Liberty Steel USA has raised a $40 million term loan with Eclipse Business Capital to refinance its existing term loan before its maturity in January. The company said that in addition to the new term loan, it has increased existing asset-based lending (ABL) with Eclipse to $150 million from $125 million. This additional liquidity will help the wire rod […]
SunCoke Energy Inc. has announced Katherine T. Gates will serve as the company’s new president, and will also join its board of directors, effective Jan. 1. Mike Rippey, current president and CEO, will continue to serve as CEO after Jan. 1. Gates has held a variety of positions with SunCoke since 2013, most recently serving as senior […]
After surging in late November to a five-month high, Steel Market Update’s (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index slipped three points through Dec. 8th. Our Future Buyers Sentiment Index also fell a few points from it’s previous high, down three points in comparison to two weeks prior. Buyers Sentiment remains strong overall, and Current Sentiment is […]
The US and the European Union have been engaging in talks designed to reduce global “overcapacity” in steelmaking. These talks stemmed from the agreement between the US and EU to change US Section 232 import measures from tariffs to tariff rate quotas (TRQs). The US has announced a plan (details are scarce) to impose higher […]
The following article on the hot-rolled coil (HRC), scrap and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Hot Rolled Over the last month, HR index prices have continued to decline, but at a much slower pace. The most recent index […]
Commercial Metals Co. (CMC) has selected Berkeley County, W.Va., as the site of its fourth rebar micro mill. The project, budgeted at approximately $450 million net of incentives, is expected to have an annual production capacity of 500,000 tons, and employ about 230 fulltime employees, the company said in a statement. This micro mill will […]
O’Neal Steel has announced the promotion of Jodi Parnell to chief operating officer, effective Jan 1. Parnell will assume leadership responsibility for both the company’s operations and supply chain groups—creating a single supply chain and operations team, O’Neal said in a statement. Parnell joined O’Neal Steel in 1999 and has served as vice president of […]
Total construction spending declined in October driven by widespread decreases in most major categories, reported the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) on recent government data. While residential, commercial, highway, and manufacturing outlays fell during the month, contractors’ struggles to complete projects remain impacted by the lack of laborers. Open positions at the end of […]
Metalwest, an NIM Group company, has named Eric Daniel as general manager of the flat-rolled distributor’s Colorado region, with responsibility for facilities in Brighton, Colo., and Albuquerque, N.M. Daniel started at Metalwest’s corporate purchasing team in 2015 as supply chain manager, became director of supply chain in 2018 and joined the NIM Group corporate purchasing […]
These days, there seem to be many emergencies. The impulse of government leaders often is to declare a crisis and then succumb to a dangerous tendency — don’t just stand there, DO something! Last June, the President issued a proclamation on imports of solar panels and cells, declaring a national emergency on the supply of […]
US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices edged up slightly last week on a wave of $60-per-ton sheet price hikes announced by domestic mills. The move appears to have at least temporarily stopped the bleeding seen over the last two months. Time will tell if the price hike attempt finds support. Just about everyone announced an increase of […]
Preliminary Census data indicates that steel imports will have totaled 2.41 million net tons for the month of October. While up 7% from the prior month, October levels are on the low side compared to the previous 18 months. Recall that monthly import levels declined 11% month-on-month (MoM) in September, having also fallen 6% both […]
US manufacturing activity contracted in November for the first time since May 2020, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The ISM’s November manufacturing PMI dipped below the neutral 50.0 mark — the level that typically divides expansion from contraction. It was slowed as new orders remained in contraction territory, while prices fell further […]
Plate supplier Leeco Steel has added new processing capabilities to its distribution center in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The company recently installed a Messer MPC2000 MC combination cutting and drilling machine, allowing for additional plasma cutting, oxy fuel cutting, beveling and drilling at the facility. “Having a Messer combination machine at our Hamilton facility will enable […]
The bottom end of SMU’s sheet price ranges firmed up this week following price hikes of $60 per ton ($3 per cwt) announced by Cleveland-Cliffs and US Steel on Monday. It’s not clear yet whether the price increases will stick in full, in part, or simply stop the bleeding. Case in point: Our sheet price […]
