The Keystone XL project was given official approval on March 24 after the State Department issued a presidential permit authorizing TransCanada to begin construction of its long-delayed pipeline. The decision was immediately met with criticism from numerous groups. America Made When the executive order was delivered in January opening the way for TransCanada to resubmit […]
We are continuing our investigation to quantify the players in the global trade of both HRC and CRC. We now have data for all of 2016. This information is sourced quarterly from the Iron and Steel Statistics Bureau in the UK. Data is not very current because many countries are slow in reporting but we […]
Mesabi Metallics, the former Essar Steel Minnesota, is seeking permission from the District of Delaware Bankruptcy Court to recommence construction activities on its taconite mine and processing plant in Nashwauk, MN. A court hearing is scheduled for April 5. Earlier this month the court gave the company permission to renew labor agreements with construction workers […]
As we moved around the industry trying to gauge where flat rolled steel prices are this week, we found most buyers as being optimistic but perhaps not as many as two weeks ago. There seems to be a growing question about whether the market has “peaked” or not. Everyone wants to know where prices will […]
For the week ending March 25, 2017, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,725,000 net tons of raw steel, a 1.3 percent decrease over the previous week but a 2.4 percent increase over the revised rate from the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate […]
Steel Market Update is being asked whether Big River Steel’s production has been added to the raw steel capacity that the AISI uses when calculating capacity utilization rates. The short answer is we don’t think so. The AISI did make a change and increased quarterly capacity for the 4th Quarter 2016 from 30.7 to 31.2 […]
The American Institute for International Steel reports steel imports in February were 21.3 percent higher than a year ago. AIIS cautions against U.S. protectionist policies that may hurt manufacturers who depend on global value supply chains. The press release from AIIS follows: Falls Church, VA. March 27, 2017. Steel imports dipped 3.1 percent in February, […]
Last week, Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted our mid-March flat rolled steel market trends survey. We invited 670 people to participate in the gathering of data and opinions which resulted in our flat rolled steel market trends analysis presented to our Premium level members last Friday in the form of a Power Point presentation. It […]
Flat rolled steel prices saw modest moves this past week according to Steel Market Update (SMU) and Platts steel indexes. The two strongest products were cold rolled and galvanized each up $15 per ton for the week. Benchmark hot rolled pricing was up $5 per ton on Platts to $650 per ton and $10 per […]
TransCanada received the go-ahead from the White House on Friday to complete the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline. During remarks at the White House announcing the approval of the presidential permit, President Trump said: “It’s a great day for American jobs and a historic moment for North American and energy independence. This announcement is part of […]
Production in the month of February was 126,579,000 metric tons, down from 137,837,000 tons in January. Capacity utilization fell from 69.2 to 65.5 The three month moving averages (3MMA) that we prefer to use were 132,861,000 and 67.8 percent respectively. This capacity utilization number is misleading because in February it was severely influenced by the […]
Flat rolled prices moved higher over the past week based on SMU sources. Even so, there is much discussion as to what direction prices will go from here and we will have more on that subject later this week. We did receive comments from a large service center that our readers might find of interest […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released March license data this afternoon that shows foreign steel imports trending toward a 3.5 million net ton month. SMU does not believe the month will come in at that level when all is said and done, but it appears it will be the first month to reach or exceed […]
For the week ending March 18, 2017, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,747,000 net tons of raw steel, a 2.5 percent decrease over the previous week but a 3.7 percent increase over the revised rate from the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate […]
Trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz asked Steel Market Update if he could comment on the recent request for comments on the Buy American rules suggested by President Trump on private projects that require government approval. The U.S. Department of Commerce was charged with telling the President what could be done under current law. Here is the […]
You will notice a couple of changes in our Comparison Price Indices (CPI) report. The U.S. and Canadian steel mills have adjusted their extras for placing zinc on the surface of steel (galvanized). One of the items referenced in the CPI is .060” G90 which prior to this week was based on a $3.45/cwt ($69 […]
Steel Market Update received information from the last couple of mills missing from our galvanized coating extras analysis and we wanted to make sure that everyone gets to see the finished product. This analysis is also on our website and can be found under the Resources tab (Resources > Steel Mills > Galvanized > Coating […]
Flat rolled steel prices are reacting to the two $30 per ton price announcements made by the domestic steel mills over the past month. The culprit (or scapegoat depending on your perspective) has been the rapid rise in ferrous scrap prices which are the primary inputs for electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mills and is […]
US steel exports rose in January according to the latest data analysis by the American Institute for International Steel. The press release from AIIS follows: Falls Church, VA. March 13, 2017. Steel exports started the year off strong, increasing 12.6 percent from December to January. The 818,431 net tons of exports were 4.6 percent higher […]
According to the latest data released from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute, apparent steel supply for the month of January 2017 was 9,236,140 net tons. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished US steel imports, then subtracting total US steel exports. This is the […]
For the week ending March 11, 2017, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,791,000 net tons of raw steel, a 1.8 percent increase over the previous week and a 6.3 percent increase over the revised rate from the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate […]
We believe that miss-information (or lack of) about regional import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis of tonnage by district of entry is to describe in detail what is going on in a company’s immediate neighborhood and thus provide a negotiating advantage for our premium subscribers. We are […]
Flat rolled prices have begun to move higher based on the most recent analysis of the steel price indexes from last week that are followed by Steel Market Update (SMU). Benchmark hot rolled prices were up $10 per ton on our own index while Platts took their average up $7.50 per ton by the end […]
Most of the flat rolled steel mills have made changes to their zinc coating extras to either be effective immediately or by the beginning of April 2017. The new extras replaced those that became effective November 2016 through January 1, 2017. The extras were raised due to the increasing cost associated with zinc purchases needed […]
Total foreign steel imports for the month of January were announced this past week by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Imports totaled 2,814,081 net tons or about 120,000 tons more than December and slightly above the twelve month and three month moving averages. At the same time license data was updated for February imports and […]
On Wednesday, Nucor Sheet Group announced a $30 per ton ($1.50/cwt) price increase on hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steels. The base price increase was to take effect immediately and was the second $30 per ton increase announced since the beginning of the New Year. Since October 21, 2016 Nucor has made six price […]
Licensed data for February was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on March 7th. An explanation of the methodology that we at SMU use to analyze the trade data is given at the end of this piece. All volumes in this analysis are reported in short tons. Total rolled […]
Flat rolled steel prices firmed a little with benchmark hot rolled up $10 and cold rolled the same. Galvanized price average remained the same and Galvalume was up $5 per ton. We heard from a number of steel buyers that they were waiting to see what was going to happen with scrap prices (expectation was […]
Scrap prices moved higher as scrap dealers and the domestic steel mills finished their March negotiations. With prime grades of scrap settling at about twice the $30 per gross ton originally thought a couple weeks ago, the sheet mills have got a decision to make. Do they take prices up or have they raised prices […]
For the week ending March 4, 2017, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,760,000 net tons of raw steel, a 0.6 percent decrease over the previous week but a 3.8 percent increase over the revised rate from the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate […]