James Banker, Executive Vice President of NLMK USA, will be the featured speaker at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 10, for our next SMU Community Chat webinar. Mr. Banker will share his views on the current state of steel production during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as various trade issues. The 45-minute webinar is […]
We are pleased to announce the 2nd annual SMU NexGen Leadership Award, sponsored by the Steel Manufacturers Association. The award is designed to recognize and celebrate the excellence of emerging leaders within the greater steel community. As an industry publication and supplier of market intelligence, and host of the premier steel conference in North America, […]
The 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference will be a virtual conference this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage companies to learn more about how we intend to present valuable information on a wide range of topics of imporance to the greater steel community. We will discuss and forecast steel prices, the economy and […]
The 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference will be a virtual conference this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is disappointing that we are not able to do a live conference, but we think we are going to provide a solid alternative that will feed your need to interact with multiple companies who buy and sell […]
The 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference will be a virtual conference this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is disappointing that we are not able to do a live conference, but we think we are going to provide a solid alternative that will feed your need to interact with multiple companies who buy and sell […]
The latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members. After logging in at SteelMarketUpdate.com, visit the Analysis tab and look under the “Survey Results” section for “Latest Survey Results.” The historical survey results presentations also are available in the Survey Results section for “Survey Results History.” If you […]
Trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz will be the featured speaker at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 3, for the next SMU Community Chat webinar. The 45-minute webinar is free and open to all interested in the topic of free and fair trade. A regular contributor to Steel Market Update, Leibowitz is an expert on government […]
As the world faces the unprecedented challenge of COVID-19, and travel restrictions and other factors continue to limit the movement of people, we are pleased to announce that the SMU Steel Summit Conference will go ahead this year – as a virtual conference This is to ensure the health and well being of all participants, […]
While it seems counterintuitive given the difficult market conditions and weak demand due to the coronavirus, domestic steelmakers have raised flat rolled prices for the second time this month. U.S. Steel, USS-POSCO Industries (UPI) and NLMK USA informed customers today that prices for spot orders of hot rolled, cold rolled and coated products have increased […]
We are pleased to announce the 2nd annual SMU NexGen Leadership Award, sponsored by the Steel Manufacturers Association. The award is designed to recognize and celebrate the excellence of emerging leaders within the greater steel community. As an industry publication and supplier of market intelligence, and host of the premier steel conference in North America, […]
Our Wednesday SMU Community Chat Webinars have been a tremendous success. Each webinar is unique as we try to vary the subject matter and speakers. For those who have been tuning in to these free sessions at 11 AM ET, you already know that our speakers don’t always agree with one another as to what […]
We are in the middle of a black swan event—an event that is expected but unexpected, said Chris Kuehl, managing director of Armada Corporate Intelligence during Wednesday’s SMU Community Chat Webinar. “Viral threats are not new and have been frequent in the past few decades, but we don’t know from year to year how they […]
SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors (davidfeldstein@rocktradingadvisors.com, twitter @TheFeldstein). In addition to market analysis, RTA provides price risk management not only for ferrous products, but also base metals, energy and interest rates. RTA also trains sales staff and creates the infrastructure necessary for firms to offer their customers fixed pricing on […]
John Anton is apologetic that his forecast for the steel market is so gloomy, “but realism outweighs the optimism,” he tells Steel Market Update. The Associate Director of Pricing and Purchasing at IHS Markit, Anton will be the guest speaker during the next SMU Community Chat webinar, beginning at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday, May […]
We had an exceptional SMU Community Chat Webinar with Dr. Chris Kuehl of Armada Corporate Intelligence on Wednesday morning. I am getting nothing but rave reviews of our free webinars, and I encourage you to inform your management and other teammates to register and then tune in at 11 AM ET every Wednesday. Next week […]
If there is one thing you can count on with the steel industry, it’s for rumors to begin flying as soon as the mills appear to have seized pricing momentum. The domestic steel mills, led by ArcelorMittal USA, began announcing price increases the week ending May 1. The announcements ranged from $50 to $60 per […]
On Wednesday, May 13, at 11 a.m. ET we will conduct another in our series of free SMU Community Chat Webinars. Dr. Chris Kuehl, Managing Director of Armada Corporate Intelligence, will join Steel Market Update CEO John Packard as we discuss what a post-COVID-19 world may look like. Kuehl is known for being both an […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Long Products Monitor U.S. domestic long product prices were forced lower across the board as demand weakness caused by the Covid-19 pandemic combined with a substantial m/m decline in scrap prices. Construction activity in many states was either curtailed or prohibited entirely as local governments took measures […]
The prices we reference this evening reflect orders being placed this week, as well as the prices being quoted by the mills to their customers. It is important that our readers understand there was a flurry of activity last week at numbers at, or below, the low end of our range. We discussed with one […]
Buyers of flat rolled and plate steels provided insights into the market to Steel Market Update throughout the day. On the flat rolled side, steel buyers seemed to be resigned to paying higher prices. Flat rolled price quotes are firming at the domestic mills, and the mills may well achieve their desired minimums of $500-$520 […]
The latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members. After logging in at SteelMarketUpdate.com, visit the Analysis tab and look under the “Survey Results” section for “Latest Survey Results.” We also have the historical survey results presentations available in our Survey Results section for “Survey Results History.” If […]
Timna Tanners, metals and mining analyst for Bank of America, will be the guest speaker for the next SMU Community Chat, beginning at 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday, May 6. Tanners raised eyebrows last year with her prediction that the mills’ many planned capacity additions would oversupply the market in the next few years and […]
Steps to contain the spread of COVID-19 have dealt a serious blow to construction, which is the largest market for steel. Construction will be the focus of this week’s SMU Community Chat. Two out of three construction executives responding to an April 20-23 survey by the Associated General Contractors of America reported that they are […]
What comes first, the chicken or the egg? We all want our businesses to return to “normal.” We want all employees back to work, getting paychecks, buying products, and living happy, healthy lives. On Wednesday, we hosted one of our SMU Community Chat Webinars. Our featured speaker was Bernard Swiecki of the Center for Automotive […]
SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors (davidfeldstein@rocktradingadvisors.com). In addition to market analysis, RTA provides price risk management not only for ferrous products, but also base metals, energy and interest rates. RTA also trains sales staff and creates the infrastructure necessary for firms to offer their customers fixed pricing on physical sales. […]
April 21, 2020 Dear Steel Market Update “Member”, Your business is important to Steel Market Update and our parent company The CRU Group. We know difficult times may lie ahead and we are here to support your business in any way we can. Steel Market Update began operations in August 2008. By the end of […]
Steel Buyers Sentiment remained in pessimistic territory in mid-April as steel demand was stifled by the government restrictions on commerce to control the spread of COVID-19. Future Buyers Sentiment was notably more optimistic, however, which suggests service center and manufacturing executives anticipate better days ahead. Steel Market Update asked steel buyers how they view their […]
Let’s talk automotive! Steel Market Update is pleased to host our weekly SMU Community Chat Webinar on Wednesday morning, April 22, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (10 CT, 9 MT, 8 PT). This week SMU President & CEO John Packard will go one-on-one with Bernard Swiecki, Director of the Automotive Communities Partnership and Assistant Director […]
Lead times for spot orders of flat rolled and plate have continued to shorten despite the mills’ efforts so far to curtail production and match supply with demand. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level—the shorter the lead time, the less busy the mill. Average lead times for […]
JSW Steel USA will idle facilities and lay off workers at its plants in Mingo Junction, Ohio, and Baytown, Texas, in an effort to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and chaos in the oil and gas market on steel demand. The company said it will temporarily idle the hot rolling mill and EAF […]