By CRU Advisor Greg Wittbecker LME cash aluminum prices have retreated hard from new 13-year highs, falling from $3,300 last week to reach $2,682 as we completed the week. Supply-side Price Concerns Get a Reality Check but Remain Dangerous Market euphoria over supply-side constraints ran into the effect of China’s “command economy” at work. Power […]
Global steel demand will grow by 4.5% in 2021 and reach 1.855 billion metric tons following a 0.1% growth the year prior, according to World Steel Association’s (worldsteel) October 2021 Short-Range Outlook (SRO). An additional increase of 2.2% to 1.896 billion metric tons in 2022 is forecast for steel demand worldwide. The current forecast assumes […]
North American auto assemblies fell in September, reaching the second lowest monthly total year-to-date. The impact of the chip shortage and supply-chain disruptions pulled automotive production down nearly 13% month on month. Semiconductor scarcity and parts delays further worsened, reducing vehicle inventories and causing regional sales to tumble during the month, according to LMC Automotive […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Steel sheet price declines continue in the USA and Europe as lead times shorten further and inventories build. In the former market, small transactions are occurring at levels above $1,900 /s.ton, but there are many more deals occurring at well below this level. As […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor North American sheet prices are lower m/m as prices in the U.S. have finally started to fall, at least for HR coil. Over the past several weeks, the amount and overall volume of spot transactions between mills and buyers have slowed, yet we […]
As I bounce around the market this week talking to steel buyers, I am trying to get a better feel for potential changes, how contract negotiations are going, how receptive end-user customers are toward the higher prices being offered (compared to one year ago), and what kind of foreign steel offers are out there. The […]
Klöckner & Co. SE has secured a distribution partnership with H2 Green Steel (H2GS), bolstering its efforts to become a pioneer in the sustainable steel business. The collaboration guarantees Klöckner access to substantial volumes of “green steel” from the Swedish steelmaking start-up. H2GS is building a large-scale, hydrogen-based steel plant in northern Sweden with the goal […]
As “the next precious metal,” prime scrap is a growth opportunity and a logical fit for Cleveland-Cliffs, which announced Monday that it plans to acquire Detroit-based Ferrous Processing and Trading Co. (FPT). The $775-million deal, Cliffs’ first foray into scrap, comes as no big surprise to most market observers. Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest producer of […]
Kloeckner Metals Corp. will hold a groundbreaking ceremony next week for its second location in Mexico. The new, 84,000-square-foot facility will be in the central Mexican city of Querétaro and is expected to open in the spring of 2022, the Roswell, Ga.-based service center said. “Through this strategic investment we will be able to further […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has agreed to acquire Midwestern scrap recycler Ferrous Processing and Trading Co. (FPT) for $775 million. The deal means the Cleveland-based steelmaker has secured its own reserves of prime scrap, which Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves has previously characterized as a “precious metal.” FPT recorded earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has agreed to acquire Midwestern scrap recycler Ferrous Processing and Trading Co. (FPT) for $775 million. The deal means the Cleveland-based steelmaker has secured its own reserves of prime scrap, which Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves has previously characterized as a “precious metal.” FPT recorded earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization […]
Olympic Steel Inc.’s sale of its Detroit location to Venture Steel and its subsequent acquisition of Shaw Stainless & Alloys marked the latest step in a years’ long effort to pivot from roots in Midwestern carbon flat-rolled steel markets, the company’s top executive said. The Cleveland-based service center – while by no means exiting the region – […]
Olympic Steel Inc.’s sale of its Detroit location to Venture Steel and its subsequent acquisition of Shaw Stainless & Alloys marked the latest step in a years’ long effort to pivot from roots in Midwestern carbon flat-rolled steel markets, the company’s top executive said. The Cleveland-based service center – while by no means exiting the region – […]
Whether they believe steel prices are in for a sharp or a gradual correction, most of the service center and manufacturing executives responding to SMU’s latest survey agree the market is at a turning point. Here are a few of their recent observations: “Yes, I think we are at the inflection point. The market appears to be […]
Let’s put aside the question of whether the steel market has peaked. Let’s just assume that it has, for the sake of argument. Will the correction be gradual, rapid, or gradual until it’s rapid? I tend to think it will be the latter. But let’s put the question of timing aside and just look at […]
