By CRU Prices Analyst Estelle Tran, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service The impact of the U.S. International Trade Commission’s surprising negative determination that allegedly dumped and subsidized fabricated structural steel imports from China, Canada and Mexico have not materially injured a U.S. industry is tough to define in the current protectionist environment. Preliminary tariffs […]
Raw materials prices have been negatively impacted by the coronavirus outbreak in China. Table 1 summarizes the price changes through Feb. 19 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. In the last 30 days, the prices of iron […]
With the exception of coated steels, prices continue to weaken as uncertain market conditions and concerns over the potential fallout from China’s coronavirus weigh on market sentiment. Steel Market Update maintains its Price Momentum Indicator at Lower. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $540-$580 per ton […]
Written by: John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update Steel prices in general appear to have weakened further for the fifth week, based on Steel Market Update’s canvass of the market over the past two days. Hindsight being 20/20, SMU arguably could have adjusted its Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral to Lower earlier than […]
CRU’s U.S. Midwest hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil base price index will be used in the settlement of the CME Group’s new cash-settled U.S. Midwest Domestic Steel Premium (CRU) Futures contract. As announced earlier today by CME Group, the contract will settle on the premium of CRU’s HDG coil base price over the established CRU U.S. […]
Raw steel production in the week ending Feb. 22 totaled 1,901,000 net tons, a small 0.3 percent decrease from the prior week. The average mill utilization rate of 81.5 percent has fluctuated within a narrow +/-1 percent range since the beginning of the year and remains at a healthy level for the mills. Production last […]
By Senior Coal Analyst Ben Carstein, from CRU’s Metallurgical Coal Market Outlook Despite weakening fundamentals in the Chinese steel market, the seaborne metallurgical coal market, and hence prices, remain supported. Chinese HRC and rebar prices are up about RMB90 /t over the week. However, we believe this largely reflects trader purchases that have not been […]
Licenses for imports of finished steel in January totaled around 1.7 million tons, according to the latest Department of Commerce data, well above the three-month moving average near 1.4 million tons. While the January license data is prelminary, the last time the final Census data for finished imports was this high was in August 2019 […]
After the early-February blip when SMU reported the foreign versus domestic hot rolled price spread as slightly widening, we now see that foreign prices have declined a bit more than domestic prices. As a result, the price advantage held by U.S.-produced HRC has begun to shrink again, meaning foreign import prices are somewhat more attractive […]
By CRU Multi-Commodity Analyst Zanna Aleksahhina As of Feb. 19, the outbreak of coronavirus Covid-19 has killed more than 2,000 people, infected over 75,000 others, and put millions in self-isolation. Aside from the human tragedy, the virus poses a real threat to the Chinese economy. The automotive industry will be hit hard, and we expect […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary, from CRU’s Zinc Monitor Disruption caused by the Covid-19 outbreak has cut Chinese demand and visible stocks have risen sharply, placing downward pressure on prices. In Hubei, where restrictions on the movement of goods and people was due to be lifted tomorrow, the local government has just announced today […]
Steel prices continue to lack a clear direction, as Steel Market Update keeps its price momentum at Neutral. SMU’s canvass of the market over the past two days shows hot rolled prices unchanged, cold rolled up and coated steels down. Plate prices also saw a small decrease. Here is how we see prices this week: […]
Raw steel production in the week ending Feb. 15 totaled 1,907,000 net tons, a small 0.4 percent increase from the prior week to a strong mill utilization rate of 81.8 percent. Production last week was down 0.5 percent from the same period last year, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute. Adjusted year-to-date production through Feb. […]
By Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Material Monitor Iron ore prices rebounded in the past week as arrivals of seaborne iron ore to China were at their weakest level in over six months. Port stocks in China fell w/w and talks about further stimulus and a drop in the number of new Covid-19 […]
This report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products and 16 subcategories. Since January 2019, the import market share of total sheet products has been below 15 percent with an 11-month average of 14.0 percent. The import share of HRC has been below 10 percent since January 2019. The most striking […]
Steel prices finished 2019 on an upward trajectory, giving the market hope for a stronger 2020. That trend proved short-lived, however, as prices stalled in January and February, leaving both buyers and sellers wondering what to expect in the weeks and months ahead. Steel prices rose in November and December on a series of price […]
Apparent U.S. steel supply increased to 8.8 million net tons in December, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute and U.S. Department of Commerce. While up over the previous three months, December supply remains low compared to the last two years. Last month we reported that November supply was at a three-year low, […]
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 HR futures prices have retraced lower since the beginning of the year in spite of the mill price increases. Tepid demand/extra […]
Written by Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley. More in-depth regional analysis found in CRU’s Metallics Monitor. The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) fell by 8.9 percent m/m to 203.7 (see chart) following price falls in nearly every market. Supply outpaced demand due to mild winter conditions in much of the northern hemisphere. Key exceptions were Russian scrap and ore-based […]
Steel Market Update’s Price Momentum Indicators remain at Neutral for all flat rolled and plate products. Steel prices moved sideways to down slightly again this week as the market lacks a clear direction. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $560-$600 per ton ($28.00-$30.00/cwt) with an average […]
Steel buyers weighed in today as Steel Market Update conducted our sweep of the markets to determine where spot prices are this week, and to see what is on the minds of the buyers. Here are some of the comments made to SMU earlier today: A manufacturing company shared their perspective with these thoughts, “Where […]
Have steel prices peaked or do they still have some upside? That’s the question on steel buyers’ minds. Is today the time to buy or will steel be cheaper tomorrow? Information from Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire last week and our canvass of the market today is mixed. Steel prices rose in November and […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Iron ore prices bounced back in the past week with Tropical Cyclone Damien forcing Port Hedland and Rio Tinto’s two ports to shut for three to six days. This resulted in ~10 Mt of shipments taken out of the seaborne market. At the same time, the sentiment in the […]
Raw steel production in the week ending Feb. 8 totaled 1,899,000 net tons, a small 0.8 percent decline from the prior week, but still a healthy mill utilization rate of 81.4 percent. Production last week was down 0.9 percent from the same period last year, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute. Adjusted year-to-date production through […]
U.S. raw steel production in December rose 2.9 percent to 8,037,650 net tons, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington. December production was below the 2019 average of 8,061,679 tons and down 2.5 percent compared to the same month last year. Broken down by production method, 5,682,920 tons (70.7 percent) were produced by […]
The United States exported 534,724 tons of steel in December, according to final Commerce Department Census data, down 11 percent from November but up 3 percent from the same month one year ago. This is the second lowest export level in the past decade, just behind December 2018 when 519,099 tons were exported out of […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For more information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. This analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into their district of entry and source nation. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about local import volume […]
Imports of steel rolled products have declined every month since May 2018, year over year, with the greatest decline in January 2020, according to government data. Total rolled product imports in January were down by 35.5 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This follows the 27.8 percent decrease in November on the same […]
By CRU Prices Analyst Estelle Tran, from CRU’s Bulk Ferro Alloys Monitor The steel market got a stronger than expected start to the year, lifting year-to-date U.S. steel mill capability utilization to 82.1 percent—the highest level since May 2019, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. The Institute for Supply Management reported that the […]
When SMU last reported on foreign hot rolled prices on Jan. 23, we questioned whether the U.S. price attraction may be slipping, as the price spread had shrunk for all three foreign indices we compare. This week we see that has not been the case as German and Italian HRC prices have risen through February, […]