The U.S. Department of Commerce released the Final Census Data for foreign steel imports for the month of December 2016. We now have the 12-month moving average (12MMA) for calendar year 2016 as well as the 3-month moving average for the last 3 months (4Q) 2016. The January numbers are based on license data which […]
Licensed data for January was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on January 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 […]
December steel exports totaled 726,847 net tons (659,385 metric tons), down 0.3 percent over November but up 0.2 percent from December 2015. This is the lowest export level seen since December 2015 when 658,362 tons were exported. Total December figures are below the thee month moving average (average of October, November, and December 2016 figures) […]
Steel buyers are telling Steel Market Update that there are a few steel mills “looking for orders” and that flat rolled steel prices are “somewhat negotiable with tons” but, otherwise, the steel mills are doing a good job of holding the line on prices. We have seen a couple of drops in pricing due to […]
The following article is the opinion of Steel Market Update (SMU) founder and publisher, John Packard. There is a new kid in town, his/her name is Big River Steel. No other steel mills like BRS because they are taking market share and, well, everyone wants to keep all of their toys. Big River Steel Arkansas […]
For the week ending February 4, 2017, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,723,000 net tons of raw steel, a 0.7 percent decrease over the previous week but a 3.5 percent increase over the revised rate from the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce provided updated license and census data which indicates foreign steel imports are trending lower. December imports of foreign steel are totaling 2,685,641 tons while January is trending toward 2.7 million tons based on license data through the end of the month. Items that are trending lower are: Semi-finished steels of […]
The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) recently reported final U.S. raw steel production estimates for the month of December 2016. The monthly estimates are different than the weekly estimates we report in our Tuesday issues; the AISI bases the monthly estimates on over 75 percent of the domestic mills reporting vs. only 50 percent […]
Flat rolled steel prices may have peaked based on the results of the two steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update who reported flat rolled steel prices this past week. Platts reported prices as remaining the same on all flat rolled products but up $40 per ton on plate. Steel Market Update (SMU) collected data […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) collected data from the flat rolled steel markets which indicated some changes in the index averages. Whether this is a signal of a break in prices is not yet known and something we will be working on over the next few days. We have seen data this week whereby the strength […]
For the week ending January 28, 2017, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,736,000 net tons of raw steel, a 1.9 percent increase over the previous week and a 8.0 percent increase over the revised rate from the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate […]
Global steel production in 2016 was up by 0.9 percent after declining by 3.4 percent in 2015. On a rolling 12 month basis, December was the first month to have positive growth since May 2015. Production in the month of December was 134,059,000 metric tons with a capacity utilization of 68.6 percent. The three month […]
U.S. steel manufacturers were successful in using trade cases to reduce steel imports into the United States, said AIIS. The report on steel imports from AIIS follows: Falls Church, VA. January 27, 2017. Steel imports dipped 4.2 percent from November, coming in at 2.68 million net tons in December. Despite the month-to-month decline, the total […]
The Keystone XL Pipeline was given approval by the new administration through executive order last Tuesday. Since that time there has been a flurry of speculation on what kind of benefit building the pipeline will provide to the U.S. steel Industry. “We are — and I am — very insistent that if we’re going to […]
Flat rolled steel prices were essentially unchanged on the Platts and SMU indexes while SteelBenchmarker, which only produces their indices twice per month, played catch up. The three steel indexes agreed that benchmark hot rolled coil was averaging $630 per ton ($629 was the average of the three indexes) or $31.50/cwt. Cold rolled was unchanged […]
Are steel prices poised to give back some of the gains collected over the past few months? Steel Market Update and our readers have been debating this subject as word of mills being more receptive to negotiate steel pricing has been leaking out into the market. On Tuesday of this week, SMU published an article […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) received the following question from one of our readers: “We are a galvanized sheet metal fabricator. We purchase around 5 million pounds a year (mostly 26ga-14ga). I was hoping you could help us out. We have not had to raise prices in years but galvanized pricing has steady risen over the […]
January foreign steel import license data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce earlier this week is suggesting total steel imports will be in line with November and December at approximately 2.8 million net tons. We continue to see a drop in the level of hot-rolled tons coming into the U.S. market as fewer countries […]
The market did not collapse after our article about potential cracks in hot rolled. In fact, the hot rolled prices actual increased by $5 per ton while the other items remained intact at last week’s levels. Although SMU did collect data on hot rolled that was lower than the week prior, the lower offers were […]
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday giving permission for the Keystone XL oil pipeline project to advance as quickly as possible. While the announcement prompted mixed reaction in the United States, TransCanada said it appreciates the president’s invitation to proceed and will re-submit its application to do so. “KXL creates thousands of […]
For the week ending January 21, 2017, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,703,000 net tons of raw steel, a 0.8 percent decrease over the previous week but a 6.0 percent increase over the revised rate from the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate […]
Are cracks starting to develop in the floor of steel prices? Are any cracks a harbinger to a reversal of flat rolled steel prices? It is too early to tell. However, buyers and sellers of steel need to be aware of that the markets may be in the early stage of change. Since the beginning […]
Only two of the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update reported prices this past week (SteelBenchmarker only reports twice per month). We saw mixed results with Platts taking their hot rolled average to $630 per ton (up $20) while our SMU HRC index average was up $5 per ton to $625 per ton. Platts […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued their march higher this week in reaction to the latest price announcements made by the U.S. steel mills earlier this month. Where steel prices go from here will depend on lead times, the domestic mill order books and how much inventory is available. We will have a glimpse at each […]
Flat rolled steel prices are fast approaching the highs achieved during calendar year 2016. Today, Steel Market Update (SMU) released our new hot rolled coil index average at $625 per ton. This is within $10 per ton of the $635 per ton high reported during calendar year 2016. In the case of galvanized steel our […]
For the week ending January 14, 2017, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,716,000 net tons of raw steel, a 1.9 percent increase over the previous week and a 6.8 percent increase over the revised rate from the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate […]
On Monday, California Steel Industries (CSI) advised their customers that their March 2017 order book is now open and that transaction (spot) pricing would be increasing by $40 per ton on hot rolled, hot rolled pickled & oiled, cold rolled and galvanized steel products produced by the mill. California Steel began increasing prices as they […]
Late today the U.S. Department of Commerce released updated foreign steel import license data for the months of December and January. Since we are now half way through the month our interest is mainly with the month of January as we are trying to determine if there is any pull-back in flat rolled steel tonnages. […]
The Chinese government is attempting to make a stand against the extreme pollution plaguing the country. One of the largest polluting industries is the steel industry through its use of coal. The march against pollution is expected to have mixed results when it comes to iron ore and steel prices. Iron ore prices were reported […]
Flat rolled steel and plate prices continued their march higher this past week based on the steel price indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Benchmark hot rolled coil (HRC) which is the base thickness prior to extras being added, is working its way toward the latest “minimums” set out by ArcelorMittal in their recent price […]