The month of September ended with a bang as NLMK USA became the first mill to announce new flat rolled price increases. As we moved into the first few days of October the other domestic mills followed the NLMK lead – although none of the mills followed the base price levels suggested in the NLMK […]
On Thursday, October 31st Steel Market Update adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral to Higher. We now believe domestic flat rolled steel prices will rise over the next 30 to 60 days. We have already begun reporting prices as rising over the past three weeks. Prices on benchmark hot rolled coil had been bouncing […]
Last evening (Thursday, October 31st) Steel Market Update adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral to Higher. We now believe domestic flat rolled steel prices will rise over the next 30 to 60 days. We have already begun reporting prices as rising over the past three weeks. Prices on benchmark hot rolled coil had been […]
Last evening (Thursday, October 31st) Steel Market Update adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral to Higher. We now believe domestic flat rolled steel prices will rise over the next 30 to 60 days. We have already begun reporting prices as rising over the past three weeks. Prices on benchmark hot rolled coil had been […]
It seems to be a foregone conclusion that there will be a flat rolled price increase announcement within the next few working days. Spot prices have remained firm with benchmark hot rolled averaging $665 per ton ($650-$680 range) based on our SMU index. Scrap is forecast to be up by $20 to $40 per gross […]
The rumor mill is in high gear as being fanned by the various steel industry periodicals. In the most recent edition of breaking industry news Steel Business Briefing and Platts McGraw Hill Financial reported a U.S. mill as being ready to suspend price talks if a deal is announced for ThyssenKrupp Steel USA. The article […]
There has been great speculation and anticipation regarding the sale of the ThyssenKrupp Steel Americas steel mills since the parent company announced it was offering the plants for sale over one year ago. The Americas operations consist of the Calvert, Alabama facility as well as the CSA fully integrated slab mill with its two blast […]
Our ferrous scrap sources are advising Steel Market Update to expect a minimum of $20 per gross ton increase in scrap prices as we head into the month of November mill buys. We are finding there is some weakness being exhibited on the east coast with the Claymont plate mill being shut down by Evraz, […]
Completion of the Essar Steel Minnesota taconite project has been delayed until late 2015 according company officials. The facility, begun in 2008, was originally slated for completion in 2013 and would increase annual production of taconite pellets from 4 million tonnes to 7 million tonnes. Essar Steel Minnesota CEO and President Madhu Vuupuluri said production […]
The Board of Directors of the World Steel Association (worldsteel) has elected the following new officers for 2013/2014: Chairman: POSCO Chairman and CEO Joon-Yang Chung Vice Chairmen: Severstal JSC CEO Alexey Mordashov, voestalpine AG CEO and Chairman Wolfgang Eder Treasurer: JFE Steel Corporation CEO and President Eiji Hayashida The new chairman takes office from Wednesday […]
The most recent survey of the flat rolled steel industry conducted by SMU began at 8 AM on Monday of this past week. Within a few hours of our start, NLMK and ArcelorMittal had both announced price increases and USS was busy telling their customers that they too would raise spot flat rolled pricing. As […]
Severstal NA announced on Monday an increase in flat rolled steel base price in line with the ArcelorMittal announcement. Hot Rolled $34.00/cwt $680/net tonCold Rolled $39.50/cwt $790/net tonGalvanized $39.50/cwt $790/net ton In the company letter sent to their customers Severstal pointed to steady pace of automotive sales and demand […]
Nucor was the last of the major domestic flat rolled mills to come out with new minimum base price levels on flat rolled steel products. Nucor chose to mimic those of ArcelorMittal and not NLMK or AK Steel whose announcements were slightly different than the rest of the industry. Nucor advised their customers through use […]
ArcelorMittal USA came out with new flat rolled base prices shortly after those announced by NLMK USA. In an email to their customers, AM advised, “Effective immediately, the following minimum base prices are applicable to all future orders accepted by Arcelor Mittal USA LLC for delivery by December 31, 2013.” The base prices presented were […]
AK Steel joined NLMK and ArcelorMittal in raising spot market base prices for all carbon flat-rolled steel products. Effective immediately, the company will be quoting the following minimum base prices for new orders: Minimum Base Prices for New Orders: – Hot Rolled: $680 per ton – Cold Rolled: $790 per ton – Hot Dipped Galvanized: […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has received a large number of comments and inquiries regarding the subject of contract negotiations between the domestic steel mills and their end user and service center customers. Here are some samples: “I think the bucket deals are gone and the 6 percent deals are gone. I think the mills are […]
