The solution to the dilemmas faced by Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) is in the hands of the federal government, a spokesman for the Mexican steelmaker told a local news outlet. AHMSA spokesman Francisco Orduña was responding to comments last Friday by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador regarding restructuring the company’s debt, according to […]
The sale of Mexican steelmaker Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) has reportedly stalled because the investment capital has not yet been received, according to a local media report. The remarks were made by AHMSA’s Alonso Ancira Elizondo in a meeting he had with union officials in San Antonio, Texas, according to an article in Mexico’s […]
Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) workers and their wives demonstrated peacefully on Thursday, according to a local media report. Monclova Mayor Mario Dávila expressed solidarity with the workers who met on Thursday morning at the municipal presidency building looking for support, according to an article in El Periódico La Voz on Thursday. The action was taken because of […]
Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) has sold approximately 19,000 tons of scrap to help pay for workers’ salaries, according to a local media report. The Mexican steelmaker is also raising money by selling coke from its coke plants, Mexico’s El Tiempo reported, citing comments from bankruptcy trustee Elmer Rocha. AHMSA and hedge fund Argentem Creek […]
Sheet prices came down harder than I expected this week. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised. For starters, mills are still making money at these levels, so there is not a lot of friction to lowering prices to get an order. Also, lead times are or will soon be overlapping with a period when we’re […]
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador is open to restructuring the debts of Altos Hornos de Mexico’s (AHMSA’s) if it is governed by more professional leadership, according to Spanish language media reports. In remarks last Tuesday at the national palace, he said the restructuring of up to $280 million in debt depends on a “responsible […]
There is debate brewing about whether sheet prices will see a long, slow slide or whether they’ll fall off the proverbial cliff. Some of you have told me you’re still trying to pass along costs for steel bought following the last round of mill price hikes. That’s not been an easy thing to do, especially […]
The drop in sheet prices we’ve seen at the mill level is now spreading downstream – an abrupt shift from just a few weeks ago, according to our latest survey data. More and more service centers are cutting prices. I had expected to see an increase in the number of service centers reporting that they […]
I wrote on Tuesday that we’ve been seeing hot-rolled coil prices fall approximately $20-25 per ton per week since last month. I’ve heard anecdotally from some of you that those declines are accelerating, and that they’ll only pick up speed as more mills open July books. Others say that HRC prices could prove stickier than […]
A much-anticipated bleeding in US flat-rolled steel prices has begun. On the hot-rolled coil side, we’ve been losing approximately $20-25 per ton per week since mid-April. That’s a boo-boo. Steel might need a Band-Aid. Does it become a wound that needs a tourniquet? I ask that question because the high end of our HRC price […]
When gas is restored to Altos Hornos de México’s (AHMSA’s) plants, operations could restart at the Mexican steelmaker as early as next week, and within six weeks steel production could be at a good level, according to comments by AHMSA’s CEO in a Mexican media report. However, although Daniel Chapman, founder and CEO of investment fund […]
First, the important stuff: May the fourth be with you! Second, steel market participants tell us that several domestic mills have become significantly more aggressive on prices of late. I’m not sure of a Star Wars analogy for that. Prices being slashed with light sabers? I’m open to suggestions. Let’s say it takes tens of […]
A federal judge in Mexico ordered that the electricity be restarted at Altos Hornos de México’s (AHMSA’s) steel mills, according to Mexican media reports. Crews from the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) started working on Monday to restore the electricity to the two mills in Monclova, Coahuila, according to a report from Mexico’s Radio Zócalo on Tuesday, […]
Feelings are running high with prices inflecting downward from historically high levels. I’ve had producers say that we’ve written too negatively about higher prices. I’ve also had consumers say that we’ve written too positively about higher prices. For the record: SMU doesn’t have a position on prices. We aim to report what’s happening in the market […]
Drama surrounding AHMSA – Altos Hornos de Mexico, the largest integrated flat steel plant in Mexico – may finally be coming to an end as a bankruptcy now clears the way for new owners to restart the facility with fresh capital. Due to various issues, AHMSA stopped production in December 2022. This sudden closure caused […]
