Although the average price for hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steels declined slightly this week, the overall momentum is still pointing to higher prices, according to Steel Market Update data. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $840-$930 per ton ($42.00/cwt-$46.50/cwt) with an average of $885 […]
Steel production for the week ending June 2 totaled 1,755,000 net tons, a 1.7 percent increase from the same period last year, but down 1.9 percent from the previous week. The mill capability utilization rate for the June 2 week averaged 74.9 percent, down from 76.3 percent the prior week but up slightly from 74.0 […]
Flat rolled and plate prices had yet another mixed week, according to the latest comparison of leading price indices. Steel Market Update’s hot rolled average decreased by $10 to $890 per ton, while Platts’ hot rolled price rose $4 to $894 per ton. SteelBenchmarker adjusted their hot rolled price to $886 per ton, up $5 […]
Based on the latest license data from the U.S. Department of Commerce reported earlier this week, we are expecting the trend for May steel imports to total approximatley 2.6 million net tons. That’s just over one million tons less than what was imported in April. We continue to see strength in coil and sheet plate […]
The prices of coking coal and zinc declined in May, while iron ore FOB Australia’s East Coast and scrap priced in Chicago were unchanged. To put this raw materials commentary into perspective, Figure 1 shows the spread between Chicago #1 busheling and hot rolled coil ex works Indiana through May 18, both in dollars per […]
There was little movement in flat rolled steel prices over the past seven days most likely due to the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Steel buyers returned to their offices after the long holiday weekend and advised Steel Market Update of what they are seeing out of the domestic steel mills. Last week, we saw a […]
Steel production for the week ending May 26 totaled 1,789,000 net tons, a 4.1 percent increase from the same period last year, and up 0.8 percent from the previous week. The mill capability utilization rate for the May 26 week averaged 76.3 percent, up from 75.7 percent the prior week and 73.7 percent the prior […]
Flat rolled and plate prices had yet another mixed week, according to the latest comparison of leading price indices. Steel Market Update’s hot rolled average increased by $20 to $900 per ton, while Platts’ hot rolled price was unchanged at $890 per ton. SMU’s cold rolled average fell $5 to $1,005 per ton, while Platts […]
Based on the latest license data from the U.S. Department of Commerce reported earlier this week, we are expecting the trend for May steel imports to total 2.5 million to 2.6 million net tons. We continue to see strength in plate imports, in both coil and sheet. Finished imports are trending toward 2.1 million net […]
A large manufacturing company that buys a tremendous amount of hot rolled in the spot markets explained to SMU what they were seeing out of the domestic steel mills this week: “The market is relatively calm at the moment. Steel prices have been hovering in the same range for the last four to five weeks. […]
Steel production for the week ending May 19 totaled 1,775,000 net tons, a 3.3 percent increase from the same period last year, and up 1.6 percent from the previous week. The mill capability utilization rate for the May 19 week averaged 75.7 percent, up from 74.5 percent the prior week and 73.7 percent the prior […]
Flat rolled prices increased slightly on most products this past week, according to the steel price indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Plate prices were seen as being slightly lower than what was published one week ago. Benchmark hot rolled has been relatively stable over the past few weeks. SteelBenchmarker, which only publishes prices twice […]
Foreign steel imports for May are trending toward a 2.3 million net ton month, based on the data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce earlier this week. April imports were just shy 4.0 million net tons. In the graphic below, we are tracking the license rate for the first two weeks of a month […]
Flat rolled steel prices were mixed again this week. Benchmark hot rolled saw erosion at the low end and a slight increase at the top end of our range. The net result being HRC is unchanged compared to one week ago. Other products saw similar adjustments with most averages being close to where they were […]
March apparent steel supply rose 13.2 percent over February to 9,935,479 net tons, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished U.S. steel imports, then subtracting total U.S. steel exports. This is the […]
Flat rolled and plate prices had yet another mixed week as there seems to be a semblance of balance in the flat rolled side of the market, while plate customers wait for new pricing. Hot rolled prices were essentially unchanged with Steel Market Update’s average remaining at $880 per ton ($44.00/cwt). Platts moved their average […]
This analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products by district of entry and source country. Our intent is to describe in detail what is going on in a company’s immediate neighborhood and thus provide a negotiating advantage for Steel Market Update subscribers. Premium members will find reports here on our website […]
U.S. steel exports in March totaled 868,854 net tons (788,212 metric tons), up 7.9 percent from the month before, but down 8.4 percent from March 2017. Total exports have averaged 800,000-820,000 tons over the last few months. The total March export figure is above the three-month moving average (average of January 2018, February 2018 and […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices were mixed in what has to be considered yet another quiet week for pricing. Steel buyers have mixed feelings as to where steel prices go from here, with some believing prices have no place to go but up and others looking at the HRC futures market (which is backwardated) […]
SMU’s flat rolled steel Price Momentum Indicator is currently pointing at Neutral meaning sheet steel prices are in transition or have hit a lull. A Neutral reading does not mean flat rolled steel prices will automatically move lower from here just because the previous indication was for higher prices. The injection of the U.S. government […]
Steel production for the week ending May 5 totaled 1,779,000 net tons, a 3.5 percent increase from the same period last year, and up 1.4 percent from the previous week. The mill capability utilization rate for the May 5 week averaged 75.9 percent, up from 74.8 percent the prior week and 73.7 percent the prior […]
Steel production for the week ending May 12 totaled 1,747,000 net tons, a 1.7 percent increase from the same period last year, but down 1.8 percent from the previous week. The mill capability utilization rate for the May 12 week averaged 74.5 percent, down from 75.9 percent the prior week but up from 73.7 percent […]
Total rolled steel product imports in April were the highest since last June and semi-finished imports were the highest since October 2014 as offshore mills hurried to ship steel ahead of the tariffs that were expected to take effect May 1. Total rolled steel product imports in April were up by 17.0 percent from March’s […]
Last week Steel Market Update conducted our early May 2018 flat rolled and plate steel market trends survey. We sent invitations to 640 individuals representing approximately 620 companies mostly located in the United States and Canada. The purpose of our inquiries is to better follow various trends affecting the flat rolled and plate markets. We […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued their mixed ways for about the fourth week in a row. Steel Market Update and Platts both saw benchmark hot rolled as up slightly and the two indexes are now $1 per ton apart in their assessment of the HRC market average. SteelBenchmarker did not report prices this past week. […]
February and its 2.477 million tons of foreign steel imports seems like a long way off, based on the new license data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce earlier this week. According to the license data, April is trending to come in just shy of 4 million net tons (3,879,350 tons). Semi-finished steels are […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices continue to show signs of stability as the market absorbs the most recent decision on Section 232 exclusions (countries) and awaits decisions about individual product exclusions. Steel Market Update continues to reference our SMU Price Momentum Indicator as being at Neutral, but I want to warn our readers that […]
While some mills claim capacity utilization above 90 percent, the industry overall averaged less than 76 percent in the first four months of the year, according to the weekly raw steel production data reported by the American Iron and Steel Institute. The peak capacity utilization was 78.7 percent in the first week of March. Domestic […]
Total raw steel production for the month of March was 8,084,427 net tons, the highest production level since October 2014 when 8,147,661 tons were produced. The production method breakdown was 5,578,866 tons produced by electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and 2,505,561 tons produced by blast furnaces. March raw steel production was 818,072 tons or 11.3 percent […]
Yet another mixed week as the flat rolled and plate steel markets wait for the government to decide what to do next… It’s tough to be a steel buyer when the laws of supply and demand are no longer in sync with the actual market. Hot rolled prices were mixed although the spread between Steel […]