Raw steel production by US mills fell further last week, bringing output to its lowest weekly total all year. Last week’s result kept both utilization and production at their lowest levels since the week of Dec. 26, 2020, according to the latest data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Domestic steel output was […]
As hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices continue to trend lower and we approach the end of 2022, steel buyers are starting to see hopes of a pricing bottom, according to Steel Market Update’s latest survey results. HRC prices this week declined for another consecutive week, with the average price of $615 per net ton, down $15 […]
SMU’s sheet prices slipped again this week. But some market participants predicted that sheet was at or near a bottom. The anticipation of that bottom appeared to pull some big buyers off the sidelines. Large purchases from some pulled the low end of our hot-rolled coil range below $600 per ton ($30 per cwt) and […]
Raw steel production by US mills edged back down last week. The marginal week-on-week (WoW) decline brought output to its lowest weekly total all year, keeping both utilization and output at their lowest levels in nearly two years, according to the latest data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Domestic steel output was […]
US plate prices were down marginally last week as spot tons garnered some discounting on limited demand. Plate tags have been eroding slowly in recent weeks with buyers largely on the sidelines. That’s a shift from late October and early November, when prices were roughly flat. Buyers’ focus remains almost exclusively on managing inventories as […]
The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices has begun to narrow again after three months of stability, according to recent Steel Market Update data. Prices for both products continue to move lower, as they have most weeks since May. The latest HRC-prime spread is exactly one-fourth of what it was this time […]
Prices of steelmaking raw materials moved in differing directions over the last 30 days, as they did the month prior, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis. Through the latest data available as of Nov. 16, pig iron and aluminum increased 7% in the last month, coking coal prices rose 6%, and zinc prices increased 4%. […]
New Commitments in Middle East Around Carbon Capture and Alcoa Gives Updates on Elysis Technology We were struck this week by reports from Saudi Arabia that the Ma’aden smelter intends to pursue a carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) approach to reducing its carbon footprint. During the current COP27 event in Egypt, Ma’aden’ Senior Vice […]
US raw steel production slipped 400,000 net tons to 7.22 million tons in September, down 5% from August, according to recently released American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) data. September represents the third lowest monthly production rate seen since 2020, behind February 2021 and February 2022. Production continues to trend downward since peaking in mid-2021. […]
Steel sheet prices fell across the board again this week, with hot-rolled coil prices dropping to their lowest point since late September 2020 – more than two years ago. But industry opinion about the direction of prices has diverged. That’s a significant shift from prior weeks, when sentiment was almost uniformly bearish. Some market participants […]
Most flat-rolled steel imports rose from September to October but were lower compared to year-ago levels. This is according to October import license application data released by the US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. All steel imports into the US require an import license in order to enter through Customs. The license count provides […]
Raw steel production by US mills edged up last week, ending a three-week slide. The marginal week-on-week (WoW) increase did little for production, keeping utilization and output at their lowest levels in nearly two years, according to the latest data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Capability utilization has now been below the 80% […]
Kansas City, Mo.-based EXLTUBE is set to become a part of the Zekelman Industries group of companies. Zekelman has agreed to acquire the assets of the pipe and tube maker from its 20-year owner SPS Companies Inc. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The acquisition includes three EXLTUBE mills and 530,000 square feet of […]
The London Metal Exchange (LME) consultation with industry has come and gone with no action. The Exchange on Friday, Nov. 11, published its response to submissions from the industry on the issue of Russian metals. As a refresher, the LME asked for opinion on three options: • Do nothing • Impose limits on the warranting of […]
Imported sheet and plate products arrived at US ports at a slower clip in September, accounting for a lower share of the domestic market for the third straight month. That’s according to a Steel Market Update analysis of import data from the US Commerce Department and domestic shipment figures from the American Iron and Steel […]