A Mexican court has declared steel sheet producer Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) bankrupt and appointed the National Chamber of Commerce of Muzquiz city, Coahuila state, as trustee. The determination, published in the country’s Official Gazette on April 17, follows the company filing a bankruptcy petition in January. The civil first court of the first instance in […]
I sometimes think of Steel Market Update as an early-warning system for big market moves, and our most recent survey data clearly points to a market inflection. Take these three slides from our latest steel market survey. SMU Steel Market Survey Highlights For starters, nearly half of respondents to our latest survey think lead times […]
Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) is proceeding with a plan that would see the company sold to a group of investors, according to a filing with the Mexican Stock Exchange. Under terms of that deal, the Mexican steelmaker is expected to receive an initial infusion of $200 million to pay for working capital and labor obligations. AHMSA makes […]
Price increases have dominated the headlines thus far in 2023. Since Jan. 1, we’ve had one blitz of tag hikes after another. In the eleven weeks since the start of the year, there’s only been a single week in which not a single mill announced a price increase. It sometimes felt like one mill had […]
What’s perhaps most shocking about Cleveland-Cliffs starting the week up $100 per ton ($5 per cwt) on sheet and targeting $1,200 per ton for hot-rolled coil (HRC) is that many of you didn’t find it shocking. In early February, we got used to prices going up by $50 per ton from one week to the […]
A sheet supply squeeze is on and, according to some market participants, chances are it’s only going to get tighter. There is no one thing, a war or pandemic, that’s causing the squeeze this time. Instead, it’s a litany of comparatively smaller events that combined have created some real havoc. You know that list by […]
Mexico has historically relied on steel sheet product imports to meet its demand as domestic suppliers, such as Ternium and AHMSA, had insufficient production capacity. But, in recent years, both Ternium and ArcelorMittal have built new capacities for hot-rolled (HR) coil in Mexico. Ternium is also in the process of building more downstream capacity and […]
SMU’s Steel Demand Index indicates that the pace of growth has slowed down when it comes to apparent demand for flat-rolled steel in the US. The index is still above 50, which indicates improving demand. But it is down 6.4 points, following a similar weakening seen in the prior reading in mid-February. The back-to-back declines […]
A majority of shares in Mexican steelmaker Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) has been sold to a group of foreign investors, according to reports in the Mexican press. Shareholders of Grupo Acerero del Norte signed an agreement to transfer the majority of AHMSA shares to the group of foreign investors, an article in Milenio said on […]
SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects on Monday and Tuesday of this week, including current and future steel prices, inventory strategies, supply, demand, and new mill capacity. Rather than summarizing the comments we received, we are sharing some of them in each buyer’s own words. We want to hear your thoughts, too! […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active […]
I’ve written in my last two columns about various factors that indicate the price rally that began after Thanksgiving might be running out of steam. You know the list by now: low capacity utilization, lead times not pushing out in tandem with prices, and a consensus that prices will peak this month or next. All […]
Steel Dynamic Inc.’s new sheet mill in Sinton, Texas, should become profitable in 2023 after costing the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker more than $400 million in 2022, company executives said. The shift should come thanks to increased shipments, lower raw material costs, and a lack of import competition from Mexico stemming from production issues at […]
Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) has restarted its electric arc furnace (EAF) in Monclova, Coahuila, which had been down since July due to a failure at its electrical substation. Work to repair the substation was slowed by difficulties in sourcing the right equipment, which in turn delayed the restart of the EAF, according to a […]
Mexican flat-rolled steelmaker Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) has restarted its No. 5 blast furnace following a planned two-week upgrade outage, a company spokesman said. The 130 million pesos ($6.5 million) investment included upgrades to its continuous caster, coking plant ovens, service areas, and loading systems. Maintenance to AHMSA’S No. 5 blast furnace – its […]