ArcelorMittal has followed U.S. Steel and Nucor in an attempt to increase sheet prices by $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt). The Luxembourg-based steelmaker also specified new minimum base prices: $950 per ton for hot-rolled coil (HRC) and $1,150 per ton for cold-rolled and coated products. ArcelorMittal made the price hike announcement with the opening […]
We are counting down the days until SMU’s Steel Summit Conference on Monday-Wednesday, Aug. 21-23, in Atlanta. It’s only a little over two months away. Approximately 755 people have already registered. Our discounted room blocks are almost gone. Register here. The event will again be held at the Georgia International Convention Center, a massive conference center in close […]
With the 2023 SMU Steel Summit quickly approaching, SMU is in full-blown planning mode. Our preparations have me reflecting on last year’s event and what I personally can do to better take full advantage of all the opportunities this year’s event will bring. (Note: CRU and SMU are hosting a free pre-conference webinar on Tuesday, […]
TT Iron Steel Co. Ltd. (TTIS) has signed an agreement to acquire the ArcelorMittal Point Lisas iron and steel plant in Trinidad and Tobago. Completion of the transaction is subject to approval by Trinidad and Tobago’s government, TTIS said in a release on June 7. The company said initial refurbishment and restart of the plant […]
General Motors will soon be sourcing low-carbon steel from ArcelorMittal North America. The steelmaker said it will provide the Detroit-based automaker with its XCarb™ recycled and renewably produced (RRP) steel made at its ArcelorMittal Dofasco plant in Hamilton, Ontario. Shipments are anticipated to begin in the current quarter, ArcelorMittal said in a statement. Made via […]
Decarbonization was the order of the day at the AISTech 2023 President’s Award Breakfast on Tuesday. Other issues highlighted included workforce availability and bringing more women into the steel industry. With over 1,300 attendees present at the breakfast in Huntington Place in Detroit, and hundreds more watching online, the AIST Board of Directors Awards were […]
The most recent cycle of destocking has ended, ArcelorMittal said, with first-quarter sales and shipments rising notably from the prior quarter, boosted by strength in the North American region. Those figures remain lower, however, compared to highs seen in the year-ago quarter. The Luxembourg-based global steelmaking giant posted Q1 net income of $1.096 billion, a […]
Our hot-rolled coil price slipped modestly again this week. That wasn’t a surprise given the trends we’ve outlined in our newsletters over the last few weeks – shorter lead times, increased domestic output, and mills more willing to negotiate lower prices. Declines often aren’t modest for long. Could we see bigger drops in two weeks […]
ArcelorMittal is expecting to soon bring two of its European blast furnaces (BFs) back online after two-month, unplanned outages. A spokesperson for the Luxembourg-based company told SMU that they anticipate the BFs, one in Spain and one in France, to be back up and running between the end of this month and the beginning of […]
As you make your travel plans for this summer, don’t forget about this year’s Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. The event will again be held at the Georgia International Convention Center, a world-class conference facility adjacent to the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport—think low airfares and easy access. So mark your calendar for Monday-Wednesday, Aug. 21-23. The […]
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 […]
ArcelorMittal is anticipating delays in shipments after recent incidents took down two of its European blast furnaces (BFs). On March 22, a serious fire totally disabled BF A at its mill in Gijón, Asturias, in northeast Spain. Then, on March 30, BF HF4 at its Dunkirk plant in northern France was idled after a similar […]
Voestalpine AG is set to commission the construction of two electric-arc furnaces (EAFs) in Austria. The Linz, Austria-based company said the approval stage has been reached allowing for the investment of around €1.5 billion ($1.62 bilion) to construct one EAF in Linz and another in Donawitz. As part of its “greentec steel” plan, the plant and […]
Imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) are becoming more attractive as US mills continue to drive domestic prices higher. The price advantage domestic HRC had enjoyed over offshore hot band as recently as five weeks ago swung negative, mirroring dynamics seen more than a year ago, according to Steel Market Update’s latest foreign vs. domestic price […]
Flat-rolled steel prices continue to rise in response to repeated mill pricing announcements, a trend we’ve seen nearly weekly since Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices have surged by $490 per ton – a 78% jump – since Cleveland-Cliffs and US Steel kicked off the craze with $60-per-ton price hikes. On Monday, Cliffs […]
