Zinc spot prices have been falling steadily over the past two months, dropping nearly a quarter since late-January. According to Kitco.com, the spot price was $0.8987 per pound as of Friday. This drop in zinc prices may prompt a change in mill galvanized coating extras. In August/September 2019, many mills adjusted their coating extras when […]
By CRU Analyst Arshiya Sibia and Research Manager Paul Butterworth, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Current information from our China team shows that steel demand is closely tracking our base case forecast for the impact of Covid-19, though steel production remains slightly higher than we had forecast. While our forecast was for steel demand to return […]
Premium subscribers to Steel Market Update have access to reports on our website that break out the import tonnage into district of entry and source nation for six sheet and plate product categories. This report takes the total national tonnage of hot rolled and breaks it down into product detail. Using U.S. International Trade Commission […]
In the course of 2019, imports of hot rolled coil into the Gulf had declined to almost zero by December. SMU presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the detailed look at volume by district of entry and source nation. The report you are reading now […]
Editor’s note: This article is reprinted from last week’s Premium issue with corrected charts. In 2019 the imports of cold rolled sheet into the Gulf and Great Lakes moved dramatically in opposite directions. SMU presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the detailed look at volume […]
In 2019, imports of hot dipped galvanized sheet into the Great Lakes represented more than half the national total, and this was one of only two regions to experience an increase in 2019. SMU presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the detailed look at volume […]
In 2019, most of the imports of other metallic coated sheet (mainly Galvalume) came into the Gulf, but that volume has declined as the Great Lakes volume has increased. SMU presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the detailed look at volume by district of entry […]
In 2019, imports of cold rolled plate declined in all regions, and the Great Lakes accounted for 69.2 percentage of the total national tonnage. SMU presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the very detailed look at volume by district of entry and source nation. The […]
In 2019, imports of cut to length plate declined in all regions except the Gulf, which increased by 45.1 percent. SMU presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the detailed look at volume by district of entry and source nation. The report you are reading now […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s March Steel Sheet Products Monitor Covid-19, the novel coronavirus, has severely disrupted China’s economy. While new cases in China have slowed, thanks particularly to a historically significant containment strategy, Covid-19 has moved on to other countries. These include Italy, Iran and South Korea, but also other areas […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Metallics Monitor The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) rose slightly by 1.3 percent m/m to 206.4 (see chart). While this is broadly stable it bucked the trend compared to steel markets, which came under relatively more price pressure. Structurally, most markets were similar in condition to […]
U.S. raw steel production in January rose to a 10-month high at 8,439,441 net tons, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington. January production was above the 2019 average of 8,061,679 tons and up 1.8 percent compared to the same month last year. The last time production was this high was March 2019 […]
Apparent U.S. steel supply jumped to 9.5 million net tons in January, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute and U.S. Department of Commerce. January apparent supply is now on the high-side compared to the last few years, a nice recovery from November’s three-year low and other late-2019 lows. Apparent steel supply, […]
Steel prices saw only small movement this week, with Galvalume up a bit and plate down a bit. We don’t expect that to be the case moving forward as the market really begins to feel the effects of the coronavirus on the economy and oil prices. In the meantime, Steel Market Update’s Price Momentum Indicators […]
By CRU Senior Cost Economist Ross Cunningham, additional analysis by Ippolito Tarabini and Will Young The oil market is currently facing a large degree of uncertainty. Oil prices could feasibly remain around $40/bbl for a significant period of time. Three key judgements will determine CRU’s oil price forecast for 2020: (I) the extent to which […]
Raw steel production in the week ending March 7 totaled 1,903,000 net tons with the mills operating at 81.6 percent of their capability. That’s down 20,000 tons or 1.0 percent from the previous week when capacity utilization was at 82.5 percent. The current week’s production is a 0.5 percent decrease from the same period last […]
New Commerce Department data shows the United States exported 647,156 tons of steel in January, up 21 percent from December and up 2 percent from the same month one year ago. While up dramatically over one month prior, recall that December 2019 was the second lowest export level in the past decade (just ahead of […]
Final January steel import data was released this week, resting at 3.1 million net tons, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The last time a final monthly figure was this high was in April 2019 at 3.3 million tons. License data currently shows February imports at 1.8 million tons. As previously mentioned, the total […]
Imports of rolled products have declined every month since May 2018 year over year with the greatest declines in each month December 2019 through February 2020. Total rolled product imports in February were down by 26.7 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This follows the 26.3 percent decrease in December and 29.6 percent […]
In spite of the widely reported decline in import volume, import market share increased in the second quarter. Last week we reported that June was the eighth consecutive month in which imports were down by more than 20 percent compared to the same month last year. This has not been the case for import market […]
This report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products and 16 subcategories. Since January 2020, imports’ share of the total sheet products has been 14.5 percent, down from 21.4 percent in 2015. The import share of HRC has been below 10 percent since January 2019. The most striking finding in this […]
Our latest look at foreign versus domestic hot rolled prices shows the U.S price advantage remains strong, 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 over our mid-February update, while the East/Southeast Asian price spread has shrunk (but […]
Ferrous scrap prices surprised to the low side in March, trading sideways to up just $10 per ton, well below initial expectations of up $10-30/GT. The mills were anticipating that higher scrap prices this month would lend support to the $40 increase in finished steel prices they announced last week. “In the Ohio Valley, obsolete […]
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 In the midst of a fairly volatile news cycle in the last month with the COVID-19 virus stealing the headlines, the […]
Sheet prices in the U.S. Midwest market fell by $5-9 /s.ton, w/w with HR coil losing the most, assessed at $560 /s.ton. These prices reflect transactions from last week, which were primarily conducted ahead of recently announced mill price increases. While prices fell, the overall volume component fell at a faster rate. Until the price […]
Steel Market Update’s canvass of the market on Monday and Tuesday indicates that flat rolled steel prices have moved up by $10-20 per ton following last week’s price increase announced by domestic steelmakers. With the help of higher scrap prices expected in March, the mills are hoping to reverse the slide prices have experienced since […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Market Outlook Two pieces of news have led us to lower our global forecasts for 2020. First, disruptions caused by the Covid-19 epidemic are expected to lead to a sharp downturn in near-term global growth, followed by a sharp recovery later in the year. […]
Raw steel production increased in all five regions of the country in the week ending Feb. 29, totaling 1,923,000 net tons, up 1.2 percent from the prior week and raising the mills to a healthy average utilization rate of 82.5 percent. The current week’s production represents a 0.3 percent increase from the same period last […]
Preliminary Census data for January steel imports was released this week, totaling just over 3.1 million net tons for the month, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. While the January license data is still preliminary, the last time the final Census data was this high was in April 2019 at 3.3 million tons. The […]
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 […]