Metallurgical coal and iron ore prices were the topic of conversation in a call hosted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Platts earlier today. Met coal prices have been on a downward trend with a 10 percent correction in just the last two weeks and are currently at the lowest level since 2007. Lower […]
Apparent supply is defined as domestic mill shipments to domestic locations plus imports. The three month moving average of the total tonnage of sheet and strip supply was 4,383,635 tons per month in the period November through January. This was down by 3.8 percent from the August through October period and up by 0.2 percent […]
Prices continue to erode on all flat rolled steel and buyers expect the trend to continue as iron ore, met coal and scrap prices retreat in their markets. One domestic flat rolled steel buyer pointed out, “The cost of production is coming down.” The expectation is that lower scrap prices will translate into lower hot […]
Flat rolled steel prices moved lower over the past week. The biggest move was in hot rolled which dropped by $15 per ton pushing our average on benchmark hot rolled coil pricing to $620 per ton ($31.00/cwt). Here is how we are seeing prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $600-$640 per ton […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has been writing about the building of the iron ore bubble in China for some time now. Our iron ore trading contact in Asia has been warning us of the massive inventories being built and now the crackdown by the Chinese government and banks on bad loans to both public and […]
Total January 2014 US steel exports were 963,060 net tons (NT), a 10.5 percent increase over December 2013 figures but down 10.6 percent compared to January 2013. Total exports in January were above the three month moving average but below the twelve month moving average. The top countries receiving US exports were Canada at 54.8 […]
Apparent steel supply for January was 9,386,260 net tons, a 1.1 percent increase compared to the same month one year ago. Although steel imports were up and exports decreased over these periods, the decrease in domestic shipments negated any big changes in total apparent supply. The net trade balance between steel imports and exports was […]
Met coal prices are plummeting and oversupply is the problem, says Goldman Sachs. On Friday, Goldman cut its metallurgical coal average price estimate for 2014 to $141 per metric ton from $150 due to higher Australian output and slower demand from China along with “limited U.S. supply rationalization.” Bank of America Merrill Lynch agrees that […]
For the week ending March 8, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,840,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, a 1.1 percent decrease over the previous week and a 0.7 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.5 […]
Zinc and aluminum prices are something to keep an eye on when you’re involved with coated products such as galvanized or Galvalume steels. At current zinc price levels, the amount of zinc needed to coat 0.060″ thick G90 coil costs approximately $1.98 per cwt (based on zinc calculation shared with SMU from a domestic coating […]
Total steel imports in January were 3,205,246 net tons (NT), the highest levels Steel Market Update has recorded since we began keeping track of monthly import data in mid-2009. January tonnage is a 27.9 percent increase over December figures and well above both the three month moving average (3MMA) and twelve month moving average (12MMA). […]
The pace of the decline slowed this past week with a number of the indexes showing mild to no erosion in flat rolled steel pricing. Benchmark hot rolled steel prices dropped into the mid $630’s. The spread between hot rolled and cold rolled steel pricing was an unusually high $121 per ton. Plate prices continue […]
Steel Market Update has been writing about the iron ore pricing and inventory bubble growing in China. We have been forecasting that it is only a matter of time before the bubble will burst and iron ore prices will collapse. The issues are a slowing Chinese steel sector, pollution issues plaguing the Chinese government, bank […]
Steel Market Update has been writing about the iron ore pricing and inventory bubble growing in China. We have been forecasting that it is only a matter of time before the bubble will burst and iron ore prices will collapse. The issues are a slowing Chinese steel sector, pollution issues plaguing the Chinese government, bank […]
Steel Market Update has become aware of price negotiations on benchmark hot rolled within the past couple of weeks which took base prices below $600 per ton ($30.00/cwt). We have also learned of situations at two mills which took light gauge galvanized product below $36.00/cwt base pricing. In both cases, the offers were for large […]
Iron ore spot prices in China plummeted for the third week. During the past three weeks 62% Fe fines dropped by 6 percent and 58% Fe by 5 percent, according to data compiled by The Steel Index (TSI). Since the beginning of the year iron ore has fallen by 12 percent and is at the […]
Steel prices were flat to slightly lower this week based on direct contact with buyers and our ongoing flat rolled steel market survey results. Here is how we are seeing prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $620-$650 per ton ($31.00/cwt- $32.50/cwt) with an average of $635 per ton ($31.75/cwt) FOB mill, east […]
For the week ending March 1, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,861,000 net tons (NT) of raw steel, the highest production level since the week of October 5, 2013. The latest production figure is a 1.6 percent increase over the previous week but a 0.7 […]
Steel Market Update covers subjects in a variety of ways for our specific member groups. In the article below, Peter Wright provides a deeper analysis of preliminary steel import license numbers for flat rolled steel products which normally goes to our Premium Level customers: This month we decided to start this piece with a review […]
The domestic steel mills did not announce any flat rolled steel price increases during the month of February. The last price increase announcement was made by USS/POSCO to their West Coast customers on January 30th. The last announcement on the East Coast was ArcelorMittal Dofasco which adjusted prices to take into account the lost value […]
Every week Steel Market Update analyzes a number of the flat rolled steel price indexes and provides the analysis to our Executive and Premium Level members. For our Monthly subscribers we produce an analysis of what happened to steel prices in total during the course of, in this case, the month of February. The numbers […]
During the fourth week of February Steel Market Update conducted our third monthly forecast projecting the number of foreign imports due into the United States during the month of February. What Steel Market Update does each week (except the first week of the month) is to review the U.S. Department of Commerce import license data […]
The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported their final raw steel production numbers for the month of January 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 […]
The US Department of Commerce said it will maintain anti-dumping and countervailing duties on oil country tubular goods (OCTG) imported from China, in announcement made earlier this month (February). The recent decision closed loopholes in the 2009 AD/CV duties imposed by the International Trade Commission, which allowed pipe made in China but finished in other […]
Iron ore inventories in China are bloated with 100.91 million metric tons of ore now sitting at the 40 major ports in China. This number has grown since the 86 million metric tons reported prior to the beginning of the Chinese New Year in January. This growth continues despite a slowdown in the Chinese steel […]
The following article was written by steel industry consultant and contributor to Steel Market Update, Paul Lowrey. Mr. Lowrey owns a consulting company called Steel Research Associated, LLC which works with steel mills and large distributors or manufacturing companies involved with steel and steel products. More information about Mr. Lowrey can be found in the […]
The following article was written by David Phelps, the recently retired director of the American Institute for International Steel and now a contributing writer for Steel Market Update. You can find more information about Mr. Phelps in the About Us section of our website. On February 18th, the Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration shocked […]
Steel Market Update follows a number of flat rolled steel price indexes and all of the indexes that reported to SMU this week saw benchmark hot rolled prices declining this past week. Three indexes reported double digit reductions in their HRC averages (Steel Orbis did not supply prices for this past week) and the average […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce recently released updated import statistics including preliminary January figures. According to the latest data, total steel imports in January were 3,172,481 net tons (NT), up 26.6 percent compared to the 2,506,795 NT imported in December. Total February imports are projected to be 3,012,761 NT, a 5.0 percent decrease over January. […]
The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported their final raw steel production numbers for the month of January 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 […]