The Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) is starting to idle its mine, concentrator and pellet plant near Labrador City because of the impact of wildfires in Quebec province. The actions follow the Rio Tinto-owned company suspending transport on its 418km Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway (QNS & L) linking the mine to […]
Sheet prices fell hard across the board this week as business ramped back up after Memorial Day. Recall that prices were steady last week largely because of a lack of activity following the holiday. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price now stands at $935 per ton ($46.75 per cwt), down $55 per ton a week ago and […]
Editor’s note: Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, contact Lindsey Fox at lindsey@steelmarketupdate.com. Prices of steelmaking raw materials have been largely on the decline over the last 30 days, as they were the month prior, the exception being pig […]
The Steel Tube Institute (STI) has announced its new president, Ramiro Rodriguez Agusti of Nucor-Republic Conduit. Rodriguez Agusti, a long-time STI member, began his two-year term on June 1. He follows former STI president Glenn Baker of Searing Industries. Rodriguez Agusti is currently head of Nucor-Republic Conduit’s commercial division and is the company’s primary point of contact for the […]
Raw steel production by US mills moved higher last week, increasing for the fourth consecutive week, according to data released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) on Tuesday, June 5. Domestic production stood at 1,754,000 net tons in the week ended June 3, up 1% vs. 1,737,000 tons the previous week. Output was still […]
The LME aluminum three-month price continued to make steady gains on the morning of June 2 and was seen trading at $2,308/t. The move marks the successful test of the key $2,200/t support earlier last week. SHFE aluminum prices also traded higher on that day. The cash price settled at RMB18,585/t and last traded at RMB18,665/t, […]
US plate prices have changed little over the past several weeks, and Nucor’s latest price notice – a sideways move – might mean demand is not as robust as recently as mid-April, according to market participants contacted by SMU. The most recent mill increase came from Nucor on April 19, when the steelmaker aimed to increase […]
The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and galvanized coil base prices has been trending downward since mid-April when steel prices also began their descent. Figure 1 shows both SMU’s hot rolled and galvanized prices. SMU’s HRC price averaged $990 per ton as of Tuesday, May 30, unchanged from the previous week and down 14.7% from […]
Sheet prices were flat or down only modestly this week, the first period of relative stability since mid-April. But several market participants said the flattish trend reflected limited activity around Memorial Day rather than stability in the broader market. Mills remain willing to negotiate spot prices and to match lower prices from their competitors, some […]
Raw steel production by US mills edged up again last week, moving higher for the third straight week, according to data released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) on Tuesday, May 30. Domestic production stood at 1,737,000 net tons in the week ended May 27 vs. 1,728,000 tons the previous week, and the highest […]
An anticipated surge in flat-rolled steel imports due to higher domestic pricing has yet to be reflected in government data. For monthly imports, the International Trade Administration’s US Steel Import Monitor tracks license applications (a first look showing licenses to import but not necessarily the actual tonnages that entered during the month), a preliminary count, […]
SMU’s domestic hot-rolled coil price has fallen below $1,000 per ton ($50 per cwt) for the first time since early March as a broad-based sheet price decline picks up speed. Our HRC price now stands at $990 per ton on average, down $50 per ton from $1,040 per ton last week and off $170 per […]
Raw steel production by US mills edged up slightly last week, expanding for the second straight week, according to data released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) on Monday, May 22. Domestic production stood at 1,728,000 net tons in the week ended May 20 vs. 1,725,000 tons the previous week. Output was off 2.4% from […]
The price spread between hot-rolled sheet and steel plate rose for the sixth consecutive week as hot-rolled prices continued their descent and plate prices remained relatively stable, according to SMU’s price indices published last Tuesday. SMU’s hot-rolled coil index averaged $1,040 per net ton ($52.00 per cwt) in the latest market check on May 16. […]
A weary market worn down by the absence of any positive demand reports ran below the critical $2,300-per-tonne trading line. Falling all the way to $2,200 before settling in the $2,270 – 2,290 range, the LME is in a new lower range as of the week ending May 19 as bearish sentiment pervades the market. […]
