Following on Monday’s announcement by ArcelorMittal USA and SSAB Americas, Nucor informed customers on Wednesday that it has raised the price of its plate products. Nucor is seeking an additional $50 per ton ($2.50/cwt) on all orders for carbon, alloy and heat-treated plate. The other mills raised their plate price by just $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt). […]
While it seems counterintuitive given the difficult market conditions and weak demand due to the coronavirus, domestic steelmakers have raised flat rolled prices for the second time this month. U.S. Steel, USS-POSCO Industries (UPI) and NLMK USA informed customers today that prices for spot orders of hot rolled, cold rolled and coated products have increased […]
Now more than ever the steel industry must come together to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. Steel Market Update hopes to help by promoting a sense of community among producers, distributors, buyers, vendors and their customers. SMU’s Executive newsletter now includes this periodic community news roundup where we report on the human side of the pandemic. […]
U.S. Steel, AK Steel (Cleveland-Cliffs), Nucor, NLMK, ArcelorMittal and UPI all announced price increases today on flat rolled. With the exception of AMUSA, all were +$40/ton. AMUSA provided specific minimum base price guidance of $540 ($27.00.cwt) on hot rolled and $740 ($37.00/cwt) on cold rolled and coated products. Some early comments from various steel service […]
Domestic steelmakers raised the spot price of plate products by $40 per ton yesterday, hoping to stem the slide and capitalize on improving demand as coronavirus restrictions ease and businesses are allowed to gradually reopen. The plate price has been trending downward this year since peaking in January at $710 per ton ($35.50/cwt). Steel Market […]
SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors (davidfeldstein@rocktradingadvisors.com, twitter @TheFeldstein). In addition to market analysis, RTA provides price risk management not only for ferrous products, but also base metals, energy and interest rates. RTA also trains sales staff and creates the infrastructure necessary for firms to offer their customers fixed pricing on […]
Cleveland-Cliffs expects operations to normalize during the second quarter as end-markets begin recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. “Although the pandemic effect led to automotive plant shutdowns over the past six weeks, the timing and pace of production restarts as well as consumer sales data have both exceeded our expectations,” said Cliffs’ Chairman, President and CEO […]
If there is one thing you can count on with the steel industry, it’s for rumors to begin flying as soon as the mills appear to have seized pricing momentum. The domestic steel mills, led by ArcelorMittal USA, began announcing price increases the week ending May 1. The announcements ranged from $50 to $60 per […]
If there is one thing you can count on with the steel industry, it’s for rumors to begin flying as soon as the mills appear to have seized pricing momentum. The domestic steel mills, led by ArcelorMittal USA, began announcing price increases the week ending May 1. The announcements ranged from $50 to $60 per […]
Bank of America is forecasting a slow recovery from the coronavirus crisis, one that will take years not just months, said Metals and Mining Analyst Timna Tanners, who was the featured guest speaker during Steel Market Update’s Community Chat on Wednesday. Bank of America economists anticipate a global recession in the second and third quarters. […]
International steelmaker ArcelorMittal was hit particularly hard by the pandemic, dealing with closures and economic recessions across the globe. The company reported a loss of $1.1 billion for the first quarter of 2020 and expects the remainder of the year to be challenging. “There are still too many uncertainties to accurately predict what the rest […]
Demand for steel has suffered a serious blow from the coronavirus shutdowns. Not surprisingly, steel prices have been hurt as well, with hot rolled plunging by $80 per ton since mid-March. What is surprising is that the mills are hoping they can establish a floor for steel prices, even as the economy and demand yet […]
“Vacation: An extended period of recreating, especially one spent away from home or traveling.” Last week I took “vacation” time off, and unlike the definition above I did little recreating, rarely strayed from home, and did no traveling. How restful is that? The big news from last week was an apparent “firming” of steel prices. […]
Steel Market Update sources report that ArcelorMittal USA has informed them of new, higher base prices for flat rolled steel products. Effective immediately, the base for future orders of hot rolled is $500 per ton ($25/cwt) and cold rolled and coated products have a base of $700 per ton ($35/cwt). These prices are applicable to […]
Today, Steel Market Update adjusted our flat rolled Price Momentum Indicator to Neutral. We are of the opinion, based on intelligence we are gleaning from steel buyers, that steel prices are in transition. We no longer believe prices on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume will decline over the next 30 days. However, a […]