Nucor Corp. is expanding its Fastener Division with the acquisition of a coil processing facility in Shelbyville, Ind. The latest asset will complement upgrades planned at the company’s engineered bar mill in Nebraska, allowing the steelmaker to expand its sales to the automotive market. Nucor Fastener is a division of the Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker that makes cap […]
Sheet prices are mixed this week. Hot rolled is up $10 per ton, cold rolled is down $30 per ton, and galvanized base prices are unchanged. What do you make of a week like this when there is no clear trend? First, I would caution against reading too much into any one week – especially when […]
In the latest salvo in the emerging battle for green steel dominance, Nucor has launched Econiq, a new line of net-zero carbon steel products. “Building the green economy and the necessary infrastructure requires clean, advanced steel products. By introducing Econiq, Nucor is providing confidence for steel consumers to know they are purchasing the lowest greenhouse gas […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has a new three-year labor agreement with United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 3044, which represents approximately 350 workers at the steelmaker’s Rockport Works near Rockport, Ind. The new contract is retroactively effective from Oct. 1, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2024. “Our union workforce is at the core of not just what we do […]
By most measures, the steel market is in transition. Demand remains strong, with notable exceptions in sectors such as automotive. Supplies remain tight, but not nearly as tight as earlier in the year thanks to surging imports. Mill lead times are still highly extended versus historical averages, but are a week or two shorter than […]
Steel Market Update’s foreign versus domestic price analysis elsewhere in this issue shows hot rolled imports still anywhere from $400 to $800 per ton cheaper than prices in the U.S., depending on the country of origin. The potential cost advantage remains very tempting to buyers willing to take on the risks of a long and […]
Worthington Industries Inc. reported net sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2022 totaling $1.1 billion, up 58% from $702.9 million in the year-ago quarter. The increase was driven primarily by higher average direct selling prices in Steel Processing and by higher overall volume improvements, the company said. “We again delivered record adjusted earnings per […]
Worthington Industries Inc. has agreed to buy Tempel Steel Company, a manufacturer of precision motor and transformer laminations for the electrical steel market, for roughly $255 million. The move by the Columbus-based steel processor will boost its position in the growing electric vehicle (EV) landscape, the company said. Tempel Steel, headquartered in Chicago and founded […]
U.S. Steel’s Midwest Plant is back up and running after operations were temporarily halted because of discolored wastewater, a company spokeswoman said. The Portage, Ind., finishing operation – part of U.S. Steel’s Gary Works in northwest Indiana – had been down for about a day, the spokeswoman told SMU on Wednesday afternoon. Midwest Plant typically discharges treated […]
U.S. Steel has temporarily halted operations at its Midwest Plant because of discolored wastewater discharged from its Portage, Ind., finishing facility. “The Midwest Plant was shut down as a precaution, and we continue to coordinate with agencies to collect additional samples to monitor the situation,” a company spokeswoman said in an email to Steel Market […]
North American auto assemblies rebounded in August after light vehicle production hit a 14-month low the prior month. Despite the increase, the impact of the chip shortage continued to worsen, diminishing vehicle inventories and pushing regional sales down during the month, according to LMC Automotive (LMCA). Total North American vehicle production, including personal and commercial […]
At the top of the news this week, Steel Market Update sources reported that steel supplies are loosening as lead times from the domestic mills shorten and surging imports start to make it into service center inventories. It’s no surprise, then, that steel prices are beginning to moderate. Hot rolled steel prices rose virtually every […]
It’s far too early to say that the automotive sector – and the steelmakers who supply it – are out of the woods when it comes to the global chip shortage. But for the first time in weeks, General Motors and several other automakers with North American operations have announced no additional downtime or have […]
The benchmark price for hot rolled steel has declined for two weeks in a row, according to Steel Market Update’s latest surveys of steel buyers. In both cases, the decline was a mere $5 per ton. Margins of error being what they are, your takeaway should not be -$5, or even a decline (which could […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor CRU recently developed a bottom-up zinc demand model to improve our medium-term demand forecasts. The model calculates demand in key regions and countries for the six major first uses of refined zinc: galvanized sheet, general galvanizing, copper-zinc alloys, die casting alloys, zinc oxide […]