Contributor: Brett Linton

Both of our Sentiment Indices remain in positive territory and indicate that steel buyers are optimistic about the success of their businesses.

SMU looks back at stories from Decembers past, one, five, 10, and 100 years ago.

Steel mill production times have seen very little change since September, according to buyers participating in our latest market survey.

Steel buyers of sheet and plate products say mills are still willing to bend on spot pricing this week, though not quite as much as they were two weeks prior, according to our most recent survey data.

We have seen very little change in sheet and plate prices across the past month.

Following a substantial recovery in November, business activity in New York state’s manufacturing sector held steady in December, according to the latest Empire State Manufacturing Survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Shipments of heating and cooling equipment were stable from September to October, AHRI said.

Domestic production remains significantly low compared to levels recorded earlier in the year.

Trends in energy prices and active rig counts are leading demand indicators for oil country tubular goods (OCTG), line pipe and other steel products

We are less than two months away from the 36th annual Tampa Steel Conference! We hope you will join us there!

Referred to as ‘apparent steel supply’, we calculate this volume by combining domestic steel mill shipments with finished US steel imports and deducting total US steel exports.

The volume of steel exported from the country declined in October for the second-consecutive month, following a one-year high in August.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.

Steel prices have remained relatively stable in recent weeks, though they have generally trended downward since October.

Monthly imports have remained within a relatively narrow range since June, significantly lower than volumes seen earlier this year, but stronger than late-2023 levels.

Since sharply falling in September and October, weekly production has marginally trended higher for the past two months, but remains significantly low compared to levels recorded earlier this year

Never have I been more certain in declaring that those in the steel industry are less certain now than they thought they’d be at this point before the election.

Production times are marginally higher than those seen in recent weeks, now closer to levels witnessed throughout October.

A high percentage of the steel buyers we polled this week continue to respond that mills are open to price negotiation for new spot orders. Rates have been high for the majority of the year.

This week, the spread between SMU's hot rolled and galvanized indices is only a few dollars away from a 16-month low.

Steel sheet prices remain at or near multi-month lows, while plate prices continue edging lower from their mid-2022 peak.

SMU’s Monthly Review provides a summary of important steel market metrics for the previous month. Our latest report includes data updated through November 30th.

Weekly raw steel production has hovered in this territory for the last two months, now at the sixth lowest rate of the year.

US manufacturing activity contracted again in November for the eighth consecutive month.

The Chicago Business Barometer continues to indicate deteriorating business conditions in November, easing to a six-month low, according to Market News International (MNI) and the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

SMU's price indices saw minor fluctuations on sheet products this week, while our plate and Galvalume indices held steady.

On Monday, Nucor published new extras effective Jan, 4, 2025.

Domestic raw steel mill production increased to a four-week high last week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).

Output from steel mills around the globe totaled 152.1 million metric tons (mt) in October, the highest monthly rate recorded since July.

Prices were stable to down in November for all seven steelmaking raw materials tracked by SMU, according to our latest analysis.