The U.S. Department of Commerce released preliminary October import figures earlier today, estimating total imports of 3,059,358 net tons (NT). This tonnage is the highest monthly figure since May 2012 when total imports were 3,064,008 NT. With the exception of hot rolled products, imports increased month-over-month (MOM) in October for all products in the table […]
For the week ending November 23, 2013, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,850,000 net tons of raw steel, a 0.3 percent decrease over the previous week but a 6.1 increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 77.2 percent, down […]
Once per month Steel Market Update publishes reports on flat rolled imports into the United States by product, port and country of origin. The result is a fairly massive report which is difficult to reproduce in our newsletter but is in our new website. The totals in the report are accurate. However, we have removed countries […]
Manufacturing companies are reporting the prices being offered by service centers are essentially only moving in one direction – higher. End users, responding to the most recent flat rolled steel market analysis conducted by Steel Market Update this past week, reported prices as rising as compared to remaining the same by a 73 percent to […]
September ferrous scrap exports totaled 1,548,020 metric tons (1,706,398 net tons) with Turkey, Korea, Taiwan, China, Mexico, and Canada being the top five recipients of U.S. collected scrap. Of the higher ranking countries in the table below, there was month-over-month increase in exports going to Korea and Mexico over the August figures, but a decrease […]
According to Baker Hughes data from November 22nd, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,761 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 1 rig when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 2 to 1,387 rigs, gas rigs down 1 to 369 rigs, […]
There is a lot of interest in what direction spot flat rolled prices will move from here. It appears there is a split between some of the domestic steel mills regarding the most recent price announcements made by AK Steel and Severstal NA. We understand that spot prices on hot rolled are hitting a bit […]
Total steel mill product exports in September were 1,022,050 net tons, a 10.93 percent decrease from October tonnage of 1,147,411 NT. September exports are reported to be at their lowest levels since December 2012. Semi-finished exports were reported to be 2,678 NT, down 93.55 percent from August tonnage of 86,065 NT, but this is most […]
Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for September 2013 increased 18.1 percent, to 333,392 units, up from 282,335 units shipped in September 2012. Residential electric storage water heater shipments increased 10.6 percent in September 2013, to 304,310 units, up from 275,092 units shipped in September 2012. For the year-to-date, […]
Flat rolled steel prices rose modestly this past week with averages adjusting higher by anywhere from $5 to $15 per ton. We are seeing a slightly larger spread between the highs and the lows. We are also seeing a larger spread in lead times out of the domestic steel mills based on our survey results […]
Apparent steel supply for September was 9,043,000 net tons, a 10.38 percent increase compared to the same month one year ago. This is due to an 8 to 9 percent increase in domestic shipments and all imports, and was slightly offset by a decrease in exports, down 3.38 percent. The net trade balance from the […]
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 (3MMA) of the total tonnage of flat rolled sheet and strip supply was 4,469,473 tons per month in the period July through September. This […]
For the week ending November 16, 2013, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,856,000 net tons of raw steel, a 1.5 percent increase over the previous week and a 6.4 increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 77.5 percent, up […]
Hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume spot prices continued to remain firm this past week – even as many of the domestic mills have not “officially” announced support for the price increases made by AK Steel and Severstal NA on the 7th of November. According to Steel Market Update (SMU) sources in both the […]
According to Baker Hughes data from November 15th, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,762 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 8 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 2 to 1,385 rigs, gas rigs up 5 to 370 rigs, […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) released Final Census Data on steel imports for the month of September. Total imports (all products) were reported to be 2,818,675 net tons which is down slightly from the 2,878,367 net tons received during the month of August. Compared to last September (2012) there were 215,624 more tons received […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that for the month of September 2013, U.S. steel mills shipped 7,879,747 net tons, a 5.6 percent decrease from the 8,343,075 net tons shipped in the previous month , August 2013, and a 8.9 percent increase from the 7,233,375 net tons shipped in […]
Negotiations on 2014 flat rolled steel contracts are heating up. Sources are advising Steel Market Update that there has been some movement in the negotiation process by the domestic mills which has allowed a number of the mills to close some 2014 business. We are also hearing from multiple sources of a move by buyers […]
With two mills announcing price increases this past week and the balance either following on a verbal basis or still considering what their position will be has made this week a transitional week. One where new prices are being quoted and customers move to place previously quoted orders – or are sitting back and waiting. […]
Our existing website is about as basic as one can get when it comes to housing our pricing and other data. The existing site has no ability to provide data in a graphic form and our tables are cumbersome and pretty low-tech. This is not the image we want to project as we build toward […]
For the week ending November 9, 2013, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,829,000 net tons of raw steel, a 0.2 percent decrease over the previous week but a 4.9 increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.3 percent, down […]
According to Baker Hughes data from November 8th, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,754 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 12 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 7 to 1,383 rigs, gas rigs up 5 to 365 rigs, […]
Vale reported net earnings of $3.5 billion in the third quarter, up 120 percent from the same quarter in 2012. Iron ore production was 85.9 million tonnes, up 17.3 percent from the previous quarter and the second best quarter of production in Vale’s history. Iron ore production for the first nine months of 2013 was […]
Spot flat rolled steel prices remained relatively stable compared to where they were at this point in time last week. Hot rolled was down $5 per ton however, we do not consider this to be a significant change. We caught a few more numbers this week at the lower portion of our range. However, the […]
California Steel Industries (CSI) and U.S. Steel Posco (UPI) became the first domestic mills to raise flat rolled steel prices as they opened their order books for the month of January 2014. CSI was the first to release their letter informing their customers that “due to changing market conditions” the mill was increasing their transaction […]
For the week ending November 2, 2013, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported that the U.S. steel industry produced 1,833,000 net tons of raw steel, a 0.9 percent increase over the previous week and a 7.4 increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 76.5 percent, up […]
The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported estimated raw steel production at 1,817,000 net tons for the week ending October 26th, 2013. During October, production peaked to a high of 1,873,000 net tons in the week ending October 5th, and dipped to a low of 1,817,000 net tons in the final week ending October […]
The inputs which affect steel prices increased slightly during the month of September with the exception of shredded scrap and 58% Fe Iron Ore prices. Busheling and HMS scrap prices increased by $3 to $5 per ton in the Midwest. Iron ore spot pricing – which is measured out of China – showed one product […]
As we entered the month of October, flat rolled prices had been trending sideways for a number of weeks. On October 1st Steel Market Update measured benchmark hot rolled coil with an average of $635 per ton which was actually down slightly from the $640 recorded at the end of September. However, the mills had […]
The month of September ended with a bang as NLMK USA became the first mill to announce new flat rolled price increases. As we moved into the first few days of October the other domestic mills followed the NLMK lead – although none of the mills followed the base price levels suggested in the NLMK […]