We are seeing the benchmark hot rolled coil average as sitting right on the critical $500 per ton mark this week. Most steel buyers with whom we speak are of the opinion that hot rolled coil will drop below $500 per ton within the next week or two. The question then becomes how far down […]
For the week ending February 21, 2015, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,716,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 2.5 percent decrease over the previous week and a 5.9 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 72.6 […]
Magnetation LLC announced it will indefinitely idle its Plant 1 in Keewatin, Minn., due to iron ore prices that have fallen more than fifty percent in the past 18 months. Forty-one hourly and eight salaried employees will be affected the closure which will occur by the end of March. “Due to the unprecedented collapse in […]
For the first time in many weeks, Steel Market Update, Platts and CRU hot rolled price indices are almost the same. SMU and Platts see HRC prices as averaging $515 per ton while CRU is two dollars higher at $517 per ton. Cold rolled prices did not meet the same fate as Platts sees CRC […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest import licensing data for the license requests received through the 18th of February. Steel Market Update (SMU) then compares the daily tonnage rate against the previous four months and the daily license rate being reported during the 3rd week of that particular month. Based on that analysis, […]
We received a very mixed bag when it came to hot rolled pricing this week. Our range expanded from the $490-$530 we reported last week to $480-$550 this week. Our HR average actually rose by $5 compared to one week ago. We are not ready to announce prices as having “bottomed,” as one renegade mill […]
Steel Market Update saw an interesting report on the impact of lower scrap prices to the steel industry. The report was produced by metals and mining analysts, Timna Tanners of Bank of America Merrill Lynch Research for her clients. A question Steel Market Update receives on a regular basis is what is the marginal cost […]
For the week ending February 14th, 2015, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,760,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 0.5 percent decrease over the previous week and a 3.5 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 74.4 […]
Steel Market Update recently attended the Port of Tampa Steel Conference in Tampa, Florida. When speaking with the service centers and traders it was apparent that we are in a period of time when buyers do not trust that the price today will be any good tomorrow. Our Comparison Price Indices report accentuates the issues […]
Phillip Bell, President of the Steel Manufacturers Association (steel mills) told those assembled at the 26th annual Port of Tampa Steel Conference, “There is a growing consensus that something just isn’t right.” What he was referring to was the domestic steel mills running at 75 percent capacity utilization rates and the industry still suffering due […]
Keith Busse, former CEO of Steel Dynamics (SDI) told those assembled at the Port of Tampa Steel Conference held this past week in Tampa, Florida that “…It was bound to happen.” What he was referring to was the steel community being impacted by the strong dollar, surging imports and a world economy which he described […]
Steel Market Update received a question from one of our readers regarding a comment we made in Tuesday evening’s issue during our analysis of flat rolled steel pricing. The comment was about the domestic mills negotiating away extras and how this was impacting transactional pricing. All of the indexes are suppose to take into consideration […]
Apparent steel supply for the month of December 2014 was 10,020,704 net tons, the sixth month in 2014 to be above the 10 million ton mark. Steel Market Update calculates our apparent steel supply figure by combining total domestic steel shipments with finished US steel imports and subtracting total US steel exports. December supply represents […]
In the twelve months of 2014, ferrous scrap exports totaled 15,308,000 tonnes (metric tons), down by 17.1 percent from the same period in 2013. In the single month of December scrap exports were 1,056,570 tonnes, down 21.5 percent from November. Figure 1 shows that the three month moving average (3MMA) has been declining slightly for […]
For the week ending February 7th, 2015, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,769,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 0.7 percent decrease over the previous week and a 3.0 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 74.8 […]
January steel exports from China in rose to an all-time monthly record of 10.29 million tons, surprising analysts who were expecting reduced shipments this month. Steel shipments were expected to fall after China canceled the export tax rebate for Boron-added steel on January 1. Analysts predicted steel export volume would drop as much 30 percent […]
Import data is reported three times for each month. These reports are licensed, preliminary and final tonnages for each product. The Steel Import Monitoring system has been a widely used tool to provide an advanced look at import volumes using data compiled from import licenses. These licenses can be applied for at any time between […]
The range between indexes shrank this past week as benchmark hot rolled coil price averages dropped to $541 per ton, with SMU and Platts now even at $540 per ton and CRU slightly higher at $543 per ton. We did not include SteelBenchmarker pricing as they only produce pricing twice per month and we have […]
The American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) reports that U.S. steel exports declined 5 percent year over year in 2014. Exports fell 2.6 percent in the last month of the year with a drop in NAFTA exports accounting for most of the November to December decline. AIIS statistics and commentary follows: Falls Church, VA. February […]
The American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) reports steel imports declined for the second consecutive month in December. Despite the month over month reduction, steel imports were 44.4 percent higher than December 2013. AIIS says falling oil prices may support a continued downward trend due to reduced demand for OCTG and line pipe. The full […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released final foreign steel import license data late last week, showing final December tonnage at 3.64 million net tons (3.30 metric tons). This is a 1.5 percent decrease over November imports but 45.1 percent higher than December 2013 levels. Below is a table comparing November, December, and January steel imports […]
Licensed data for January was updated on February 3rd through the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department. The SMU publishes several import reports ranging from this very early look using licensed data to the very detailed analysis of final volumes by district of entry and source nation which is published in our […]
Even the Cliffs Natural Resources CEO weighed in on the food of foreign steel imports and what the domestic steel industry should do to protect their markets. Lourenco Goncalves is never at a loss for words and his comments made during Cliffs quarterly earnings conference call was no exception. First, the results posted by the […]
For the week ending January 31, 2015, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,782,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 2.4 percent decrease over the previous week and a 2.3 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 75.4 […]
United Steel Workers in the oil industry went on strike on Sunday after failing to agree on new labor contracts. The strike will affect approximately 3,800 employees at nine U.S. sites. It is the largest national USW walkout since a 1980 strike that lasted three months. About 10 percent of the oil refinery capacity will […]
Mark Millett, CEO of Steel Dynamics pointed out the inconsistencies in the steel prices being referenced by two of the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Millett spoke about the erosion of pricing and referenced the indexes in this comment, “…But I think our optimism is that American pricing has eroded and it has […]
Steel imports continue to flood U.S. shores and were a priority issue for CEOs during earnings calls this month. Low cost imports are creating competition for market share as well as depressing prices in the carbon steel spot market. Nucor CEO John Ferriola summed up the current market condition: “The other major headwind is from […]
“Where does the elevator stop,” is what one flat rolled steel buyer told Steel Market Update during a phone conversation about pricing held earlier today. “I haven’t hit the panic button yet, but my finger is close…” Flat rolled steel prices continued to tumble as some mill salespeople were telling their customers they have been […]
AK Steel and Nucor spend time on their earnings conference calls earlier today to point out the negative impact imports were having on their business and steel pricing. James Wainscott talked about imports during his opening statements, “Between 2013 and 2014 flat-rolled finished carbon steel imports rose by some 60%. For the year, we saw […]
Spot iron ore prices in China, which saw a small spike in prices right around the beginning of the New Year, have since continued their slide with 62% Fe fines being reported at $62.8 per dry metric ton (dmt) earlier today by The Steel Index (CFR Tianjin). Iron ore is down 11 percent since the […]