Base metals are set to increase in 2016 but will be below levels seen at the end of 2014, said Frank Hoffman, IHS senior economist during the IHS First Quarter 2016 Pricing and Purchasing webinar. Production cuts and inventory dynamics along with benign global growth will keep metals prices from rebounding higher. The zinc market […]
In Sunday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update we warned our readers that something was happening in China that could impact US steel prices. We have been working on this project ever since and this is what we have learned from multiple sources around the world: Iron ore and steel prices are surging in China. […]
Steel prices continued their three month hike higher as SMU benchmark hot rolled price index (average) for the month was $408 per ton. Even with some minor stumbles noted in hot rolled and cold rolled during the second half of the month, our Price Momentum Indicator is still pointing toward higher prices over the next […]
MID-SHIP Group sees evidence of a strong South American grain harvest helping to boost spot market freight levels for the dry cargo freight market. Oversupply of vessels remains a problem and vessel lay-up and scrapping is continuing. MID-SHIP anticipates continued market pressure due to oversupply and slowing demand growth. The Baltic Dry Index stood at […]
ArcelorMittal USA has closed the aluminizing line at Indiana Harbor West. Workers have been transferred to a galvanizing line that restarted after being idled near the end of 2014. The closing has been in the works for more than a year and was actually expected in December. ArcelorMittal has been in talks with the USW […]
A note from the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) regarding a change in data: “For this month’s Metals Activity Reports in Canada, and going forward, there have been changes in the companies in the sample. These changes result in a reduction in the number of product categories being reported. As indicated on the reports Carbon […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum reported net income of $68.8 million for fourth quarter of 2014, down 25.7 percent from fourth quarter 2014 but up 33.5 percent from third quarter. Total sales for Q4 were $2.03 billion down 21.4 percent year over year and down 11.4 percent from third quarter 2015. Total tons sold were down […]
A reminder that our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop will be just outside of Toledo, Ohio and we will be touring a mill as one of the best run mini-mills in the country – North Star Bluescope Steel. You can find more details about our program, instructors, hotel and […]
We were reminded recently of an article we produced on February 24, 2015 regarding our theoretical marginal cost of Steel Making (cost will vary by mill and not included in our formula is any adjustment for running at less than 70 percent capacity levels, SA&G are not included, etc.). We were asked if we could […]
The latest MID-SHIP Report reiterates the crisis in the shipping industry calling it “the most significant depression in dry bulk shipping since the mid-1980’s.” The Baltic Dry Index, which tracks shipping rates for dry bulk cargos like iron ore, coal and grain, peaked in May 2008 with an index reading of 11,793 and fell to […]
We ended the month of January on a positive note. SMU Price Momentum Indicator continues to point toward higher prices over the next 30 days. Our Sentiment Index broke through an extended downward (growing pessimism) trend and is now heading higher (more optimistic). We believe a portion of the improvement is due to flat rolled […]
In December, vehicle sales in the US eased from the blistering pace of the previous 3 months. Sales fell from 18.2 million in each of the months September, October and November to 17.3 million in December. All numbers quoted here are seasonally adjusted annual rates. For the full year of 2015, sales were 17.3 million […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. has completed the acquisition of Tubular Steel, Inc., effective Jan. 1. TSI is a distributor and producer of carbon, alloy and stainless steel pipe, tubing and bar products. The company is headquartered in St. Louis, Mo., and ships from its seven U.S. service centers more than 2 million custom-cut lengths […]
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) puts out its series of producer price indexes, for thousands of goods and materials. For an explanation of this program see the end of this piece. The latest release last week reported results through November. We run this analysis every three or four months to give readers […]
Flack Steel has closed the deal on acquisition of selected assets of Consolidated Systems, Inc.’s (CSi) Consolidated Metal Products (CMP) business. The acquisition expands Flack Steel’s penetration into the bare and painted hot-rolled and cold-rolled carbon steel, galvanized, stainless steel and aluminum markets. CMP provides metal processing for construction, transportation, HVAC, lighting, appliance and other […]
