Raw steel production by U.S. steelmakers in the week ending Dec. 1 backslid a bit, but stayed above the 80 percent level that the mills hope to maintain. Steel production totaled 1,892,000 net tons for the week, down a slight 0.7 percent from the prior week, but up 11.1 percent from the prior year. The […]
The U.S. active rotary rig count, an indicator of oil country tubular goods demand, declined slightly week over week, according to oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The number of active U.S. rigs fell by 3 to 1,076, with oil rigs up 2 to 887 rigs, gas rigs down 5 to 189 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs […]
The following calculation is used by Steel Market Update to identify the theoretical spread between foreign hot rolled steel prices (delivered to U.S. ports) and domestic hot rolled coil prices (FOB domestic mills). We want our readers to be aware that this is only a “theoretical” calculation as freight costs, trader margin and other costs […]
U.S. steel imports are trending down in November to around 2.5 million tons from the preliminary total of 3.3 million tons in October, according to import license data from the Department of Commerce. The November decline is largely a result of fewer imports of semi-finished products. Imports of slabs jumped in October to nearly 1.3 […]
We did not collect as many low price data points on hot rolled this week as we did last. We did see erosion at the upper end of the range as most offers appear to be trending below $800 per ton. Steel buyers continue to worry about the basic laws of supply and demand. There […]
U.S. steelmakers have produced 5.6 percent more raw steel so far this year. Adjusted year-to-date production through Nov. 24 totaled 85,639,000 net tons. The increase is the result of a nearly 4 percent improvement in capacity utilization, to an average annual rate of 78.1 percent from 74.2 percent in 2017, reports the American Iron and […]
Flat rolled steel prices dropped again this week. One of our domestic steel mill sources told us this afternoon, “Everything is down about a buck from last week.” This source went on to say that the U.S. steel mills are producing more and exporting less. The net result being there is more supply available. Here […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released updated license data on October and November foreign steel imports on Tuesday. The latest data shows October imports at just over 3 million net tons, well above the 2.3 million ton dip reported for the month of September. The majority of this change is due to an increase in […]
September apparent steel supply declined to 9,101,986 net tons, according to government data released late last week. This is the third lowest level of the year, above only February (8.8 million tons) and June (8.9 million tons). Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished U.S. steel imports, then subtracting total […]
Mill utilization among domestic steelmakers continues to inch upward and is now well above the profitable 80 percent level the industry hopes to maintain. U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Nov. 17 totaled 1,924,000 net tons for a capability utilization rate of 82.1 percent, a half-percent more than the prior week and a […]
The following calculation is used by Steel Market Update to identify the theoretical spread between foreign hot rolled steel import prices (delivered to USA ports) and domestic hot rolled coil prices (FOB domestic mills). We want our readers to be aware that this is only a “theoretical” calculation as freight costs, trader margin and other […]
Flat rolled steel prices dropped this week based on our analysis of the market. Benchmark hot rolled coil dropped $5 per ton and is now averaging $800 per ton ($40.00/cwt). We saw even larger negative price movements in cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. Plate prices, however, were flat and the expectation of plate steel […]
Domestic steelmakers have been able to sustain operations above 80 percent capacity utilization for a month now, keeping production at the highest rate seen in a decade. U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Nov. 10 totaled 1,915,000 net tons, a utilization rate of 81.7 percent, just slightly below the prior week, but a 12.1 […]
U.S. steel exports in September totaled 584,858 net tons (530,575 metric tons), down 9.6 percent from August and down 35.3 percent from September 2017. Surpassing August’s low, this is now the lowest total monthly export figure seen since December 2002 when 527,659 tons were shipped out of the country. Prior to the last three months, […]
Flat rolled steel prices continue to vacillate as we saw the low end of our range on benchmark hot rolled coil improve by $20 per ton. We are aware of a couple end-of-the-year deals that are below our range, but we feel at this point they are limited and not available to the greater market. […]
Domestic steelmakers achieved their highest production rate in a decade last week, hitting a capability utilization of 81.8 percent. The last time production was higher was the week ending Sept. 27, 2008, when the mills operated at 83.2 percent and produced nearly 2 million tons. U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Nov. 3 […]
The following calculation is used by Steel Market Update to identify the theoretical spread between foreign hot rolled steel import prices (delivered to USA ports) and domestic hot rolled coil prices (FOB domestic mills). We want our readers to be aware that this is only a “theoretical” calculation as freight costs, trader margin and other […]
Total heating and cooling equipment shipments in September fell 5.1 percent compared to one year ago, according to data released by the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) on Wednesday. Prior to September, total monthly equipment shipments on a year-over-year basis had increased every month since October 2016 (22 months). Residential and commercial storage water […]
The U.S. active rotary rig count, an indicator of oil country tubular goods demand, declined slightly week over week, according to oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The number of active U.S. rigs fell by 1 to 1,067, with oil rigs down 1 to 874 rigs, gas rigs unchanged at 193 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged […]
Domestic steel mills achieved a production rate last week not seen in more than six years. U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Oct. 27 totaled 1,898,000 net tons with the mills averaging 81.0 percent of their capability, up from 80.0 percent reported the prior week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released updated foreign steel import data for September and October yesterday, with the September figure down to 2.2 million tons and the October trend remaining over 3 million tons. Prior to this week, the September total was hovering around 2.7 million to 2.9 million net tons. Our October trend is […]
Flat rolled steel buyers are advising Steel Market Update that lead times have extended about one week since the recent price announcements. The mills continue to ask about their competition and to negotiate, which is not a sure-fire sign of strength or conviction in the new increases. Plate is a different animal and continues to […]
U.S. mills have operated at 80 percent of capacity or better for two weeks in a row. U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Oct. 20 totaled 1,875,000 net tons with the mills averaging 80.0 percent of their capability, down slightly from 80.2 percent reported the prior week, according to the American Iron and […]
Pittsburgh, PA, October 18, 2018 – Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (NYSE: ATI) announced today it has signed an agreement to provide carbon steel hot-rolling conversion services for NLMK USA at ATI’s world-class Hot-Rolling and Processing Facility, or HRPF, located in Brackenridge, PA. Slab shipments to ATI will begin immediately and increase to anticipated production levels in […]
The following calculation is used by Steel Market Update to identify the theoretical spread between foreign hot rolled steel import prices (delivered to USA ports) and domestic hot rolled coil prices (FOB domestic mills). We want our readers to be aware that this is only a “theoretical” calculation as freight costs, trader margin and other […]
Heating and cooling equipment shipments in August were up 3.6 percent compared to one year ago, according to data released by the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) on Wednesday. On a year-over-year basis, total monthly equipment shipments have increased every month since October 2016. Residential and commercial storage water heater shipments declined 7.9 percent […]
They may be off the table as of today, but late last week (and some buyers reported some still existing early this week) there were special deals – many tied to large tonnage – as the domestic mills attempted to fill their hot rolled order books. We did have a number of buyers and a […]
U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Oct. 13 totaled 1,881,000 net tons with the mills operating at 80.2 percent of capacity, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute. The current week’s production is a 1.6 percent improvement from the prior week, and a 10.3 percent jump from the same period last year, when […]
Apparent steel supply remained high in August, coming in at 9,828,339 net tons, according to government data released late last week. This is the third highest level of the year, just a hair under the April figure (9,829,298 tons), and both being about 100,000 tons under the March high (9,935,479 tons). Apparent steel supply is […]
The U.S. active rig count, an indicator of oil country tubular goods demand, increased this week, according to oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The number of active U.S. rigs rose by 11 to 1,063, with oil rigs up 8 to 869 rigs, gas rigs up 4 to 193 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to […]