Steel Market Update adjusted its price momentum indicator from neutral to higher in late May. Across the month, hot rolled steel prices averaged $886 per ton (up $13 over April), while cold rolled was at $1,007 (up $1), galvanized at $1,100 (unchanged), Galvalume at $1,322 (up $6), and plate at $966 (down $8). The SMU […]
Last year, it took Steel Market Update until Aug. 1 to reach the number of registrations already booked for the 2018 SMU Steel Summit Conference. Today alone we received registrations from: Duferco, L&W Supply, A.B. Martin Roofing Supply, Ryerson, Lapham-Hickey Steel and Roll-Kraft. We are just a few people shy of 550 and on our […]
Last year, it took Steel Market Update until Aug. 1 to reach the number of registrations already booked for the 2018 SMU Steel Summit Conference. On Tuesday alone we received registrations from: Duferco, L&W Supply, A.B. Martin Roofing Supply, Ryerson, Lapham-Hickey Steel and Roll-Kraft. We are just a few people shy of 550 and on […]
Flat rolled and plate prices had yet another mixed week, according to the latest comparison of leading price indices. Steel Market Update’s hot rolled average increased by $20 to $900 per ton, while Platts’ hot rolled price was unchanged at $890 per ton. SMU’s cold rolled average fell $5 to $1,005 per ton, while Platts […]
Chinese steel trade data was recently released for the month of April 2018, providing updated data on iron ore imports, scrap imports and flat rolled imports and exports. Chinese imports of iron ore in April totaled 82,920,000 metric tons, a decrease of 3.3 percent from the previous month, but an increase of 0.8 percent from […]
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 (USA) 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 […]
March apparent steel supply rose 13.2 percent over February to 9,935,479 net tons, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished U.S. steel imports, then subtracting total U.S. steel exports. This is the […]
Below is the latest data released by the the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) regarding residential and commercial heating and cooling equipment shipments through March 2018. You may read the full press release on their website here. Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for March 2018 decreased 2.2 […]
U.S. steel exports in March totaled 868,854 net tons (788,212 metric tons), up 7.9 percent from the month before, but down 8.4 percent from March 2017. Total exports have averaged 800,000-820,000 tons over the last few months. The total March export figure is above the three-month moving average (average of January 2018, February 2018 and […]
The U.S. rig count, an indicator of oil country tubular goods demand, rose this week, according to May 4 data from oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The number of active U.S. drill rigs rose by 11 to 1,032 rigs, with oil rigs up 9 to 834 rigs, gas rigs up 1 to 196 rigs, and […]
Total raw steel production for the month of March was 8,084,427 net tons, the highest production level since October 2014 when 8,147,661 tons were produced. The production method breakdown was 5,578,866 tons produced by electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and 2,505,561 tons produced by blast furnaces. March raw steel production was 818,072 tons or 11.3 percent […]
Steel Market Update downshifted its price momentum indicator from higher to neutral in late April as steel buyers reported stability in most products and prices appeared to have plateaued, at least in the short term. At month’s end, hot rolled was selling for about $873, cold rolled for just over $1,000, galvanized for around $1,100, […]
This should come as no surprise to our readers, the theoretical spread between foreign steel export prices and the SMU hot rolled coil index average is quite large. However, when looking at foreign steel offers on hot rolled (and there are precious few) which range from $820-$840 per ton, according to SMU sources, the spread […]
Last month, Steel Market Update forecast flat rolled steel shipments from U.S. service centers would remain steady at 109,565 tons per day in February to 109,594 tons per day in March. The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) reported last week that sheet distributors shipped 107,314 tons per day, a decrease over February. Our shipment forecast […]
Steel shipments by Canadian service centers in March totaled 435,600 net tons, up 13.6 percent from February, and up 3.4 percent from March 2017, reports the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI). This is the highest monthly shipment level seen since June 2015 when 437,000 tons were shipped from Canadian service centers. On a daily basis, […]
Below is the latest data released by the the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) regarding residential and commercial heating and cooling equipment shipments through February 2018. You may read the press release on their website here. Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for February 2018 increased 1.4 percent, […]
U.S. steel exports in February totaled 805,353 net tons (730,605 metric tons), down 3.1 percent from the month before, and down 2.7 percent from February 2017. Total exports have averaged around 820,000-840,000 tons over the last few months. The total February export figure is above the three-month moving average (average of December 2017, January 2018 […]
The U.S. rig count, an indicator of oil country tubular goods demand, rose this week, according to April 13 data from oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The number of active U.S. drill rigs rose by 5 to 1,008 rigs, with oil rigs up 7 to 815 rigs, gas rigs down 2 to 192 rigs, and […]
This should come as no surprise to our readers, the theoretical spread between foreign steel export prices and the SMU hot rolled coil index average is quite large. However, when looking at foreign steel offers on hot rolled (and there are precious few) which range from $840-$880 per ton, according to SMU sources, the spread […]
February apparent steel supply declined over January to 8,773,912 net tons, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished U.S. steel imports, then subtracting total U.S. steel exports. February apparent steel supply saw […]
Total raw steel production for the month of February was 7,266,355 net tons, with 5,087,819 tons produced by electric arc furnaces (EAFs) and 2,178,536 tons produced by blast furnaces. February raw steel production was 329,268 tons or 4.3 percent lower than the previous month, but 185,893 tons or 2.6 percent higher than the same month […]
Steel price momentum remained on the upswing in March, but steel buyers appeared slightly less optimistic about their prospects as President Trump’s tariffs and fears of a trade war weighed on many minds. The price of benchmark hot roll hit $870 per ton in late March, up $50 per ton from the beginning of the […]
The steel import trend for the month of March is now approaching 3.5 million tons. This trend is based on license data through the 26th of March. If the month ultimately comes in above 3.2 million tons, it will top both the 12-month and the 3-month moving averages for steel imports. SMU assumes that 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 (USA) 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 […]
Steel Market Update forecast that flat rolled steel shipments from U.S. service centers would slightly decline from 105,109 tons per day in January to 104,577 tons per day in February. The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) reported last week that sheet distributors shipped 109,565 tons per day, an increase over January. Our shipment forecast accuracy […]
As importers rush to get steel into the United States, unloaded and customs released prior to the March 23 tariff deadline (tomorrow), the trend for March is for imports to exceed 3 million net tons. This would be a big month considering the tapering off we saw in January and February. With the deadline for […]
Steel shipments by Canadian service centers in February totaled 383,300 net tons, down 6.5 percent from January’s high, but up 4.8 percent from February 2017, reports the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI). On a daily basis, total shipments were 19,200 tons per day in February (a 20-day month), up from 18,600 tons per day 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 (USA) 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 […]
We received a question from one of our readers today asking for clarification on import market share as presented in different articles. We look at imports from both a macro view (total imports = percentage of apparent supply) as well as a more focused view (such as how large is the share of pipe and […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest steel import license data for the months of February and March 2018. Based on licenses collected through the 13th of March, February 2018 steel imports are expected to total approximately 2.47 million tons, which would be down 400,000 tons from what was reported by the DOC for […]