This week the domestic steel mills and their scrap suppliers will be locked in negotiations to determine the price of ferrous scrap used in the EAF’s and BOF’s to make steel. Steel Market Update sources have been advising that the October scrap market looks to be down $10 per gross ton before firming later in […]
“I am shocked” was how one manufacturing purchasing manager put it to SMU in a conversation regarding the replacement of Tom Marchak as head of Commercial for Severstal North America. On Tuesday, Severstal North America introduced Sachin Shivaram as the new Vice President, Commercial for the mill. This change comes three weeks after the […]
I want to thank IHS Global Insight for allowing SMU and our readers to attend their Pricing & Purchasing Summit which was held in Chicago over the past two days. SMU is interested in conducting a similar conference dedicated to the steel industry and identifying risks next year as we strive to bring new value […]
ArcelorMittal plans to invest $25 million in improvements in its hot-dip galvanizing line at Cleveland Works bringing its total investment over the past ten years to more than $95 million. Louis Schorsch, of the company’s group management board, told attendees at a City Club Business Leaders event last week that Cleveland Works will be a […]
We heard it earlier this month when during our HARDI steel conference call the wholesalers complained of reduced margins due to competitive pressures and mentioned that there were a growing number of non-traditional galvanized suppliers competing for the mechanical contractors business. During last week’s steel market review conducted by Steel Market Update (SMU), manufacturing companies […]
A minor fire at the ArcelorMittal Burns Harbor plant was contained by company and local firefighters on Sept. 15. According to an ArcelorMittal spokesman, the fire occurred at around 2:40 Sunday on a conveyor unit that carries revert materials to the sinter. No employees were injured, however, a firefighter was taken to the hospital for […]
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out its series of producer price indexes, for thousands of goods and materials. The latest release on Friday reported August results. These statistics are a useful way to evaluate any changes in the competitive position of steel against competing materials. For the purpose of this report, Steel […]
A new generation of solar panels has been developed by ArcelorMittal. Instead of using glass plate, a thin semi-conductor coating is layered directly on steel substrate to produce electricity via solar radiation. The photovoltaic technology using steel is more environmentally friendly process than solar modules using glass panels, said ArcelorMittal. The new technology will allow […]
SunCoke Energy has signed an agreement to supply metallurgical coke to ArcelorMittal for another ten years. SunCoke’s Indiana Harbor cokemaking operation, located in East Chicago, Indiana, will provide more than 1.2 million tons of coke in an extension of an existing contract with ArcelorMittal that includes pass-through of coal costs and certain operating and maintenance […]
Earlier this year a number of mills announced that they would no longer accept CRU minus based steel contracts. Since at the time most flat rolled steel contracts were negotiated to go through the end of the calendar year we did not see how the mills were going to approach the subject until just recently. […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has been advised that ArcelorMittal USA is attempting to raise Tinplate prices by 12 percent for calendar year 2014. Tinplate, which is used to make cans and other product packing devices, is commonly sold on an annualized contract basis to a fairly limited number of buyers. Last week we received an […]
Final Scrap Pricing Settlement Numbers Still in Negotiation Scrap prices continued their weakening trend – especially on shredded with cut grades such as #1 HMS and prime grades such as #1 busheling are moving sideways to down $10 depending on the geographical location and the status of the mills in each area. We heard from […]
The key factor holding prices firm was the continuation of supply issues at the domestic steel mills. During the month we had ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor lose their #3 blast furnace for a week. The furnace is back online as of the end of the month. We also had U.S. Steel performing maintenance on a furnace […]
HARDI held their monthly steel conference call earlier today. The purpose of the call is to keep the HVAC wholesalers who sell galvanized sheet and coil in touch with market conditions and trends which could impact their businesses. The consensus of opinion, based on the comments made during the conference call, is prices remain stable […]