On Wednesday, January 2, 2014, ArcelorMittal Dofasco out of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada advised their customers through the use of an internal memo that their flat rolled steel prices would change. The company noted the changes were being made, “Due to recent changes in the exchange rates and market conditions for Flat Rolled products…” The company […]
In the United States approximately 60 percent of the steel produced is through electric arc furnaces (EAF) used by so-called “mini-mills.” Electric arc furnaces use primarily scrap along with pig iron or DRI (direct reduced iron) to charge the furnaces. All of the long products (rebar, bar, angles, beams) are produced through EAF technology and […]
In spite of new price increase announcements being made by the domestic mills just prior to Christmas, the flat rolled pricing cycle flattened out during the month of December with essentially no movement on all four of our product groups: hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. Hot rolled and cold rolled prices went […]
For the week ending January 4, 2014, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,822,000 net tons of raw steel, a 2.8 percent increase over the previous week and a 0.6 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.1 percent, […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce recently released revised import statistics for the month of November and December. Total preliminary imports for November are 2,584,176 net tons (NT), down 16.7 percent compared to October import figures. November imports are below both the 3 month-moving-average (3MMA) and 12 month-moving-average (12MMA) calculated through October. December imports, based on […]
Platts took all of their flat rolled sheet indices higher this past week and they now reference benchmark hot rolled at $685 per ton – $15 per ton higher than Steel Market Update and $17 per ton higher than CRU. With the New Year Holiday sandwiched in the middle of this past week SMU did […]
The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported their final raw steel production numbers for the month of November 2013. 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 […]
According to Baker Hughes data from January 3rd, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,751 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 6 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 4 to 1,378 rigs, gas rigs down 2 to 372 rigs, […]
Based on our channel checks over the Holidays we found little to no movement in flat rolled steel prices as buyers sat on the sidelines (or were on vacation) waiting for the New Year to begin. Steel Market Update published our latest prices on Tuesday afternoon in our website. Here is how we are seeing […]
For the week ending December 28, 2013, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,773,000 net tons of raw steel. This is a decrease in production in comparison to the first week of December when raw steel production was 1,829,000 NT (the highest production rate for the month). […]
Australian ports Port Hedland, Dampier and Cape Lambert resumed operations on Wednesday after Cyclone Christine tore through the area. The cyclone shut down operations and shipments but caused only minor infrastructure damage. BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group and Rio Tinto reported all mines back in operation with no injuries to personnel. Only minor damage has […]
For the week ending December 28, 2013, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,773,000 net tons of raw steel, a 2.3 percent increase over the previous week but a 0.7 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 74.0 percent, […]
Flat rolled steel prices remained range bound over the past few days due to the Holidays and most buyers being out of the office. At the same time, U.S. Steel, NLMK USA, Nucor and ArcelorMittal USA have all come out with new base price guidance for new orders. The expectation from most buyers is for […]
According to the most recent U.S. Department of Commerce import license data, Chinese exports of cold rolled into the United States are beginning to surge. Based on license data through the 24th of December, cold rolled imports from China totaled 76,419 net tons of the 159,416 net tons requesting licenses. Since October 2012 the previous […]
On Monday, December 23, 2013 Nucor Sheet Mill Group advised their flat rolled customers that “due to higher raw material prices, the Nucor Sheet Mill Group will increase base pricing to the following levels, effective immediately:” Hot Rolled = $35.00/cwt ($700 net ton) Cold Rolled = $40.50/cwt ($810 per ton) Galvanized = $40.50/cwt ($810 per […]
In a letter to their customers dated today, Monday, December 23, 2013 – NLMK USA opened their February order book and advised their customers of their “minimum” new base price levels: Hot Rolled $35.00/cwt ($700 per ton)Cold Rolled $40.50/cwt ($810 per ton)Coated $40.50/cwt ($810 per ton)Specialty $25/ton increase on all high […]
According to Baker Hughes data from December 27, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,757 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 11 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 13 to 1,382 rigs, gas rigs up 2 to 374 rigs, […]
For the week ending December 21, 2013, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,733,000 net tons of raw steel, a 4.7 percent decrease over the previous week and a 2.9 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 72.3 percent, […]
I thought our Premium Level readers might appreciate the latest forecast from Timna Tanners, Bank of America Merrill Lynch metals and mining analyst. Timna was a little “light” in her price forecast for 2013 hot rolled coil which was originally $555 average and was upgraded during the year to $622. Tanners believes some of the […]
Production declined by 5.0 percent from October to 127,364,000 tonnes, partly due to less days in the month but this was also the lowest monthly tonnage since February. Capacity utilization was 74.0 percent. The annualized three month moving average production was 1.576 billion tonnes through November (Figure 1). Capacity is now 2.076 billion tonnes. Global […]
U.S. Steel – POSCO Industries (UPI) has opened their March flat rolled steel order book and in the process the company has put out a letter to their customers advising of the new minimum base prices the mill will be charging for hot rolled pickled & Oiled (HRPO), cold rolled (fully annealed) and hot dipped […]
According to The Steel Index (TSI), iron ore spot prices were reported at $132.7 per dry metric ton CFR Tianjin Port (China) for 62% Fe fines and $120.5/dmt on 58% Fe fines. Trading was quiet this week as TSI reported 62% Fe prices down $3.30/dmt and 58% Fe prices down $4.70/dmt over the past week. […]
According to Baker Hughes data from December 20th, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,768 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 14 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 16 to 1,395 rigs, gas rigs up 3 to 372 rigs, […]
The US International Trade Commission said it will not revoke the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on hot-rolled steel products from China, India, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Ukraine. The Dec. 17 decision was the result of a required five-year (sunset) review process. US ITC said that revoking the orders “would be likely to lead to […]
On Monday U.S. Steel put out a letter to their customers announcing a $20 per ton flat rolled spot price increase. The letter was from RY Kopf, General Manager North American Flat-Rolled Marketing and it read as follows: Effective immediately, base pricing for all new Flat-rolled products spot orders is increased by a minimum of […]
U.S. Steel announced a price increase on Monday and the market appears to be cautiously optimistic as we enter the end of 2013 and look out into the New Year. The announcement itself was termed a “non-event” by one of the construction related steel mills with whom we spoke this afternoon as increases had previously […]
For the week ending December 14, 2013, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,818,000 net tons of raw steel, a 0.6 percent decrease over the previous week but a 1.8 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 75.9 percent, […]
California Steel Industries (CSI) opened their February order book and became the first domestic mill to announce a new round of flat rolled price increases. In a letter to their customers dated December 13, 2013 the mill advised, “Due to changing market conditions, California Steel Industries is increasing transaction prices by a minimum of the […]
According to Baker Hughes data from December 13th, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,782 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 7 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 14 to 1,411 rigs, gas rigs down 6 to 369 rigs, […]
The AHRI released shipment data for heating and cooling equipment for the month of October 2013. This data is important to those in the steel industry as the equipment is made out of flat rolled steels. The data is also an important economic indicator for residential construction and growth. Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments […]