I spent part of an afternoon with one of our customers the other day. When I was selling steel this was a common occurrence. Now my schedule and time constraints make it much more difficult and that is one of the things I miss from my steel sales days. One of the questions this individual […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Iron ore buyers have been watching with concern the path of Cyclone Narelle as it approaches the western shore of Australia. The west and northwest region contains 93 percent of Australia’s iron ore mines. In past years cyclones and flooding have disrupted mine operations for coal and iron ore sending steel […]
Based on the raw steel capability adjustment which was made by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) as of the beginning of this year, SMU is adjusting the way we will present our visual data to our readers. We will begin to compare weekly production against the “revised” weekly production number from the comparable […]
SMU has been asked about the status of the negotiations regarding the sale of the ThyssenKrupp Steel Americas assets. This includes ThyssenKrupp Steel USA and their sister facility in Brazil which produces slabs – CSA. We understand the due diligence process continues and a number of mills have been through both facilities. Based on SMU […]
Steel Market Update received a surprise the other day when Construction Management Degree (www.ConstructionManagementDegree.com), a website dedicated as an online resource for students looking to expand their education within the management segment of the construction industry, recognized SMU as one of the top 100 construction-related websites online. The list was compiled as a service to […]
Written by: Sandy Williams ArcelorMittal announced Wednesday that it will offer common stock and mandatorily convertible subordinated notes (MCNs) for an expected amount of $3.5 billion in an effort to reduce indebtedness. The company expects the sale of stock and notes, along with other initiatives, to enable ArcelorMittal to reduce its current debt to $17 […]
Written by: Brett Linton Utilizing a trailing average hot rolled coil (HRC) price, the SMU Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. fell to exactly 0 percent this week after eight consecutive weeks of positive momentum readings. MoMo is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12 […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Steel prices and buyers risks were discussed by John Anton, Director of IHS Steel Service, on Wednesday in the 2013 Steel Buyers Guide a webinar presentation by IHS Global Insight. Anton says right now it is a buyer’s market and there are significant savings to be had for those willing to […]
Written by: Damon Sun, Daido International Asian markets definitively heated up on the back of the increased iron ore prices to China. Iron ore (63.5%) is trading around $160/dmt basis, which 3 months ago it was trading near $110-$120/dmt basis. The price increase is a bit unusual in terms there doesn’t seem to be an […]
Written by Brad Clark, Director of Steel Trading, Kataman Metals U.S. Midwest #1 Busheling Ferrous Scrap (AMM) Heads South on Warmer Winter Weather Historically January is the strongest month for busheling prices as cold weather constrains supply. This year however an unseasonably warm winter has kept a lid on any price spikes this past month […]
Written by Brad Clark, Director of Steel Trading, Kataman Metals Settlement prices retreated this week on the CME U.S. Midwest Hot Rolled futures contract as the expected New Year’s jubilation never materialized. Volumes the past week surged as traders placed their bets for a breakout of the recent sideways trading range the market has experienced […]
The one other area bearing watching is the spot iron ore market in China. Based on recent TSI numbers 62 percent Fe fines were referenced at $158.5/dmt as of January 8th. Over the past four weeks, 62 percent fines have risen by 27 percent and are almost double their fifty-two week lows of $86.7/dmt. Our […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Schnitzer Steel, one of the largest U.S. manufacturer and exporter of recycled ferrous materials, reported adjusted operating income of $3 million for the first quarter of 2013, a drop of 81 percent from $15 million reported in first quarter 2011. The adjustment reflected a $2 million pre-tax restructuring charge associated with […]
Written by: Sandy Williams In the December ISM Steel Buyers Survey, 54.5 percent of respondents reported having inventory on hand to cover shipping levels for 1-2 month, 18.2 percent said 0-1 months and 27.3 percent for 2-3 months. Compared to levels 12 months ago, 36.4 percent said tons on hand were about the same as […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Commercial Metals Company announced first quarter net earnings ending November 30, 2012, of $49.7 million, down from $107.7 million at the end of November 2011. Results were partially attributed to a drop in profit from CMC’s Americas Recycling segment which saw lower demand that affected ferrous and nonferrous pricing and volumes. […]
The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported their estimated raw steel production data for the week ending January 5, 2013. According to AISI estimates the U.S. steel industry produced 1,756,000 net tons of raw steel last week. This represents a decrease of 3.9 percent compared to the week earlier and is 7.7 percent lower […]
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) adjusted their first quarter production rate for the domestic steel industry. In a note attached to their press release they advised: “Note: Capability for the First Quarter 2013 is approximately 30.8 million tons versus 32.3 million tons for the same period last year and 32.7 million tons for […]
Mill lead times shrunk on all but Galvalume products according to the results of our most recent SMU steel survey completed this past Friday. On a weighted average basis hot rolled lead times shrunk to 3.42 weeks, cold rolled to 5.25 weeks, galvanized to 5.33 weeks while Galvalume lengthened to 6.17 weeks. We provided the […]
Hot Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $600-$650 per ton ($30.00/cwt-$32.50/cwt) with an average of $625 per ton ($31.25/cwt) fob mill, east of the Rockies. Both the upper and lower end of our range dropped $10 per ton from levels measured one week ago. Our average dropped $10 per ton compared to one week ago. The […]
Have tons to buy? Negotiate… What price you will pay for steel at the beginning of January will depend on a number of variables – but one thing is for certain – if you have tons to buy it is best to negotiate with your suppliers. At least that is what our sources have been […]
A quick note to remind our readers that our first Steel 101: Introduction to Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals workshop of the New Year will be held in Columbus, Mississippi and will include a tour of the Severstal Columbus mini-mill. We highly recommend our program for anyone who is new to the industry, executives who are […]
According to Baker Hughes data from January 4th, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,762 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This number represents a decrease of 1 rig from last week. Compared to last year the 1,762 count is a decrease of 245 rigs. Canadian rigs increased by […]
This week, the SMU Fair Value HRC (hot rolled coil) Model has spot HRC pricing above Fair Value for the eighth week in a row. This is due to the SMU average spot HRC index remaining the same at $635 per ton and scrap inputs remaining the same over last week’s figures. The Fair Value […]
Forty-seven percent of manufacturing companies responding to last week’s steel survey reported demand as showing improvement over the next three months based on current order flows. During the survey, we asked the entire group being questioned, which consisted of manufacturing companies (44 percent), service centers (40 percent), steel mills (5 percent), trading companies (5 percent), […]
Manufacturing companies reported a slight uptick in service center spot prices – prices service centers are attempting to sell non-contract items to manufacturing companies on the open market – during the first week of January. Of the manufacturing companies responding to our survey, 25 percent – or a gain of 8 percentage points from the […]
Platts may be providing a hint as to what we will see coming from the other indices as we enter a full week. SMU did see weakness in our steel survey but we have decided not to make any adjustments in our index until Tuesday evening since last week was 1) a short week and, […]
After months of uncertainty related to governmental policies and the fiscal cliff negotiations (or lack thereof) combined with normal end of the year seasonal factors, steel buyers and sellers finished 2012 in the Optimistic range of the SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment index. During the first week of 2013 those same buyers and sellers were slightly […]
Our Fiscal Cliff article does not tell the whole story – read Andre Marshall’s HRC Futures article to get more details – there are new taxes (or old taxes come back to live again) which most, if not all, U.S. citizens will pay. The question is how will the impact on our individual paychecks affect […]
Written by: Sandy Williams As you all know, Congress approved legislation on Tuesday to avert the fiscal cliff crisis. Here is a summary of that legislation as published in the Chicago Tribune. Reuters, January 2, 2013—The U.S. House of Representatives approved a Senate bill on Tuesday night to avert $600 billion in automatic tax increases […]