The following article was written by Mario Briccetti of Briccetti & Associates, a Supply Chain consulting firm, and is also one of our instructors for Steel 101 as well as our Sales Training Workshop. Recently, in my series of articles, I have written about the coating cost of galvanized and Galvalume on flat rolled steel. […]
A Delaware judge invalidated a patent by ArcelorMittal in a ruling favoring AK Steel in a dispute that has been ongoing for almost six years. The original suit, filed in January 2010 by ArcelorMittal, claimed that AK Steel’s lightweight, high-strength steel Ultralume, used in automotive applications, violated ArcelorMittal’s 2001 patent (patent 6,296,805—referred to as ‘805) […]
U.S. auto sales reached 1.32 million vehicles in November, a 1.4 percent increase. The seasonally adjusted annual rate according to WardsAuto, was 18.12 million vehicles, the third consecutive month above a SAAR of 18 million units. WardsAuto estimates that December sales will have to reach 1.7 million units to get a fourth consecutive month at […]
In early November, nine steel associations released a statement expressing their opposition to China’s bid to become a market economy by December 2016. In a November 25 rebuttal, the Chinese Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said it is “astonished” by the group’s claims that China is primary global contributor to steel overcapacity. CISA called the […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum has reached an agreement to purchase all of the outstanding capital stock of Tubular Steel, Inc., a distributor of carbon, alloy and stainless steel pipe, tubing and bar products. Tubular Steel is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri and has eight service center locations across the U.S. TSI net sales for 2014 […]
The London Metal Exchange announced November 23 the launch of new ferrous and premium contracts. LME Aluminum Premiums, LME Steel Scrap and LME Steel Rebar are the first new contracts to be offered by the LME in more than five years. The new contracts are designed to complement the existing ferrous contract for LME Steel […]
New Star Metals is changing its name to Material Sciences Corporation. New Star acquired MSC in March 2014 which remained in operation under the MSC brand. “We have an aggressive growth plan and believe we should go to market as one team – Material Sciences Corporation,” said CEO Patrick Murley, CEO of New Star Metals […]
Ryerson Holding Corp, a distributor and processor of metals, reported revenue of $790 million in third quarter, down 6 percent from second quarter and down 16.7 percent from Q3 2014. Net income was $6.7 million compared to income of $15.8 million in Q2 and a net loss of $34.7 million in Q3 2014 which included […]
I am here in New York City participating in the Cowen & Company Global Metals and Mining Conference. Day one was dedicated to the steel industry and the various commodities (scrap, iron ore, metallurgical coal). I thought I would provide a snapshot into some of the comments made during the conference by various CEO’s. Lourenco […]
October was the second month in a row where SMU had our Pricing Momentum Indicator pointing toward lower pricing. SMU reports hot rolled coil, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume pricing every Tuesday evening. During October we produced our steel prices indices four times. HRC was reported at $420 per ton the first Tuesday of the […]
In September, vehicle sales reached a new post-recession high of almost 18.2 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. This followed the August rate of 17.8 million units. Both at the time were the best pace since July 2005, when incentives caused sales to surge. Sales in September were 10 percent higher than the […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. posted net income of $54.4 million in third quarter despite falling prices, decreased sales, and a restructuring charge of $55.5 million related to businesses serving the energy industry. End market demand was relatively steady in third quarter, except in the energy market where shipments dropped approximately 40 percent year over […]
During our Steel Summit Conference in September, Lisa Reisman the founder and Executive Editor of Metal Miner told those in attendance that the short term outlook for commodities and steel was bearish. She provided a number of support and resistance price points on a number of steel products as well as aluminum and zinc. In […]
UAW negotiations with the Big Three automakers are on hold while the bargaining committee figures out its next move. The union announced on Thursday that the tentative agreement between the UAW and Fiat Chrysler was voted down by a 65 percent majority of the 40,000 workers at FCA. Although no directives have been issued, local […]
We ended the month of September recognizing that not only have steel prices been falling but the Momentum behind pricing turned negative during the month. Our SMU Price Momentum Indicator is now pointing toward Lower prices to be seen in the coming month or longer. Sentiment, another Key Market Indicator, has been dropping as you […]