July imports rose slightly compared to June but were below the three month and twelve month moving averages. The SMU forecast for August imports is down slightly from July based on license data from this past week. We anticipate August imports to be 2.3-2.4 million tons. Below is the press release from the American Institute […]
Steel Market Update sources are forecasting slightly lower shredded scrap prices in the Midwest and Ohio Valley as we prepare to move into September. Prime grades (such as #1 busheling) are forecast to be sideways to down slightly and cut grades are forecast to move sideways across most areas of the country. This is what […]
We are picking up a very mixed bag over the past two days regarding spot flat rolled pricing. As we go through the process we ask ourselves is the spot pricing market glass half full (meaning prices will go higher from here) or half empty (meaning prices will move lower). We don’t have a clear […]
In three months through May exports of flat products declined as those of long products remained unchanged (see graphic below). Compared to May last year total exports were up by 311 tons. This result breaks down to flat products down 21,166 tons, longs down 29,114 tons and tubulars up 43,176 tons. In all three cases […]
The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported estimated raw steel production at 1,822,000 net tons for the week ending June 29, 2013. Despite outages and maintenance issues, production rose through July to 1,904,000 net tons of raw steel in the week ending July 20, followed by a drop to 1,871,000 net tons in the […]
Imports of semi finished, and hot worked steel imports through July 2013 Imports of the combined tonnage of billets, blooms and slabs have been trending down for 12 months as have also the combined imports plate and sheet. Total long products have been trending up for all of 2013. These conclusions are based on a […]
Caterpillar Inc. reported weakened sales for February in its rolling three month period that compares current sales with those of the same period one year ago. Machine retail sales were down 13 percent in February further slipping from 4 percent in January. February sales last year were up by 21 percent over the same period […]
U.S. Midwest #1 Busheling Ferrous Scrap (AMM) Prices Drop as an April Pullback Looks Likely After prices for March settled up $40+ the market for April already is starting to shape up significantly weaker. Dealers succeeded in pushing up prices last month but currently it looks like April will be down at least $20 t […]