ArcelorMittal has completed the acquisition of Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderúrgica do Pecém (CSP) for approximately $2.2 billion. Located in the state of Ceará in northeast Brazil, CSP produces slab and operates a 3-million-ton capacity blast furnace. “This is a very exciting strategic acquisition for ArcelorMittal,” ArcelorMittal CEO Aditya Mittal said in a statement. “It enables us to capture steel […]
The price advantage domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) had enjoyed over offshore hot band has evaporated as US mills drive prices higher, according to Steel Market Update’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis. Nucor and ArcelorMittal last week announced a target price $1,150 per ton ($57.50 per cwt) for HRC. Market contacts have told SMU that some […]
We’ve just seen the biggest week-over-week increase in hot-rolled coil prices since the frenzy following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. SMU’s hot-rolled coil (HRC) price is up $140 per ton ($7 per cwt) week over week. That’s our biggest such gain since prices jumped $210 per ton in mid-March of last year at the height of […]
Aggressive mill price increases are pushing flat-rolled tags up at a sharp clip, rivaling the spike seen in response to the war in Ukraine last March. On Friday, Nucor came out with yet another notice – up an extra $150 per ton ($7.50 per cwt) and setting a new base price for hot band of […]
ArcelorMittal said its new, minimum base price for US hot-rolled coil is $1,150 per ton ($57.50 per cwt). The Luxembourg-based steelmaker said the move was effective immediately and coincided with the closure of its April order book for hot-rolled and tandem products. “The increase is applicable to all new spot orders and all recent quotations […]
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 […]
NLMK USA has announced new, higher base prices for steel sheet. The steelmaker said the higher prices were effectively immediately on all new spot orders and justified by “strong demand and extending lead times,” in a letter to customers on Wednesday, Feb. 22. NLMK USA said that its new minimum base price for hot-rolled coil was […]
Sheet prices increased this week as another blitz of price hikes – this time $100 per ton ($5/cwt) – spurred the market higher. The latest announcements from the likes of Nucor, Cliffs, US Steel, and ArcelorMittal, all setting a new base price for hot band of $1,000 per ton, are yet to be reflected in […]
ArcelorMittal has followed three major domestic mills in increasing sheet prices by at least $100 per ton ($5 per cwt). Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, one of the world’s largest steelmakers, also said it was targeting a minimum base price of $1,000 per ton for hot-rolled coil (HRC) effective immediately. That echoes new HRC base prices announced earlier […]
The “new normal,” we have heard that a whole lot since the pandemic took hold. Are we really seeing a paradigm shift? Or is it just a trendy phrase? But, first, let’s talk about price hikes. If three’s a crowd, then what’s five – a herd? The week got off to a quick start early […]
Cleveland-Cliffs swung to a loss in the fourth quarter of 2022 but predicted better times ahead in 2023. Cliffs chairman, president, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said that optimism comes because the economy in general is on a much better footing in 2023 than had been feared in late 2022, when hot-rolled coil prices fell into […]
ArcelorMittal and NLMK USA have followed three major domestic steelmakers in increasing sheet prices by at least $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt). Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal said it was targeting a minimum base price of $900 per ton effective immediately, echoing moves first announced by Nucor and Cleveland-Cliffs. “The increase is applicable to all new spot […]
ArcelorMittal expects that its $2.2-billion acquisition of Brazilian steelmaker Companhia Siderúrgica do Pecém (CSP) will close in late February. “The transaction closes end of this month,” chief financial officer Genuino Christino said during an earnings call with analysts last week. The Luxembourg-based steelmaker had said that the deal had received final antitrust clearance in commentary […]
ArcelorMittal executives think that the global steel market should rebound in 2023 as the destocking period that characterized 2022 ends. “I believe the worst conditions of these cycles have passed,” Lakshmi Mittal, executive chairman of the Luxembourg-based steelmaker, said in a conference call with analysts last week. Mittal made the prediction after the company – […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor Michael D’Angelo is a researcher and trader at Marex. In his role, Mike performs fundamental and quantitative analysis, which directly leads to actionable trading/risk management strategies across the base, precious, and ferrous metals derivative spaces. Prior to joining Marex, Mike received a BA in economics with a minor in finance from […]