By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Iron ore prices jumped back in the past week as Chinese iron ore demand remained steady while weak seaborne supply from Australia has kept port inventories at a low level. On Tuesday, July 16, CRU has assessed the 62% Fe fines price at $122.00 /t, a $4.00 /t increase […]
California Steel Industries is the latest mill to raise flat rolled steel prices. In a letter to customers on Wednesday, the Fontana, Calif.-based steelmaker said transaction prices for hot rolled, P&O, cold rolled and galvanized steels would increase by $40 per ton ($2/cwt) effective immediately. CSI’s move follows on similar announcements this week from Nucor, […]
Total rolled product imports in June were down by 20.5 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis year over year. This follows the 27.4 percent decline in May on the same basis. This early look at June’s import volume is based on Commerce Department license data (see explanation below.) This import analysis includes all […]
The 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 volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis is to describe in detail what is going on in a […]
As widely expected, U.S. Steel, NLMK USA and USS-POSCO Industries notified customers Wednesday that they have increased flat rolled steel prices by $40 per ton, following on similar announcements by Nucor and ArcelorMittal the day before. All total, U.S. steelmakers have raised prices for hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steels by $80 per ton […]
Steel imports into the U.S. in June potentially jumped by more than 30 percent in a comparison of May final Census data with June import license data. The final tally of June imports has not yet been released by the Commerce Department. Total steel imports in May, at around 2.1 million tons, were well below […]
Our pricing data was collected on Monday and Tuesday of this week prior to the new Nucor price increase announcement on flat rolled steel. We are seeing the market as stable to slightly higher. This week, especially in light of the second price announcement (combined totaling $80 per ton), we will be able to see […]
Nucor and ArcelorMittal announced a second price increase on flat rolled steel today, and other mills are likely to follow suit. Effective immediately on new orders, prices for Nucor’s hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel products are increased by $40 per ton ($2/cwt). Following Nucor’s lead, ArcelorMittal USA also raised base prices on its […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg The high volatility in the iron ore market continues. After peaking on June 2, iron ore prices fell sharply at the end of last week before rebounding on Monday and Tuesday. On July 9, CRU has assessed the 62% Fe iron ore price at $118 /t, down $6.00 w/w. […]
The U.S. mill capability utilization rate saw a slight dip again last week to 79.4 percent–below the 80 percent level steelmakers had hoped to maintain. Raw steel production for the week ending July 6 totaled 1,847,000 net tons, the lowest level seen since last fall. Production was down 0.2 percent from the previous week, but […]
Last week, the domestic steel mills raised prices on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated products (galvanized, Galvalume, etc.) by approximately $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt). Since then, we have seen lead times move on hot rolled by about 1 to 1.5 weeks, according to the steel buyers canvassed yesterday and today. Cold rolled and coated […]
Steel Market Update asked steel buyers this week to respond to the following question: Do you believe a floor has been put on prices and they will rise from here? Here are some of the responses received: “A floor is possible, but I fear that if we see the expected downward move for scrap prices […]
As many predicted, the mill capability utilization rate was bound to dip below 80 percent soon as domestic steelmakers ease back on production to trim supplies in pursuit of higher steel prices. Indeed, average utilization dipped last week for the fifth week in a row, by a full percentage point, to 79.5 percent. Raw steel […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Iron ore prices continued to climb in the past week as port stocks fell further and the market enters a period of weaker seaborne supply. On Tuesday, July 2, CRU assessed the 62% Fe fines price at $124 /t, up $7.50 /t w/w. Demand in China remains strong as […]
By CRU Analyst Erik Hedborg The iron ore price averaged $106 /t in June, which brings the 2019 year-to-date price as high as $90 /t. However, in the second half of the year, we see a few bearish factors that will contribute to prices being lower than they are today. Those factors include: • Demand contraction […]
U.S. steel imports saw a big drop in May, from unusually high levels in April, according to preliminary Census data. Total steel imports declined to less than 2.1 million tons in May from more than 3.3 million tons in the prior month. Imports were down significantly from April in all product categories except for Galvalume. […]
Iron ore mine Magnetation is back in the news. Last time we reported on the company, the Iron Range was a hotbed of investment. Magnetation had been rescued from bankruptcy by Tom Clarke of ERP Iron Ore who was also rekindling operations at Mesabi Metallics (formerly Essar Steel Minnesota) with Chippewa Capital Partners. ERP filed […]
The World Steel Association reports that total global crude steel production in May increased to 162.7 million metric tons (179.3 million short tons), an increase of 5.4 percent over May 2018. Leading the way was China with a 10 percent increase to 89.1 million metric tons (98.2 million short tons). Chinese production exceeded an annual […]
U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal USA are the latest steelmakers to announce a price increase. U.S. Steel informed customers today, June 26, that it has raised the base price for all new flat-rolled spot orders by $40 per ton ($2/cwt), effective immediately. Likewise, ArcelorMittal USA added $40 to the base price for its hot rolled, cold […]
There seem to be more questions than answers regarding the move by the domestic flat rolled steel mills to increase spot base pricing on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. The move was taken as the low end of the benchmark hot rolled steel base pricing was dipping below $500 per ton. The […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices tumbled again this week. The question now: Is this the last drop we will see as the domestic steel mills have stepped forward and announced price increases to the tune of $40 per ton? Base prices for benchmark hot rolled were beginning to pass through the psychological $500 per […]
Hoping to put an end to declining flat rolled prices, a handful of steelmakers announced $40 per ton increases today, effective immediately on unconfirmed orders. The Nucor Sheet Mill Group was the first to announce that it is increasing base prices on new orders of hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel by a minimum […]
As I expected, Nucor came out with a $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt) price increase on flat rolled this afternoon. This is the first Nucor price increase since Feb. 20, 2019. Shortly after the Nucor announcement, USS/POSCO followed with an increase letter of their own and then NLMK USA put out a letter identifying the minimum […]
The market is keeping a close watch on capacity utilization by domestic steelmakers for signs the mills may be dialing back on their high production rates to better match supply with demand. While there was a small dip, mill utilization remained above the 80 percent level last week. The American Iron and Steel Institute reports […]
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. The price of iron ore has surged as scrap has declined benefiting the EAF producers in the U.S. over the integrated mills. Table 1 summarizes the price changes through June […]
By Chris Houlden, CRU Research Manager CRU held its annual Steel Briefing in New York City on June 17. This Insight summarizes the key takeaways from papers presented by CRU North America market specialists Josh Spoores and Ryan McKinley. • Up to 20 Mt of new hot-rolling and over 8 Mt of steelmaking capacity could come […]
With steel prices at such surprisingly low levels, it’s only a matter of time before the domestic mills announce a price increase. The only point of debate is when. There’s clearly some disagreement over whether the market has found a bottom yet. Slightly more than half of the service center and OEM executives responding to […]
This analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of hot rolled coil into the district of entry and the source nation. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about local import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis is to describe in detail what is going on in a company’s […]
The construction segment of the market is booming. This is what we heard from the HARDI steel conference call we participated in last week, and it is what we heard from many companies over the two days SMU was in New York City earlier this week. Whenever we travel, one of the things we always […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary All eyes are on this month’s G20 summit in Osaka for a resolution to ongoing trade tensions between the USA and China, and markets are braced for U.S. tariffs on a further $300 billion of Chinese goods if negotiations do not progress to the USA’s satisfaction. News that Trump […]