Total rolled product imports in April were down by 26.3 percent year over year on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This was the sixth consecutive month where imports declined by more than 20 percent compared to the same month last year. This early look at April’s import volume is based on Commerce Department license […]
New Commerce Department data shows the United States exported 641,214 tons of steel in February, down 1 percent from January but up 7 percent from the same month one year prior. While steady compared to the previous month, recall that December 2019 was the second lowest export level in the past decade (just ahead of […]
February apparent U.S. steel supply slipped to 8.5 million net tons, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute and U.S. Department of Commerce. Recall that January apparent supply saw a drastic jump over December and was quite high compared to the last few years. The latest data shows suppy has fallen back […]
Buyers are not purchasing much steel these days as they work to keep inventories in line with declining demand due to the coronavirus, making it more challenging than usual for Steel Market Update to track steel prices. By SMU estimates, flat rolled and plate prices declined a further $15-45 per ton this week. Not surprisingly, […]
U.S. raw steel production plunged by another 8.1 percent in the week ending April 4, on top of a nearly 10 percent drop the prior week, as the coronavirus crisis eats into steel demand. Production in the April 4 week totaled 1,534,000 net tons with the mills operating at an average capability utilization rate of […]
Final February steel import license data was released this week, ending the month at 1.5 million net tons of total steel imports, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. This is the lowest monthly import level seen since December 2009 when final imports were at 1.4 million tons. OCTG imports have not been this low […]
CRU is forecasting that North American steel sheet prices will find a bottom sometime this summer, but will remain volatile while supply and demand gradually rebalance as the coronavirus crisis subsides. CRU projects steel consumption will decline by 22 percent this year as a result of virus-related shutdowns in automotive and other key manufacturing industries. […]
The latest SMU comparison of foreign and domestic hot rolled prices shows that U.S prices continue to remain advantageous over foreign imports, according to SMU and CRU indices released earlier this week. The price gap between domestic HRC compared to German and Italian products has widened to over $100 per ton since our previous price […]
By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson, from the CRU Steel Monitor As expected, sheet prices in the U.S. Midwest market have fallen. Prices today, reflective of transactions booked last week, fell by $13-26 /s.ton w/w. For all sheet prices, we continue to hear of lower priced offers and expect that transaction prices will continue to […]
Steel buyers are beginning to sit on their hands as they watch the damage being done to the economy by the efforts to fight the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The problem when buyers begin to sit back and wait is there are limited spot buys actually happening in the market, and many times there […]
Domestic raw steel production plunged by nearly 10 percent in the week ending March 28 as the coronavirus took a toll on the economy and steel demand, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute. Steelmakers have announced a series of furnace idlings in the past few weeks that took an estimated 5 million tons of […]
By CRU Credit Research Analyst Eduardo Tinti, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor Last week iron ore prices increased, supported by news of mining bans in Canada and South Africa before being pulled down due to the worsening global demand outlook after the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic led governments around the world to adopt […]
Ferrous scrap prices are expected to drop sharply in April as a result of all the market disruptions from the coronavirus. How sharply is unclear. Almost certainly lower scrap prices will add to the downward pressure already being felt on finished steel prices. Some reports claim scrap could plummet by as much as $100/GT, but […]
By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson, from CRU’s Steel Monitor In the U.S. Midwest market, sheet prices were split this week. The price of HR coil fell $21 /s.ton to $561 /s.ton while CR and HDG coil prices fell by only $1-$3 /s.ton to $770 and $747 /s.ton, respectively. The spread between HDG coil and […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Steel This month HR physical prices as reflected by the index basically started at $560/ST and rose $20-plus to hold, then fell […]
Preliminary steel import license data for February, released this week, slipped to the 1.5 million net ton range for total steel imports, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Steel Market Update’s last import update just one week ago had February imports at 1.9 million tons. This is the lowest monthly import level seen since […]
Steel prices continue to weaken due to the coronavirus’ effect on demand, but have not collapsed as many fear. Galvanized steel saw the biggest decline in the past week, with smaller adjustments for hot rolled and cold rolled products. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $540-$580 […]
Steel prices saw further declines this week, but not a dramatic collapse. The benchmark price of hot rolled now averages around $560 per ton, down $5 from last week and down $50 from the mid-January high of $610. Most of the steel buyers responding to Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week expect […]
Raw steel production saw its third weekly decline of 1 percent or more, taking the mill capability utilization rate below 80 percent for the first time since mid-December 2019 as the coronavirus crisis begins to affect steel demand. Production for the week ending March 21 totaled 1,852,000 net tons, for a utilization rate of 79.4 […]
By CRU Research Manager Paul Butterworth, from CRU’s Steel Monitor CRU has massively downgraded forecast GDP growth in China to 1-2 percent for 2020 and we now expect the USA and Eurozone to fall into recession. Global GDP growth is now expected to be 1 percent for the year, an effective global recession. While economic […]
In the past week, iron ore saw its biggest drop of the year as prices fell by nearly $10 /t. The main reason for the fall was an escalation of Covid-19 cases outside of China, which caused concerns of iron ore demand in key steelmaking regions such as Europe and northeast Asia. At the same […]
Raw materials prices are poised for a rapid decline as the dollar strengthens and the global economy slumps. Table 1 summarizes the price changes through March 18 of the five materials considered in this analysis. It reports the month/month, 3 months/3 months and 12 months/12 months changes on a percentage basis. This is likely our […]
Global scrap trade has been trending down for two years and in Q4 2019 the U.S. share increased to 26.8 percent, the highest since Q1 2013. This is a quarterly analysis using data from the Iron and Steel Statistics Bureau (ISSB) in the UK. Some nations are slow to report, which results in the analysis […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Matt Watkins, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service Covid-19 is now the major driver of developments in the global steel industry, as indeed it is in the wider economy. Over the past month the virus has spread rapidly outside China and its growth remains uncontrolled. Europe has become a new epicenter […]
Cleveland-Cliffs has temporarily shut down construction activity at its hot-briquetted iron (HBI) site in Toledo, Ohio, due to the COVID-19 virus. All construction at the site will cease at the end of the business day on March 20 until further notice. Cleveland-Cliffs’ iron ore mining and steelmaking facilities will continue operations. The Toledo plant is […]
Our latest look at foreign versus domestic hot rolled prices shows that U.S prices continue to remain advantageous over foreign imports, according to SMU and CRU price indices released earlier this week. The price gap between domestic HRC compared to German and Italian products has widened since our previous price updates, while the East/Southeast Asian […]
Today, Steel Market Update had conversations with manufacturing companies across the United States. We found businesses reporting strong demand, plants are still open, office workers tend to be working from home and factory workers are being trained on social distancing as well as personal/equipment hygiene. Most of those we contacted either on the phone or […]
SMU contributor Tim Stevenson is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Tim’s previous role, he was a Director at Cargill Risk Management, and […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary, from CRU’s Zinc Monitor The LME is preparing to move from trading in the ring to electronic settlement pricing as the UK ramps up Covid-19 restrictions on all but essential activities and LME prices continue to take a hammering. While Chinese demand is gradually recovering from the Q1 shock of […]
Updated February steel import license data was released this week, remaining in the 1.9 million net ton range for total steel imports, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Finished steel imports in February were at 1.5 million tons, down over January’s 1.6 million ton level and below the 2019 finished import average of 1.7 […]