It was one of those days. Publishing a newsletter is like giving birth three times a week anyway, but the labor pains for the SMU staff were particularly acute today. John Packard was ostensibly taking the day off, but that did not stop him from writing a big story and sending untold emails. Keeping abreast […]
ArcelorMittal will expand its furlough of employees to include 250 workers at the Cleveland facility. The company has already laid off more than 300 union workers in Indiana and recently cut about 30 percent of its salaried workers. “The global COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions to business throughout the world and increasingly across the […]
Another iron mine is temporarily idling production. ArcelorMittal said on Tuesday that it will idle Hibbing Taconite on May 3 with plans to resume operations on July 6. “Due to the unprecedented and challenging times presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the joint venture partners of Hibbing Taconite will be idling the operation,” said ArcelorMittal in […]
ArcelorMittal USA has idled the C blast furnace at Burns Harbor for a scheduled outage. “The company is currently in a quiet period in advance of Q1 2020 earnings and therefore we are unable to provide further details about the duration of the outage at this time,” said a company spokesperson. According to sources at […]
Liberty Steel Group has shifted its executive leadership in order to better manage the impact of COVID-19. The group’s board of directors, based in London, will be chaired by Sanjeev Gupta who also serves as CEO. International operations in the U.S. and Australia will be overseen by Regional President Dak Patel who will continue in […]
2020 is NOT 2008 all over again… I vividly remember 2008 and what happened to the steel industry beginning in September of that year. Why? Because Steel Market Update began as a company in August 2008 and I was scrambling to get members, while at the same time reporting on the destruction of demand and […]
ArcelorMittal plans to idle the #3 blast furnace at Indiana Harbor in East Chicago, according to a report by the Northwest Indiana Times. A memo from USW Local 1010 President Steve Wagner to members stated that the company “has mandated that all employees with less than two years be laid off.” “This is not in […]
ArcelorMittal USA will idle the #6 blast furnace at Cleveland Works due to reduced demand resulting from coronavirus closures in the automotive sector. ArcelorMittal USA President and CEO John Brett said in an April 3 letter to employees that extended closures in the automotive sector and reduced demand in other segments require the company to […]
John Packard is taking some time off… Among the many effects of the coronavirus on the steel market, no one is talking about Steelmageddon much these days. Announcements of new mills and capacity additions have been replaced by news of facility closures and furnace idlings. Concern has shifted from fears of overcapacity in the next […]
Despite a flurry of maintenance projects completed in the second half of 2019, several steelmakers are planning outages or idling of operations during the next few months. Steel producing mills have been designated as essential critical infrastructure and are not subject to state COVID-19 shutdowns. ArcelorMittal, however, is adjusting production by idling its IH-4 furnace at Indiana Harbor […]
By CRU Research Manager Paul Butterworth, from CRU’s Steel Monitor CRU has massively downgraded forecast GDP growth in China to 1-2 percent for 2020 and we now expect the USA and Eurozone to fall into recession. Global GDP growth is now expected to be 1 percent for the year, an effective global recession. While economic […]
U.S. automakers are suspending production for nearly two weeks to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Ford, General Motors and FCA announced on Wednesday that they will stop all production in North America starting Thursday evening and tentatively ending March 30. “GM and the UAW have always put the health and safety of the people […]
Steel mills in the U.S. are taking precautions to reduce risks to workers and operations from the coronavirus pandemic as production continues. Social distancing and proper hygiene/sanitation is encouraged, non-essential business travel is cancelled, air travel is banned and those personnel who can perform their jobs remotely are allowed to do so. Visitors are limited […]
Zinc spot prices have been falling steadily over the past two months, dropping nearly a quarter since late-January. According to Kitco.com, the spot price was $0.8987 per pound as of Friday. This drop in zinc prices may prompt a change in mill galvanized coating extras. In August/September 2019, many mills adjusted their coating extras when […]
ArcelorMittal has big plans for AM/NS Calvert. Lakshmi Mittal, chairman of ArcelorMittal, hinted at a multi-billion dollar investment in Alabama during a press conference with President Donald Trump in India last week. Mittal thanked Trump for his involvement in the U.S. steel industry, calling the Section 232 tariffs a “big lesson for the rest of […]