Cleveland-Cliffs has temporarily shut down construction activity at its hot-briquetted iron (HBI) site in Toledo, Ohio, due to the COVID-19 virus. All construction at the site will cease at the end of the business day on March 20 until further notice. Cleveland-Cliffs’ iron ore mining and steelmaking facilities will continue operations. The Toledo plant is […]
Today, Steel Market Update had conversations with manufacturing companies across the United States. We found businesses reporting strong demand, plants are still open, office workers tend to be working from home and factory workers are being trained on social distancing as well as personal/equipment hygiene. Most of those we contacted either on the phone or […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary, from CRU’s Zinc Monitor The LME is preparing to move from trading in the ring to electronic settlement pricing as the UK ramps up Covid-19 restrictions on all but essential activities and LME prices continue to take a hammering. While Chinese demand is gradually recovering from the Q1 shock of […]
Updated February steel import license data was released this week, remaining in the 1.9 million net ton range for total steel imports, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Finished steel imports in February were at 1.5 million tons, down over January’s 1.6 million ton level and below the 2019 finished import average of 1.7 […]
Except for galvanized and plate prices, which stayed flat, flat rolled steel saw declines of $10 to $25 per ton last week. The downtrend certainly could have been worse, given the coronavirus crisis, but sources report that steel production and demand remain surprisingly strong. Steel Market Update’s Flat Rolled Price Momentum Indicator remains at Neutral, […]
Weekly raw steel production saw its second decline of 1 percent or more in the week ending March 14, suggesting that the coronavirus may be affecting steel demand. Production last week totaled 1,878,000 net tons with the mills operating at 80.5 percent of their capability. That’s down 25,000 tons or 1.3 percent from the prior […]
Steel prices are as unpredictable as the spread of a rogue virus, but one symptom of COVID-19 is likely to be lower steel prices. As of this writing on March 13, the price of flat rolled steel products had yet to see much effect from the global panic over the coronavirus. Steel Market Update’s latest […]
Zinc spot prices have been falling steadily over the past two months, dropping nearly a quarter since late-January. According to Kitco.com, the spot price was $0.8987 per pound as of Friday. This drop in zinc prices may prompt a change in mill galvanized coating extras. In August/September 2019, many mills adjusted their coating extras when […]
Premium subscribers to Steel Market Update have access to reports on our website that break out the import tonnage into district of entry and source nation for six sheet and plate product categories. This report takes the total national tonnage of hot rolled and breaks it down into product detail. Using U.S. International Trade Commission […]
In the course of 2019, imports of hot rolled coil into the Gulf had declined to almost zero by December. SMU presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the detailed look at volume by district of entry and source nation. The report you are reading now […]
Editor’s note: This article is reprinted from last week’s Premium issue with corrected charts. In 2019 the imports of cold rolled sheet into the Gulf and Great Lakes moved dramatically in opposite directions. SMU presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the detailed look at volume […]
In 2019, imports of hot dipped galvanized sheet into the Great Lakes represented more than half the national total, and this was one of only two regions to experience an increase in 2019. SMU presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the detailed look at volume […]
In 2019, most of the imports of other metallic coated sheet (mainly Galvalume) came into the Gulf, but that volume has declined as the Great Lakes volume has increased. SMU presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the detailed look at volume by district of entry […]
In 2019, imports of cold rolled plate declined in all regions, and the Great Lakes accounted for 69.2 percentage of the total national tonnage. SMU presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the very detailed look at volume by district of entry and source nation. The […]
In 2019, imports of cut to length plate declined in all regions except the Gulf, which increased by 45.1 percent. SMU presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the detailed look at volume by district of entry and source nation. The report you are reading now […]
U.S. raw steel production in January rose to a 10-month high at 8,439,441 net tons, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington. January production was above the 2019 average of 8,061,679 tons and up 1.8 percent compared to the same month last year. The last time production was this high was March 2019 […]
Apparent U.S. steel supply jumped to 9.5 million net tons in January, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute and U.S. Department of Commerce. January apparent supply is now on the high-side compared to the last few years, a nice recovery from November’s three-year low and other late-2019 lows. Apparent steel supply, […]
Steel prices saw only small movement this week, with Galvalume up a bit and plate down a bit. We don’t expect that to be the case moving forward as the market really begins to feel the effects of the coronavirus on the economy and oil prices. In the meantime, Steel Market Update’s Price Momentum Indicators […]
By CRU Senior Cost Economist Ross Cunningham, additional analysis by Ippolito Tarabini and Will Young The oil market is currently facing a large degree of uncertainty. Oil prices could feasibly remain around $40/bbl for a significant period of time. Three key judgements will determine CRU’s oil price forecast for 2020: (I) the extent to which […]
Raw steel production in the week ending March 7 totaled 1,903,000 net tons with the mills operating at 81.6 percent of their capability. That’s down 20,000 tons or 1.0 percent from the previous week when capacity utilization was at 82.5 percent. The current week’s production is a 0.5 percent decrease from the same period last […]
New Commerce Department data shows the United States exported 647,156 tons of steel in January, up 21 percent from December and up 2 percent from the same month one year ago. While up dramatically over one month prior, recall that December 2019 was the second lowest export level in the past decade (just ahead of […]
Final January steel import data was released this week, resting at 3.1 million net tons, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The last time a final monthly figure was this high was in April 2019 at 3.3 million tons. License data currently shows February imports at 1.8 million tons. As previously mentioned, the total […]
Imports of rolled products have declined every month since May 2018 year over year with the greatest declines in each month December 2019 through February 2020. Total rolled product imports in February were down by 26.7 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This follows the 26.3 percent decrease in December and 29.6 percent […]
In spite of the widely reported decline in import volume, import market share increased in the second quarter. Last week we reported that June was the eighth consecutive month in which imports were down by more than 20 percent compared to the same month last year. This has not been the case for import market […]
This report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products and 16 subcategories. Since January 2020, imports’ share of the total sheet products has been 14.5 percent, down from 21.4 percent in 2015. The import share of HRC has been below 10 percent since January 2019. The most striking finding in this […]
Steel Market Update’s canvass of the market on Monday and Tuesday indicates that flat rolled steel prices have moved up by $10-20 per ton following last week’s price increase announced by domestic steelmakers. With the help of higher scrap prices expected in March, the mills are hoping to reverse the slide prices have experienced since […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Market Outlook Two pieces of news have led us to lower our global forecasts for 2020. First, disruptions caused by the Covid-19 epidemic are expected to lead to a sharp downturn in near-term global growth, followed by a sharp recovery later in the year. […]
Raw steel production increased in all five regions of the country in the week ending Feb. 29, totaling 1,923,000 net tons, up 1.2 percent from the prior week and raising the mills to a healthy average utilization rate of 82.5 percent. The current week’s production represents a 0.3 percent increase from the same period last […]
Preliminary Census data for January steel imports was released this week, totaling just over 3.1 million net tons for the month, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. While the January license data is still preliminary, the last time the final Census data was this high was in April 2019 at 3.3 million tons. The […]
By CRU Prices Analyst Estelle Tran, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service The impact of the U.S. International Trade Commission’s surprising negative determination that allegedly dumped and subsidized fabricated structural steel imports from China, Canada and Mexico have not materially injured a U.S. industry is tough to define in the current protectionist environment. Preliminary tariffs […]