By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Lack of supply and higher demand is causing sheet prices to diverge further from plate across regions, with U.S. sheet prices reaching their highest level since April 2019 this week. New lockdown announcements have not had an impact on the European market at this point, […]
By Principal Consultant Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor North American sheet prices have continued to surge after bottoming this past August. For HR coil, prices have been assessed at $712 /s.ton. Since Aug. 12, these prices have gained $237 /s.ton, or 63%. This is the fastest percent gain over three months in […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Metallics Monitor The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) increased by 1.5% m/m in November to 229.0. The increase in scrap prices in most regions has been driven by a continued recovery in steel prices and demand. Moving into December, we expect higher steel pricing and demand […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor The global sheet market has seen a few key trends emerge across a variety of regions. First, demand has continued to rise from the pandemic-related lows recorded earlier this year. While sheet demand continues to be driven by sequential increases in automotive demand, […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores and Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Strong underlying demand continues to provide substantial support to finished steel prices in the USA. Sheet prices have risen at their quickest pace since CRU started tracking them and, while there was little change m/m for long products, mills have […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores and Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Strong underlying demand continues to provide substantial support to finished steel prices in the USA. Sheet prices have risen at their quickest pace since CRU started tracking them and, while there was little change m/m for long products, mills have […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor The bullish sentiment in the Chinese steel industry has resulted in continuous strong demand for iron ore. Meanwhile, iron ore supply from Australia has been weak throughout November and inventories in China have remained at a low level as a result. On Tuesday, […]
By CRU Principal Analyst James Campbell, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service The recent acceleration in news of a pre-approved vaccine has led us to bring forward the economic recovery to the first half of 2021. Confidence has returned and spending is resuming. An earlier-than-expected vaccine provides upside risks to our automotive and construction outlook. […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor Iron ore prices have continued to surge in the past week as robust Chinese demand has coincided with lower Australian exports. As a result, prices have climbed above $130 /dmt and on Tuesday, Dec. 1, CRU assessed the 62% Fe fines price at […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen and Principal Economist Alex Tuckett, from CRU’s Steel Monitor In this Global Economic Outlook, we look ahead to 2021 and outline our top ten calls for the global economy. These include predictions on Covid-19 vaccines, world growth, the auto and construction sectors, the U.S. dollar, monetary and fiscal policy, […]
The ISM Manufacturing PMI exceeded expectations in October posting a score of 59.3 percent, a 3.9 percent increase from September and indicating factory growth for the fifth consecutive month. “The manufacturing economy continued its recovery in October,” said Timothy Fiore, chairman of the Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. “Survey committee members reported that […]
Residential construction spending continues to lead nonresidential by a wide gap, said the Associated General Contractors of America. Total construction spending in September increased 0.3 percent from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.41 trillion. Private and public nonresidential spending fell 1.6 percent from August and 4.4 percent from a year ago. In […]
Construction is slowing, but still has positive growth driven by state and local building and infrastructure expenditures. Privately funded work is contracting. In September, construction expenditures reached an all-time high and on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis were only slightly lower than April 2020. Steel Market Update analyzes the Commerce Department’s Construction Put in […]
Industry sentiment has rebounded to levels exceeding those seen prior to the pandemic, and steel executives polled by Steel Market Update this week have a fairly optimistic outlook on their future as well despite concerns about a second wave of COVID-19. Every two weeks, SMU asks steel buyers how they view their company’s chances for […]
Ryerson Holding Corp. reported incremental improvement in third-quarter 2020. Ryerson’s Q3 revenue increased 7.7 percent to $832 million, but the service center company posted a net loss of $39.9 million, which included a $52 million charge related to pension liabilities and 17.1 million in expenses related to the refinance of 2022 notes. Adjusted net income was […]
