The SMU Comparison Price Indices saw prices dropping on all products except plate products. Benchmark hot rolled coil saw pricing drop anywhere from $2 per ton (CRU) to $10 per ton (Platts). The HRC average dropped $6 per ton for the week to $670 per ton. Cold rolled also dropped on all of the reporting […]
According to industry sources, SSAB Americas announced a price increase on plate products as well as hot rolled coil. The price increase was referenced at $30 per ton ($1.50/cwt) and are effective immediately. Nucor and ArcelorMittal advised their customers after the SSAB announcement was made supporting the $30 per ton move. SMU learned from multiple […]
Global steel mill production in May on a tons per day basis was 4.554 million tonnes. The last three months have all been greater than 4.5 million for the first time ever which drove the three month moving average (3MMA) of production in May to another all-time high annual rate of 1.677 billion tonnes and […]
Based on the most recent import license data produced by the U.S. Department of Commerce, imports continue to be on pace to meet, or exceed, 3.5 million net tons. This would be the 3rd month in a row where foreign steel imports were at 3.5 million tons or above. Since the beginning of the year […]
Steel Market Update is seeing some slippage in flat rolled steel prices this week when compared to one week ago. Most of the changes came at the lower end of the range and the trend we are seeing is for prices to continue to slowly slip over the next 30 days. As we mentioned in […]
For those of you who have never gone to New York City to participate in or be around the Steel Success Strategies Conference, you are missing an experience. The sheer concentration of steel mills, trading companies, service centers and manufacturing companies as well as scrap, logistics, shipping, toll processors, equipment can be overwhelming. After spending […]
Novo International Limited i/o Formosa Steel Limited is, to the best of our knowledge, the first Asian iron ore trading company to sell iron ore that had been imported into China and re-sell the ore for export out of China to a non-Chinese destination. Steel Market Update learned about three weeks ago, due to the […]
For the week ending June 14, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,845,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 0.3 percent increase over the previous week and a 1.4 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.9 […]
Two flat rolled steel price indexes, Steel Market Update and Platts, saw little movement in flat rolled steel prices this past week. The two indexes are probably the closest they have been in some time with SMU showing hot rolled pricing averaging $670 per ton ($33.50/cwt) while Platts has their benchmark HRC price at $675 […]
Industry and economic data is always subject to inaccuracies so we at SMU try to compare different data sources to get the best handle on a situation. Housing and non-residential construction starts are examples that come to mind. In the case of steel imports we have three reports produced by the US Department of Commerce: […]
As you could probably sense from our last issue of Steel Market Update, we are concerned about the amount of foreign steel imports related to the strength of the overall economy. It is one thing to see imports surging when the economy is hot and steel usage is high like we saw in 2004, 2006 […]
The following article was written by Peter Brebach, CEO of Iron Angels of Colorado. Peter is a trader who imports pipe and tube products into the United States and is well versed on the current oil country tubular goods (OCTG) issues facing the domestic steel mills. Here is his article on the subject: Import licenses […]
John, When you mentioned the “Buy American” in response to South Korea dumping steel into America’s OCTG industry, I was reminded of a topic I would bring up with customers over dinner. I’d ask them, “What if we started a company called MIA,” a play on the words Made in America, as well as Missing […]
World export prices for hot rolled bands was pegged at $504 per net ton ($556 per metric ton) according to data released by SteelBenchmarker earlier this week. This world hot rolled export price is up $3 per ton compared to the last set of data received about two weeks ago. With an estimated $70 per […]
World export prices for hot rolled bands was pegged at $504 per net ton ($556 per metric ton) according to data released by SteelBenchmarker earlier this week. This world hot rolled export price is up $3 per ton compared to the last set of data received about two weeks ago. With an estimated $70 per […]
Year to date steel scrap exports through April are down by 25.2 percent from the same period last year. Total YTD was 4,761,374 metric tonnes a decline of 1,603,386 tonnes. Figure 1 shows that the three month moving average (3MMA) picked up in April but was still below the monthly average of all years back […]
Iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes totaled 6.4 million tons in May, nearly the same as May 2013, according to Lake Carriers’ Association. Shipments were about 600,000 tons lower than anticipated due to the idling of three US flag lakers for repairs during May due to ice damage suffered in March and April. US […]
Trying to keep up with steel prices and production is proving to be quite an exercise. As we were preparing to publish we were chasing a story about AK Steel having issues with their Ashland blast furnace. At the same time we are gathering data from large buyers that is taking the lower end of […]
According to SMU sources, last week ArcelorMittal USA raised the minimum selling price on secondary grades of steel to approximately $500-$520 per ton ($25.00/cwt-$26.00/cwt). This has caused some concern within the industry with one fabricator who has been involved with secondary steel for the past 15 years reporting to Steel Market Update, “…I have been […]
We are now one-third of the way through the month of June, far enough along to begin doing our analysis of the US Department of Commerce license data on imports. The data is showing us that the surge of imports grew during the month of May and will continue into the month of June. We […]
April ferrous scrap exports totaled 1,476,282 net tons (1,339,262 metric tons) with Turkey, Taiwan, Korea, Mexico, and China being the top five importing countries. These countries accounted for 73.2 percent of all scrap exports. Total April ferrous scrap exports were 0.7 percent higher than previous month and 36.7 percent higher than the same month one […]
For the week ending June 7, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,845,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 2.6 percent decrease over the previous week but a 1.2 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.7 […]
Prices dropped on all flat rolled items with the exception of plate which remained the same as one week ago. Hot rolled prices dropped by an average of $5 per ton, cold rolled by an average of $10 per ton, galvanized by $3 per ton and Galvalume by $15 per ton. With the latest drop […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released final census data regarding exports of steel out of the U.S. steel mills this past week. According to the US DOC data, the domestic mills exported a total of 1,079,723 net tons of steel products during the month of April 2014. This is in line with the previous two […]
The U.S. steel mills exported 1 million tons of steel during the month of April. This is within the 12 month moving average and only slightly higher than the 1,041,387 net tons shipped in April 2013. During the same month (April 2014) foreign imports rose by 999,557 net tons compared to the same period one […]
Apparent steel supply for April was 9,925,287 net tons, the highest figure Steel Market Update has in its recorded history beginning in January 2010. April supply represents an 831,098 ton or 9.1 percent increase compared to the same month one year ago. This is primarily due to the massive spike in April imports, up 36.5 […]
It was an active month when it came to flat rolled steel prices, at least it was active on a week by week basis. However, when looking at the total month price movement compared against where the previous month ended, then the month of May should be considered rather tame. Hot rolled prices ended the […]
A strike by Seaspan tugboat operators at the Westshore Terminal in Roberts Banks near Vancouver has been averted by last minute negotiations on Wednesday, June 3. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 400 voted 100 percent in favor of a strike earlier in the day but the union and Seaspan have now agreed […]
Steel prices are starting to slip. We have found a number of mills making price adjustments to their flat rolled steel offers over the past 24-48 hours. The steel mills are attempting to keep the reductions as minimal and quiet as possible. We are posting reductions in our averages, most occurring due to reductions on […]
The steel storage facilities located at ports around the United States are brimming with foreign steel. We have been advised that companies like Kinder Morgan and Fleetwood Port Services are at maximum capacity in their Houston facilities and struggling with Savannah, Camden and other port facilities. However, that is not the major problem facing the […]