The past couple of days have been ones full of mixed messages. As we report in our article about HARDI wholesalers (see below) their buyers reported galvanized prices as having increased by $20 per ton since the middle of July. We are hearing from a multitude of sources that flat rolled prices have firmed on […]
The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported their final raw steel production numbers for the month of June 2014. This estimation is different than the weekly raw steel production as it is based on 75 percent of the domestic mills reporting vs. 50 percent for the weekly estimates. Total raw steel production for the […]
For the week ending July 26, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,920,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 1.4 percent increase over the previous week and a 3.7 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 79.8 […]
Flat rolled steel prices have been essentially trending sideways for the past couple of weeks and this past week was no exception. We saw our hot rolled average increase by $3 per ton to $673 per ton with the CRU having the lowest HRC pricing at $667 per ton and Platts the highest at $680 […]
Balance appears to be the word of the week, well at least for this past week while we were canvassing the flat rolled steel industry during our mid-July survey. Steel Market Update invited slightly more than 600 people representing approximately 590 companies to participate in our survey. Of those responding 44 percent were manufacturing companies […]
Preliminary steel import data was updated late last week by the US Department of Commerce, reporting total June imports at 3,585,781 net tons, down 11.1 percent over May levels and down 4.1 percent over April levels. Compared to the same month one year ago, total June 2014 steel imports are up 45.8 percent or 1,125,697 […]
The steel market has been relatively quiet this week, according to one steel buyer we spoke to earlier today. Steel prices which we have been gathering both from our steel market analysis (survey) as well as through direct contact with buyers found flat rolled steel prices to be mostly unchanged from one week ago. There […]
The US Department of Commerce released steel import license data through the first 22 days of the month of July. The most recent license data supports our belief that steel imports will meet or exceed the 3.7 million net tons reported for June and could meet or exceed the 4.0 million net tons received during […]
For the week ending July 19, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,893,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 0.5 percent decrease over the previous week but a 2.2 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 78.7 […]
Steel production in June on a tons per day basis was 4.571 million metric tons. The last four months have all been greater than 4.5 million metric tons per day for the first time ever. The three month moving average (3MMA) of production in June on an annualized basis was 1.658 billion metric tons and […]
The next shale oil and gas boom could be in Texas according to the estimates of volume of recoverable oil in the Cline Shale formation. More than 30 billion barrels of recoverable oil lie underground in Cline Shale according to studies by Devon Energy and Chesapeake Energy. It is estimated there are approximately 3.6 million […]
Because we are a media outlet we receive from the International Trade Administration notification of all kinds of dumping filings against any number of countries. Earlier this week there was a filing against Chinese tires, this morning it was something I couldn’t even pronounce and didn’t have a clue what it was. What we are […]
Based on a quick analysis of the just released July steel import license data (through the 15th of July) we see the foreign steel imports continuing at very high rates. The import data suggests we will see July imports at levels similar to that of May and June. May had the highest level of imports […]
Spot zinc prices on the LME are closing in on $1.05 per pound as the metal has traded just above $1.04 over the past four business days. The metal has moved from $0.9508 per pound on the 16th of June to its current level at $1.04 per pound. It is important to watch zinc pricing […]
Severstal NA has been actively informing their customers that they want hot rolled spot base prices to $700 per ton ($35.00/cwt) and cold rolled and coated to $820 per ton ($41.00/cwt). Other mills are mulling a move and we expect price announcements to be imminent. Whether specific base prices are announced or the mills go […]
Flat rolled steel prices have begun to firm, especially on hot rolled. Whether this is due to an adjustment of the psychology of the market related to the OCTG final determination by the US Department of Commerce or for some other reason we are not quite sure. However, as discussed in the article above, market […]
For the week ending July 12, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,903,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 2.7 percent increase over the previous week and a 2.8 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 79.1 […]
The following article comes from one of our contributing writers, Peter Brebach. Peter is an active trader who deals in the pipe and tube markets and understands the impact of the US Department of Commerce final determination on oil country tubular goods (OCTG). Here is what Peter has to say: The just published final determinations […]
The final determination on oil country tubular goods (OCTG) was released on Friday afternoon (Friday, July 11, 2014). The steel industry believes that a positive ruling in favor of the domestic steel industry will prompt a new round of dumping cases aimed at flat rolled products – specifically cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume. However, these […]
This past week saw very little movement in any of the indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Benchmark hot rolled averages ranged from a low of $670 per ton (SMU) to a high of $671 per ton (SteelBenchmarker). The only change from the previous week was in the CRU which rose $1 per ton to […]
The International Trade Commission and Commerce Department issued the following determination on antidumping relief on OCTG imports from South Korean steelmakers: “Today, the Department of Commerce announced its affirmative final determinations in the AD investigations of imports of OCTG from India, Korea, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam, and CVD investigations […]
Apparent steel supply is defined as domestic mill shipments to domestic locations plus imports. Sources are the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Department of Commerce. The three month moving average of the total tonnage of sheet and strip supply in the period March through May was 4,603,548 tons, up by 11.5 percent from […]
It is still too early in the month of July to provide a trend analysis of where we think import numbers will fall by the end of the month. The first eight days (with three being holidays) of the month saw a relatively large number of license applications but we will wait until next Tuesday […]
Total US Steel Exports in May were 1,035,608 net tons, down 4.1 percent over April tonnage and down 10.9 percent over May 2013 levels. Eighty Nine percent of May exports were to Canada and Mexico, receiving 559,231 and 363,325 tons respectively. Exports of plate cut lengths were 136,490 tons, up 6.0 percent over April and […]
Apparent steel supply for May was 10,321,747 net tons, the highest figure Steel Market Update has in its recorded history back to January 2010 (by no means a historical record). Steel Market Update calculates apparent steel supply by adding domestic shipments and finished US imports and subtracting total US exports. May supply represents a 1,262,877 […]
May ferrous scrap exports totaled 1,708,695 net tons (1,550,104 metric tons) with Turkey, Taiwan, Korea, Canada, and Egypt being the top five countries where scrap was sent. These countries accounted for 69.1 percent of all scrap exports. Total May ferrous scrap exports were 15.7 percent higher than previous month but 27.8 percent lower than the […]
Steel buyers have returned from the 4th of July Holiday ready and willing to buy steel. Steel Market Update spoke with a number of commercial people at various steel mills who told us they were receiving an increasing amount of inquiries and orders. One of the conversion mills told us earlier today that their order […]
The sense, the tone of the market, is that prices are firming a bit. The slide we experienced over the past few weeks (modest as it was) has been moderating and shrinking in size. That is the sense that we have been receiving as we spoke to both buyers and steel mills over the past […]
Many within the steel industry are looking toward Washington, D.C. to right was has been perceived as a wrong committed by South Korea against the OCTG manufacturers and supporting domestic steel mills. According to the US Department of Commerce website, the final determination is supposed to be announced on Thursday of this week so we […]
Steel Market Update did not publish on Sunday evening due to the extended 4th of July holiday here in the United States. We know that there are a number of our readers who enjoy our Comparison Price Indices (CPI) articles on Sunday evening. Here is what the CPI looks like as of Monday evening: Benchmark […]