U.S. Steel narrowed its loss to $234 million in the third quarter from a net loss of $589 million in the second quarter. Net sales increased to $2.34 billion from $2.09 billion. “Our third-quarter results exceeded our guidance and demonstrated the power of the actions we have taken since the onset of COVID-19 with dramatically […]
When I look at the results of our flat rolled survey, sometimes I have to scratch my head. In the survey we just completed last week, we asked at what point hot rolled prices would peak. Sixty-two percent of our respondents believe prices will peak at $700 or lower. To them I ask, what is […]
Nucor has agreed to acquire Precoat Metals’ paint line facility in Armorel, Ark., accelerating Nucor’s entry into the painted products market, said Troy Brooks, vice president and general manager of Nucor Steel Arkansas. Precoat’s paint line is located near the Nucor Steel Arkansas sheet mill campus and has a capacity of approximately 250,000 tons per […]
GDP contraction in the second quarter of 2020 was the highest ever recorded at negative 31.4 percent. Growth in the third quarter was also the highest ever at positive 33.1 percent. GDP in Q3 was 2.9 percent below the first quarter result. On Oct. 29, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the first estimate […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen and Principal Economist Alex Tuckett, from CRU’s Global Economic Outlook In this Global Economic Outlook, we reflect on some of the most important risks to the forecast we discussed with clients during LME week. Three issues were foremost: risks to the recovery from the second Covid-19 wave, policy stimulus […]
The COVID-19 pandemic is causing widespread damage to the nonresidential construction industry, says a new survey from the Associated General Contractors of America. More firms are reporting project delays or cancellations and construction employment levels are falling across U.S. metro areas. “The survey results make it clear that the months-long pandemic is undermining demand for […]
Residential housing construction remains in high demand as consumers take advantage of favorable interest rates. Sales of new single-family homes in September slipped 3.5 percent from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 959,000, but were 32 percent higher than a year ago. Sales in the Northeast fell 28.9 percent from September and sales […]
We had a good conference call with HARDI wholesalers this morning. The dealers who service the mechanical contractors with galvanized sheet and coils continue to be busy. They are surprised at the steepness of the cost curve, and they are beginning to be wary of paying too high a price. One reason they are wary is […]
North Star BlueScope continues to shine for Australian parent company BlueScope Steel. North Star continues to ship at full capacity in the first half of FY 2021 driven by the rebound in the U.S. auto industry. Steel spreads have improved in the half due to higher HRC pricing, although earnings are expected to be somewhat […]
Economic activity grew at a slight to modest pace in early October with inconsistency among sectors, says the Federal Reserve’s latest Beige Book. Manufacturing activity growth was moderate and the sector added jobs across the country. Demand for new and existing homes kept residential construction robust, but interest in commercial real estate leasing deteriorated. Construction […]
Nine days to go… I don’t know about you but my cell phone is being lit up with political calls/texts from both parties – including states I don’t live in. November 4th can’t get here fast enough… Steel Dynamics reported that their mills (all products) operated at 85 percent and their sheet mills achieved a […]
Nucor reported better than expected results for the third quarter of 2020. The company’s bar and structural mills led earnings, benefiting from a good nonresidential construction market. Joist and deck orders, quotes and backlogs are up year-over year with strong demand from nonresidential, including data and distribution center construction, company executives told investors and analysts […]
Revenues from construction and toll processing exceeded expectations in the third quarter, offsetting some of the weakness in aerospace and energy, reported Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. in its quarterly conference call today. Touting a record gross profit margin of 32.4 percent, executives of the industry’s largest service center organization told analysts and investors they […]
SMU contributor Tim Stevenson is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Tim’s previous role, he was a Director at Cargill Risk Management, and […]
Schnitzer Steel, a metals recycler and steel manufacturer, maintained operations throughout the pandemic, navigating though low scrap supply and falling demand and emerging optimistic about the year ahead. “These past seven months have been challenging for all of us,” said Chairman and CEO Tamara Lundgren of Schnitzer Steel. “We have been confronted with cascading crises, […]