Steel Market Update published our special data on March steel imports which are produced by product (slabs, plate in coil, hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume), by port of entry and by the country of origin. The full data is available for review by our Premium Level subscribers. Below is a portion of the […]
Both Industrial Production (IP) and Manufacturing Capacity Utilization are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The IP index was reported as 102.744 for April, with a three month moving average (3MMA) of 102.83. This was the fifth consecutive month for the index to exceed the pre-recession peak of September 2007. The 3MMA has […]
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and the law firm of Stewart and Stewart recently released its publication “Surging Steel Imports Put Up to Half a Million U.S. Jobs at Risk.” The publication was released in support of the domestic steel industry and their unions and contends that unfairly traded imports are costing the U.S. jobs […]
Shipments of heating and cooling equipment, a benchmark for residential construction as well as the home improvement segments of the industry, have made significant improvements in the shipping rates compared to the same month one year ago. Below is the press release from the The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute on heating and cooling equipment […]
U.S. and Canadian steel mills continue to keep a firm grip on pricing as supply (production) related problems keep lead times extended on most products. We are seeing the impact of foreign galvanized and Galvalume imports influencing at least one coated steel mill in the South. Domestic buyers appear to be accepting the higher prices […]
There will be a lot of news in the media today and tomorrow regarding foreign steel imports and their damage to the U.S. economy. We are seeing demonstrations across the country by union workers trying to influence policy and, particularly, the final determination of the OCTG dumping suits. Politicians are involved with Senator Sherrod Brown […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released their latest imported steel license data for the month of May 2014. The early indication is for May steel imports to remain at, or above the projected April imports of 3.7 million tons. March final imports came in at 3.2 million which is also our 3 month moving average. […]
The supply of all steel products in Q1 2014 was up by 5.9 percent from Q1 last year. Flat rolled was up by 4.5 percent and longs were up by 9.8 percent. The sources of this analysis are the Commerce Department trade statistics and AISI steel shipment data.The bad news is that imports of all […]
Shipping delays of iron ore on the Great Lakes are finally over. Ice coverage on the Great Lakes is down to 9.1 percent with the remaining ice concentrated in Lake Superior. According to satellite imagery, about 22 percent of Superior is still covered. The US Coast Guard reports there are still small fields of ice […]
For the week ending May 10, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,843,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 1.5 percent increase over the previous week and a 0.5 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.6 […]
Steel Market Update watches foreign steel imports as closely as humanly possible as we look for trends to see how imported steel tonnages relate to past historical averages. We use a monthly average as opposed to a specific monthly number in order to smooth out the numbers and provide a clearer picture. As you can […]
Steel Market Update was the big mover of hot rolled prices this week as we took our average to $685 per ton or $10 per ton higher than one week ago. CRU, Platts and SteelBenchmarker all held their numbers as is for the week. The hot rolled indexes average is up $5 per ton to […]
Apparent steel supply for March was 9,753,954 net tons, a 9.6 percent increase compared to the same month one year ago. This is due to an increase in domestic shipments and finished imports and a slight decrease in total US exports. The net trade balance between imports and exports was a surplus of 2,194,246 net […]
March ferrous scrap exports totaled 1,466,528 net tons (1,330,413 metric tons) with Turkey, Taiwan, Korea, Egypt, and Mexico the top five countries receiving U.S. scrap. These countries received 69.3 percent of all scrap exports. Total March ferrous scrap exports were 11.1 percent higher than previous month but 32.3 percent lower than the same month one […]
Apparent 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 1st quarter was 4,603,548 tons, up from 4,426,649 tons per month in Q4 […]
The following is reprinted from AIIS March Export Press Release: March Important Canadian and Mexican Markets Show Strong Gains U.S. steel exports expanded significantly in March, though they remained below the levels of a year earlier. Following a dip in February, when many parts of the United States were still suffering the impact of a […]
Iron ore smuggling has become a concern of the Mexican government with the diversification of the Knights Templar drug cartel into mining operations in the western state of Michoacán. Mexican authorities have seized nearly 200,000 tons of illegally mined and shipped iron ore headed for China so far this year. Last week a ship was […]
Pressure continues on flat rolled steel prices as we saw gains on hot rolled and cold rolled while galvanized and Galvalume remained the same as one week ago. The issue on the coated products and cold rolled to a lesser degree, has been imported steel which is impacting the southern states in two ways. First, […]
When Nucor announced their earnings on April 24th they held a conference call with analysts to discuss their business and to make statements about their company, the markets they serve and about the economy in general. John Ferriola, Nucor’s Chairman, CEO and President, provided an opening statement during which he made the following remarks regarding […]
For the week ending May 3, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,815,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 1.1 percent decrease over the previous week and a 1.1 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 75.5 […]
This past week three of the four flat rolled steel price indexes followed by Steel Market Update (SMU) reported only modest gains in benchmark hot rolled pricing with SMU being the most conservative holding our pricing at the same levels as we had reported the prior week. Platts was the one exception as their hot […]
Steel Market Update follows a number of price indices on a weekly basis. All of the indices saw double digit increases during the month of April. The average change on hot rolled was +$43 per ton, cold rolled +$47 per ton, galvanized +$66 per ton and Galvalume +65 per ton. Plate prices remained relatively stable […]
The following chart is based on price variances from the end of March until the most recent numbers produced at the end of April. All commodities saw price increases with the exception of iron ore which was down quite dramatically (China spot market).
Based on revised domestic and world export pricing on hot rolled coil (SteelBenchmarker), the price spread between the two continues to grow. As you can see by the graphic shown below, the spread has been widening ever since domestic steel production issues began impacting flat rolled steel pricing in the U.S. and Canada. The spread […]
Iron ore prices continue to boil and bubble, with the key word being bubble. At the beginning of April, 62% Fe fines were trading at $117 per dry metric ton (dmt). They peaked nine days later at $119.4/dmt and since then the air has been leaking out of the bubble. On Wednesday, iron ore prices […]
According to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) domestic raw steel production totaled 8,273,082 net tons (all products). Of the total 60 percent was produced by electric arc furnaces and the balance by blast/BOF furnaces. Carbon steel products totaled 7,681,790 net tons with 4,665,056 tons being produced by EAF’s and the balance, 3,016,734 tons […]
Iron ore prices continue to boil and bubble, with the key word being bubble. At the beginning of April, 62% Fe fines were trading at $117 per dry metric ton (dmt). They peaked nine days later at $119.4/dmt and since then the air has been leaking out of the bubble. On Wednesday, iron ore prices […]
Steel Market Update is aware that many buyers and sellers of steel have been keyed in on the variations between various flat rolled steel indexes. In the past, Steel Market Update found the spread between our steel index and those of Platts and CRU to generally be negligible ($1-$10 per ton at any one time). […]
Each week during the month Steel Market Update (SMU) checks the license data from the U.S. Department of Commerce regarding imports of foreign steel. Based on the data compiled each week we then project where we think imports will end up at the end of the month. April license data is suggesting we could see […]
Steel Market Update continuously is in conversation with flat rolled steel buyers from around the country. We have noticed a growing nervousness within the steel community as the buyers grapple with ever higher steel prices and extended lead times. In some cases the lead times on foreign material are not much more than what the […]