The U.S. Department of Commerce released new foreign steel import license data this afternoon that suggests imports for the month of September may not be below 3.0 million tons after all. At this moment, using data through today and projecting the rate to remain the same for the balance of the month, September would come […]
The following article was produced for our Premium level members earlier this week. We wanted to share it with our Executive level members as we think it is important and interesting as the world is flooded with excess steel capacity. If you find this article interesting you may be interested in upgrading your membership from […]
For the week ending September 19, 2015, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,706,000 net tons of raw steel, a 0.7 percent increase over the previous week but a 9.2 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 71.4 percent, up […]
Global steel production in 12 months through August totaled 1.615 billion tonnes with a capacity of 2.3 billion tonnes. Capacity utilization in August was 68.4 percent with a three month moving average (3MMA) of 69.1 percent, down from 71.6 percent in three months through June. China accounted for 50.5 percent of global production in August. […]
Flat rolled and plate prices continued to slip as all of the indexes followed by Steel Market Update reported pricing this week. The CPI benchmark hot rolled average dropped $2 to end the week at $446 per ton ($22.30/cwt). We now have SMU with the lowest average at $440 per ton followed by Platts ($445), […]
The key word that we are hearing from steel buyers and mills alike is the market is QUIET, very, very quiet. Lead times referenced continue to be short. Inventories continue to be high. We did not collect any huge changes in our key product averages. We are hearing that extras on many products are being […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest license data for the month of September through the 15th of September late this afternoon. For the first time in many months we are seeing a large change in the license requests at this point in the month. Earlier this month it appeared that licenses were trending […]
For the week ending September 12, 2015, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,694,000 net tons of raw steel, a 2.7 percent decrease over the previous week and a 9.8 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 70.9 percent, down […]
The flat rolled steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update saw prices as being relatively flat this past week with the exception of Platts which is playing catch-up as they move their prices to be more in line with the other indexes. SMU kept all of our indices the same as the prior week as […]
Net imports equals imports minus exports. We regard this as an important look at the overall trade picture and its effect on demand at the mill level. Figure 1 shows that net sheet product imports on a three month moving average, (3MMA) basis at 718,000 tons in July continue to be more than double that […]
In the first seven months of this year bulk scrap exports were 7,809,000 tonnes for an annual rate of 13,387,000 tonnes, down by 11.6 percent from the first seven months of last year. The tonnages shown in Figure 1 are based on three month moving averages for 2015 and on the twelve month monthly average […]
Manufacturing expanded at its slowest pace in two years, according to August data from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). On the domestic front, consumer spending remains strong bolstered by low gas prices and job growth but manufacturing for export has suffered from ailing global economies and the strength of the US dollar. The export […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce (US DOC) released final July Census Data which means they have announced the final steel import numbers for the month. Total steel imports for the month of July 2015 were 3,285,600 net tons (SMU converts the USDOC metric ton data into net tons for our readers). The July totals were […]
SMU adjusted our flat rolled price indices on Thursday of last week due to information we gathered after the conclusion of our Steel Summit Conference. We noted then that the market has been very slowly leaking, with the bottom of our hot rolled range hitting $420 per ton. One of the mills with which we […]
This data is normally reserved for our Premium members, but we wanted to give our Executive readers a view of what a Premium subscription includes. This is one of many additional data points available to our Premium level members. Licensed data for August was updated on September 4th through the Steel Import Monitoring System of […]
Due to the Labor Day Holiday in the United States, Steel Market Update did not produce our Comparison Price Indices article on Sunday evening. Since many of our readers look forward to this information we are publishing last week’s numbers this evening. Hot rolled coil was dropped below $450 per ton on two indexes – […]
Last week Steel Market Update conducted our early September flat rolled steel market analysis. One of the areas we watch very closely is how are distributors handling spot flat rolled steel purchase prices to their manufacturing customers? We have found that as service center spot prices weaken, so do mill prices until they reach the […]
For the week ending September 5, 2015, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,741,000 net tons of raw steel, a 2.2 percent increase over the previous week but a 8.0 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 72.8 percent, up […]
After leaving our Steel Summit Conference, SMU began canvassing our flat rolled steel sources to see if there had been any further changes in prices of flat rolled steels (hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume). We found three of the items dropped (hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized) while Galvalume rose slightly. Here is […]
This week’s averages are heavily influenced (more than normal) by our on-going survey since all of our SMU team is involved in the Steel Summit Conference. We are being careful while at the conference not to discuss specific pricing or competitive situations. We will continue to evaluate market prices as the week progresses and advise […]
Earlier today the U. S. Department of Commerce released the latest license data through the 1st of September. Based on license data August total steel imports will be 3.0 million net tons. If confirmed when the Final Census data is released August will be the lowest tonnage so far this year. When looking at flat […]
For the week ending August 29, 2015, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,703,000 net tons of raw steel, a 2.2 percent decrease over the previous week and a 11.8 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 71.2 percent, down […]
Virtually all of the indexes followed by Steel Market Update have begun to note the falling prices on flat rolled steels in North America. Benchmark hot rolled continues to be the most volatile product, dropping by as much as $16 per ton according to SteelBenchmarker (who only reports prices twice per month) and even Platts, […]
Recently Steel Market Update produced information related to the changes in the LME spot price for zinc and the costs associated with applying the Zinc to steel substrate in order to make galvanized product. It has been normal for the domestic steel mills to react to significant adjustments in the cost of zinc by adjusting […]
Steel buyers continue to report flat rolled steel prices as being stagnate (or stable) and our steel ranges remained the same on all but galvanized (which was influenced by data coming from light gauge construction products market segments). Our Price Momentum Indicator continues to be pointing to a sideways pricing trend with a slight “negative” […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released July Preliminary Census Data and updated the license data for the month of August. In the table below we have provided the details to the July numbers which indicates imports at 3,242,501 net tons or slightly higher than the 3.1 million net tons received during the month of June. […]
In early May 2015 zinc spot price on the LME was trading at, or close to, $1.10 per pound. In early April 2015 US Steel adjusted their coating extras while the rest of the mills remained at the levels they set in early 4th Quarter 2014 when zinc was trading in the range of $1.00-$1.10 […]
For the week ending August 22, 2015, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,742,000 net tons of raw steel, a 1.5 percent decrease over the previous week and a 9.7 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 72.9 percent, down […]
With the exception of Platts, all of the other indexes reporting (and followed by SMU) saw flat rolled products as losing ground this past week. Steel Market Update (SMU) is leading the way with their benchmark hot rolled coil (HRC) average dropping by $10 per ton to $450 per ton. This is $5 higher than […]
Global steel production in 12 months through July totaled 1.619 billion tonnes with a capacity of 2.3 billion tonnes. Capacity utilization in July was 68.4 percent with a three month moving average (3MMA) of 70.4 percent, down from 71.6 percent in three months through June. China accounted for 49.4 percent of global production in July. […]