Raw steel output by U.S. mills dipped again in the week ending Nov. 23, but stayed above the 80 percent mark. Production totaled 1,861,000 net tons at a capability utilization rate of 80.4 percent, down 0.8 percent from the previous week and down 2.2 percent compared with the same week last year, reported the American Iron […]
By CRU Steel Prices Lead Anh Nghiem, from the Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor Iron ore prices have been gradually increasing over the past week with improving steel prices and positive signals from the Chinese futures market. According to a market source, market participants’ confidence has improved significantly since steel prices started to increase and this […]
U.S. raw steel production in September fell 5.3 percent to 7,720,237 net tons, reports the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington. September production is below the 2019 average of 8,099,797 tons and down 3.5 percent compared to the same month last year. Broken down by production method, 5,349,165 tons (69.3 percent) were produced by […]
The slowdown in the energy sector has resulted in the closing of a nearly 50-year-old plant. TimkenSteel, headquartered in Canton, Ohio, announced it will close its TimkenSteel Material Services facility in Houston. “We are focusing on our core strengths of making and heat treating steel and more fully utilizing our supply chain to provide the […]
U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal USA raised flat rolled by an additional $30 per ton ($1.50/cwt) on Friday as the mills seek to maintain the upward momentum on steel prices. Other mills are likely to follow suit. The latest announcements follow on two earlier increases of $40 per ton in late October and early November. U.S. […]
On Friday morning, SSAB announced another steel plate price increase. In a letter emailed to customers, SSAB advised their intention to raise “transaction prices by a minimum of $40 per ton effective immediately for all new non-contract orders.” The increase, which is the second $40 increase announced by SSAB so far this month, applies to […]
Steel buyers are clearly split on whether demand is sufficient to support the recent mill price increases or whether the market can expect another dead cat bounce. Following are results from this week’s Steel Market Update market trends questionnaire.(Note that the following responses were gathered prior to the mill price increase announcements on Friday.) Dead […]
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 […]
Benchmark hot rolled coil average pricing is up again this week as both the lower and upper ends of our range have increased compared to one week ago. We are still seeing some lower pricing which gives us pause, and we continue to seek more information on where prices are heading. The SMU Price Momentum […]
CRU has underlined its commitment to ensuring “The CRU,” its U.S. Midwest HRC price, remains the most reliable and trusted reference in the industry by initiating a second audit of its data providers. The audit will be conducted by third-party audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC). It has been in planning for some time as a […]
Raw steel output by U.S. mills increased slightly in the week ending Nov. 16, taking the average mill utilization up to 81.1 percent from 80.5 percent the week before. Production totaled 1,876,000 net tons last week, up 0.8 percent from the previous week but down 1.4 percent compared with the same week last year, reported the […]
By Senior Analyst Manjot Singh, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor The past week was characterized by improving sentiment in the Chinese and Indian steel industry. Chinese HRC and rebar prices increased substantially w/w (see data below) on the back of higher demand. Even the HRC prices in India witnessed a $7 /t increase w/w, […]
As of mid-November, steel prices appear to be moving upward following price increases announced by the major flat rolled and plate mills. How high and for how long is the subject of much debate and speculation. The market is clearly split between those in a buying mode in anticipation of sustained higher prices and those […]
October’s licensed import volume of total rolled steel products continued the decline from September and was the lowest since February 2011. Rolled product imports in October were down by 17.7 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis year over year. This follows the 15.5 percent decline in September. This early look at October’s import […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg, from CRU’s Crude Steel Market Outlook The iron ore market in 2019 has been dominated by supply disruptions. The Vale accident in January was followed by cyclones in Australia and, more recently, quality issues affecting Rio Tinto, the second largest iron ore producer in the world. The company has […]
This early look at U.S. steel imports in November, projecting Commerce Department license data out through the end of the month, suggests that imports are trending down considerably. Most of the difference is in imports of semifinished steel, on track to total less than 500,000 tons this month. This drop-off was to be expected following […]
The price hikes by the mills on flat rolled and plate are beginning to take hold, as the average price of hot rolled is up $30 per ton, galvanized is up $5 and plate is up $15, according to Steel Market Update’s latest canvass of the market Here is how we see prices this week: […]
Raw steel output by U.S. mills declined slightly in the week ending Nov. 9, taking the average mill utilization down to 80.5 percent from 81.7 percent the week before. Production totaled 1,862,000 net tons last week, down 1.4 percent from the previous week and down 2.2 percent compared with the same week last year, reported the […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive-level members. For more information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. This analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into the district of entry and the source nation. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about local import […]
September apparent steel supply slipped to 8.7 million net tons, the lowest level seen since December 2017, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute and U.S. Department of Commerce. Apparent steel supply, a proxy for demand, is determined by adding domestic steel shipments and finished U.S. steel imports, then subtracting total U.S. […]
Will the market accept the recent price increases—a total of $80 on flat rolled and $40 on plate? Obviously much depends on steel demand. Judging by the responses from steel buyers polled this past week by Steel Market Update, demand remains a question mark. More than half of those responding to SMU’s market trends questionnaire […]
The U.S. exported 614,893 tons of steel in September, according to final Census data, a 6 percent decline from August, but up 5 percent from the same month one year ago. September exports were right in line with the 2019 average of 615,874 tons, but remain significantly muted compared to recent years. It was just […]
Steel Market Update was working on an article predicting a flat rolled price increase very soon when we received notice about 5 p.m. ET this evening that the Nucor Sheet Mill Group was raising base prices of flat rolled by a minimum of $40 per ton, effective immediately. This is the second flat rolled price […]
This afternoon Nucor Plate Mill Group increased prices for all plate products by $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt). The follows a $40 per ton increase on plate by Evraz North America dated Oct. 28, 2019. The Nucor increase is to be effective “immediately” and impacts all transaction (spot) prices on new orders of carbon, alloy and […]
Despite the Oct. 28 plate price increase announcement out of Evraz ($40/ton), plate prices continue to be under pressure. [Please note: This article was completed just prior to the Nucor $40 price increase announcement, which was made on plate products at 4 p.m. this afternoon.] A large plate buyer told SMU they had just received […]
Flat rolled prices are beginning to shift gear and are slowly rising after the recent $40 per ton price increase announcements by the domestic steel mills. SMU continues to see a wide variety of pricing in our survey this week, but our channel checks are providing details of prices firming (although some mills appear to […]
Raw steel output by U.S. mills increased by nearly a full percentage point in the week ending Nov. 2, the third increase in as many weeks, taking the average mill utilization up to 81.7 percent of capacity. Production totaled 1,888,000 net tons, up 1.2 percent from the previous week and up 0.1 percent compared with […]
October saw a small increase in finished steel imports, but a big increase in semifinished imports, based on Commerce Department license data for the full month. Finished steel imports saw a 14 percent decline from August to September in a comparison of the final Census Bureau data for the two months, followed by a small, […]
Two-thirds of the way through the month, steel imports into the United States are trending significantly lower in November compared with the prior month and averages for the year. Steel Market Update projections based on Commerce Department license data estimate imports will total about 2.1 million tons this month, well below the average for the […]
By CRU Senior Analysts Ryan McKinley (USA), Ryan Smith (Australia) and Erik Hedborg (UK) Part three of our three-part series: What’s next for U.S. iron ore production? In parts one and two of our series, we examined the U.S. iron ore industry and reviewed recent market developments. We also explored the dependency of U.S. iron […]