton however, we do not consider this to be a significant change. We caught a few more numbers this week at the lower portion of our range. However, the […]
California Steel Industries (CSI) and U.S. Steel Posco (UPI) became the first domestic mills to raise flat rolled steel prices as they opened their order books for the month of January 2014. CSI was the first to release their letter informing their customers that “due to changing market conditions” the mill was increasing their transaction […]
According to Steel Market Update (SMU) sources scrap prices are headed higher for the month of November delivery into the domestic steel mills. Early reports have Detroit settling up $30 per gross ton on all grades. We have also heard shred prices are up $30 per gross ton in the Cleveland and Pittsburgh markets and […]
For the week ending November 2, 2013, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,833,000 net tons of raw steel, a 0.9 percent increase over the previous week and a 7.4 increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.5 percent, up […]
The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported estimated raw steel production at 1,817,000 net tons for the week ending October 26th, 2013. During October, production peaked to a high of 1,873,000 net tons in the week ending October 5th, and dipped to a low of 1,817,000 net tons in the final week ending October […]
The inputs which affect steel prices increased slightly during the month of September with the exception of shredded scrap and 58% Fe Iron Ore prices. Busheling and HMS scrap prices increased by $3 to $5 per ton in the Midwest. Iron ore spot pricing – which is measured out of China – showed one product […]
As we entered the month of October, flat rolled prices had been trending sideways for a number of weeks. On October 1st Steel Market Update measured benchmark hot rolled coil with an average of $635 per ton which was actually down slightly from the $640 recorded at the end of September. However, the mills had […]
The month of September ended with a bang as NLMK USA became the first mill to announce new flat rolled price increases. As we moved into the first few days of October the other domestic mills followed the NLMK lead – although none of the mills followed the base price levels suggested in the NLMK […]
The increased uncertainty over future hot rolled coil pricing has elevated interest in HRC futures. Based on CME Group data there were 8,033 hot rolled futures contracts during the month of October for a total of 160,660 net tons. This represents a 51 percent increase over the 5,301 contracts (106,020 tons) during October 2012. During […]
The combination of higher spot prices for flat rolled steel and adjustments to contract negotiations has caused some steel buyers to seek alternatives to their normal domestic source of supply. Steel Market Update is beginning to get confirmations from both manufacturing companies and service centers of larger foreign tonnage purchases being made for 1st and […]
A certain level of frustration appears to be hitting the service centers in both the spot and contract markets. In the spot market we have heard from a number of service centers that their attempts to raise spot steel prices are being met with a certain level of disbelief as end users evaluate how to […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce is trying to catch up on the steel import licensing data after being affected by the government shutdown orchestrated by our representatives in Washington, D.C. The US DOC released Preliminary Census Data for September imports late last week. Imports continue to be at a high level although slightly lower than […]
Apparent steel supply for August 2013 was up 1.62 percent compared to the same month one year ago. This is primarily due to higher total steel imports and higher semi-finished steel imports for this year. The net trade surplus from imports versus exports was 1,730,960 net tons in August of this year, up from 1,502,420 […]
According to Baker Hughes data from November 1st, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,742 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 4 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 19 to 1,376 rigs, gas rigs down 16 to 360 rigs, […]
Apparent steel supply for August 2013 was up slightly compared to the same month one year ago by 1.62 percent. This is primarily due to higher total imports and higher semi-finished imports for this year. The net trade from imports and exports was a surplus of 1,730,960 net tons in August of this year, up […]
According to Baker Hughes data from November 1st, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,742 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 4 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 19 to 1,376 rigs, gas rigs down 16 to 360 rigs, […]
In my last ditty, I mentioned we were likely headed to the 1775-1800 area on the S&P 500. Well yesterday we reached 1775. However, the Fed statement from their October meeting yesterday had just enough language changes from the September meeting that some felt nervous and got out of some of their positions and the […]
Based on recently released data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, exports of steel rose slightly during the month of August to 1,147,411 net tons (all products). This represents an increase of 60,102 tons compared to the exports shipped during the month of July which totaled 1,087,309 tons. August exports of hot rolled totaled 86,065 […]
The rumor mill is in high gear as being fanned by the various steel industry periodicals. In the most recent edition of breaking industry news Steel Business Briefing and Platts McGraw Hill Financial reported a U.S. mill as being ready to suspend price talks if a deal is announced for ThyssenKrupp Steel USA. The article […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued to rise over this past week. With the exception of Galvalume all of our averages increased by $5 per ton compared to this time last week. The domestic mills continue to be quite firm in their pricing stance and negotiations are limited (but not impossible). The market expects another round […]
The 3 month moving average (3MMA) of imports of the combined tonnage of billets, blooms and slabs through September reached the highest level since February last year. We use the 3MMA to avoid getting too wrapped up in a single months numbers which can be a fruitless exercise. On the same basis flat rolled products […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released final August import numbers late last week. August steel imports rose by 368,606 net tons to 2,878,367 net tons due to higher slab, OCTG, cold rolled and hot-dipped galvanized imports. Slab imports were up by 140,252 tons over the prior month to 657,659 tons total. However, this was expected […]
Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The Industrial Production (IP) index was reported as 100.04 for September, up by 5.7 percent from the 99.47 result in August. This was the first month >100 since February 2008. The three month moving average (3MMA) increased by 2.5 percent year over […]