Prices for steel sheet continue to move lower as market participants debate how far and how fast prices might fall before they reach bottom. Some are also questioning when and how quickly prices might rebound. But most don’t see that happening until the back half of the year. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price has in the […]
Raw steel production by US mills recovered last week, up 0.8% from the week prior and moving to its highest output since late August 2022, according to data released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) on Monday, May 15. Domestic production stood at 1,725,000 net tons in the week ended May 13 vs. 1,712,000 […]
US apparent steel supply rose 6% in March to 8.03 million net tons compared to the previous month, according to data from the US Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Apparent steel supply is determined by combining domestic steel mill shipments and finished US steel imports, then deducting total US […]
US non-farm payrolls data showed stronger than expected job growth in April and a further drop in the unemployment rate. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that 253,000 jobs were created in April against an expectation of 180,000, while the unemployment rate fell slightly from 3.5% to 3.4%. US non-farm payrolls data showed […]
Private equity firm Apollo has been looking to add Arconic to its portfolio for some time. Almost since its spin-off from its upstream parent, Alcoa, in 2016, Arconic’s assets and key position in the aluminum semis value chain have been on Apollo’s radar. The deal is expected to close before the end of 2023, at […]
The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices narrowed in May from April after having widened since the beginning of the year, according to Steel Market Update data. Both SMU’s hot-rolled coil price average and busheling prices dropped this week. Our hot-rolled coil average slipped $15 per ton week over week to $1,105 per ton ($55.25/cwt) […]
Sheet price continued to decline this week on increased supply, shorter lead times, and aggressive pricing from some domestic mills. Also pressuring steel prices were expectations of lower scrap prices and import competition. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price now stands at $1,070 per ton ($53.50 per cwt), down $35 per ton from $1,105 per ton last […]
Raw steel production by US mills dropped slightly last week vs. the previous week, according to data released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) on Monday, May 8. Domestic steel production was 1,712,000 net tons during the week ended May 6, off 0.2% from 1,716,000 tons the prior week. Production was 3.4% lower than the […]
Premiums for aluminum in the US took fell again last week following a period of stability after the Federal Reserve stepped in the wake of the closure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). Economic struggles have continued to depress shipment volumes into Q2, and many major macro data points are still muddied. Last week another bank […]
Licenses to import steel into the US declined from March to April, with all major flat-rolled product categories showing month-on-month (MoM) declines, according to the latest figures from the Department of Commerce’s US Steel Import Monitor. Import licenses totaled more than 2.292 million net tons in April. This was a 12% drop from March’s final import […]
Northwest Pipe reported a drop in first-quarter earnings but is optimistic on the remainder of the year. The Vancouver, Wash.-based pipe producer saw Q1 net income dropped 34% from the year-ago quarter to $2.4 million, with sales down 9% to $99.1 million. “As we expected, the first quarter was challenging due to severe weather events […]
US hot-rolled coil prices slipped for a third consecutive week as market participants debated whether and when the declines might accelerate. Another big question: where the new floor for HRC might be? SMU’s hot-rolled coil price dipped to $1,105 per ton ($55.25 per cwt), down $15 per ton from last week and down $55 per […]
Raw steel production by US mills inched up again last week, rising 0.9% from the week before and moving higher for a fourth consecutive week, according to data released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) on Monday, May 1. Domestic steel production stood at 1,716,000 net tons during the week ended April 29 vs. 1,700,000 tons […]
Sheet prices fell across the board this week on the heels of shorter lead times, higher-than-anticipated inventory levels, and potential import competition. Some market participants predicted that further declines would be “managed” by a more consolidated flat-rolled steel industry. Others said they feared that prices could come down quickly given how sharply they rose in […]
Hot-rolled coil prices edged downward for the first time since late November, according to SMU’s latest check of the market. The dip in HRC prices comes after we saw lead times contract slightly, an uptick in the number of mills willing to negotiate lower prices, and a modest increase in sheet inventories. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price […]