Mark Bula, the Commercial Director for Big River Steel made it official at our 6th Steel Summit Conference proclaiming Big River Steel as “open for business.” Bula, who was speaking on a panel on Innovation and the future of the steel industry, reported that the mill will begin producing their first hot rolled coil for […]
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week Steel Market Update conducted our 6th Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The conference was the largest for us with 428 steel executives participating. I will let a few of the comments I got this morning speak for themselves: “Great conference John. Very well put together…..best one […]
I expect the next seven days will be quite hectic in my life and those of our SMU team as we make final preparations for the 2016 Steel Summit Conference. I will actually be traveling to Georgia on Wednesday and will work from there until the conference has concluded. We do have a few spots […]
Sims Metal Management announced the sale of its metals recycling facilities in Memphis, Tenn., and Mississippi to Steel Dynamics Inc. No purchase price was disclosed and the transaction was completed August 12, 2016. Sims Metal Management CEO Galdino Claro said the sale is part of the company’s strategy to divest non-core assets and reallocate capital […]
I heard this evening that Turkish hot rolled for September shipment was recently booked at an average price of $25.50/cwt CIF, Duty Paid ($510 per ton). Latest offer on Mexican hot rolled $26.50/cwt ($530 per ton) and cold rolled at $31.50/cwt ($630 per ton). The hot rolled numbers make sense and are reasonable against domestic […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce will announce their final determination on the hot rolled antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) trade suits against Brazil, Australia, Turkey, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands tomorrow (Friday) afternoon. We will publish an article on our website as soon as we get the results which normally come […]
Initial reports coming out of the financial community are suggesting ferrous scrap prices could be down $5 to $15 per ton once the August negotiations between the steel mills and their suppliers get under way. The expectation that the prime grades will be hit after spending a couple of months moving sideways. However, not all […]
What we like to hear for our member companies: One of the largest service centers in the U.S. told us earlier this week after registering for our Steel Summit Conference, “Our guys tell me your conference is very good, I’m looking forward to attending. Also, several mills tell me that your conference is turning into […]
To our USA customers welcome back from your 4th of July holiday. I saw this quote while doing some research this afternoon, “Fun is one of the most important and underrated ingredients in any successful venture” (Richard Branson) This is something I have believed in for my entire steel career. Speaking of fun, we have […]
I am working on an article about the difficulties manufacturing companies face when trying to recoup a portion (or all) of the flat rolled steel price increases from their customers. This morning I spoke with a manufacturing entity in the building materials segment of the industry who reported their industry has taken prices up by […]
Two steel mills announced price increases today. This is the beginning of the 6th round of increases since the first announcement in early December 2015. However, unlike past announcements this one just doesn’t “feel” the same. We are not seeing a rush to buy (unless it was a special deal at much less than the […]
One of the articles in this evening’s issue of Steel Market Update is based on questions being asked during a conversation we had with a number of steel executives in New York City last week. About one quarter of our articles are prompted by questions or comments we receive from buyers and sellers of steel […]
Here are some of the comments made to SMU over the past few days both in New York City and upon our return to our offices. Regarding scrap prices, one of our sources was telling us that the domestic steel mills are making a mistake by attempting to push ferrous scrap prices lower, especially when […]
A reminder that I will be in New York City beginning on Monday and will not return to my office until late on Wednesday afternoon. I will be attending a number of steel-related meetings and conferences that surround the World Steel Dynamics Steel Success Strategies Conference. I do have some time slots open on Tuesday […]
The U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit brought by Nucor Corp against Big River Steel. The suit charged that the Big River Steel permit air permit was invalid and the continued construction of the mill violated the Clean Air Act. The district court dismissed the lawsuit for “lack […]
A reminder that I will be in New York City beginning on Monday, June 13th and Tuesday, June 14th. I have a number of commitments but, if you would like to get together with me please shoot me an email: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com or you can text me while in NYC at: 770-596-6268. I will be at […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), and financial futures markets was written by Andre Marshall and Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how they saw trading over the past week: Financial Markets: We are testing the highs, literally. The S&P is right up against the 2105-2210 resistance, […]
I saw a headline in another steel periodical stating that the USS/POSCO price increase was a reaction to the US DOC Final Determination on cold rolled. That doesn’t make sense to me. My understanding is UPI was behind in its pricing and needed to catch up. The new pricing is not outrageous when compared to […]
I am in Ohio as we will be hosting another one of our Steel 101 workshops in Sylvania, Ohio. The accident at North Star BlueScope has resulted in the loss of our mill tour. However, I believe this program will be one of the strongest presented as we have been working overtime to fill the […]
Good evening (or Good Morning depending on when you read our newsletter) from Chicago. The mood is upbeat by most attending the Boy Scout Dinner due to the rising steel prices which have helped service centers and steel mills get healthier. A couple of secondary steel service centers told me that their business has also […]
My focus over the next few days is going to be on demand and how demand will impact the flat rolled steel markets over the next couple of months. I began the process by looking at the Steel Dynamics earnings conference call transcript for hints as to how SDI sees the market progressing through 2nd […]
Steel buyers need to be aware that there has been a jump in iron ore spot pricing in China over the past 48 hours. The Steel Index (TSI) reported 62% Fe fines into the port of Tianjin, China at $64.3/dmt (dry metric ton) up 4 percent from the previous day. This same item is up […]
We should see the pace of the price increases slow down as most mills are getting the announced minimum price levels from their spot buyers ($25.00-$26.00/cwt HR, $35.00/cwt cold rolled and coated). The market needs a couple of weeks to absorb the increases and push them down to the end users and resale spot customers. […]
I will be doing an article in Sunday evening’s newsletter about the AISI capacity utilization numbers. The AISI produces their “estimate” of steel production and the percentage of capacity utilization based on 50 percent (or fewer) of the mills reporting production data. I have considered not publishing the data at all because, in my opinion, […]
We only have a few spots left for our upcoming Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop. If you or your company has interest in attending the May 17-18, 2016 workshop, which will be located in Sylvania, Ohio (just outside of Toledo) at the Wingate Hotel, please register online or contact our […]
Big River Steel announced the commissioning of its batch anneal furnaces and skin pass mill. The start-up of the two operations is the first step in in phased process to bring equipment on line for the company’s Flex Mill. The $1.3 billion steel mill, when fully operational, will produce 1.6 million tons of niche and […]
A quick reminder that our next Steel 101 workshop which will be held just outside of Toledo, Ohio on May 17-18th of this year, is about half full. We already have an excellent group of manufacturing companies, service centers and steel mills attending. On the afternoon of the first day we will tour the North […]
Ted Cruz said it best the other night while debating Donald Trump, “breathe, breathe, breathe….” While speaking to one of my longtime steel buying contacts we began discussing the mentality to this market as there are many “unknowns” such as exactly what the heck is going on in China. We were discussing the difference between […]
When speaking to one of my steel sources earlier today I was told, “Three months ago no one cared about the steel market. Now you have to pay attention.” They went on to reference our coverage and how others in the industry need to be reading what we are producing at Steel Market Update. Obviously, […]
“We will follow the market,” is what Mark Bula, Chief Commercial Officer at Big River Steel, told SMU during a phone interview late last week. We asked Bula to outline the progress of the mill and when they anticipate beginning production. We learned that with the strength of the cold rolled markets, Big River Steel […]