By CRU Research Analyst Yusu Mao, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor Turkish scrap prices started to increase significantly last week. Accordingly, our assessment for HMS 1/2 80:20 rose to $374 per ton CFR based on two new deals, up $35 per ton week-on-week (WoW) and up $26 per ton month-on-month (MoM). Scrap sellers have been […]
2022: A Year of Unprecedented Change and Volatility We entered 2022 expecting plenty of change in aluminum and the market delivered more than its fair share of twists and turns. There were 3 macroeconomic effects that rippled through the entire global economy: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent global energy prices soaring, as they “weaponized” their […]
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 Princeton […]
Domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) continues to hold a sizeable price advantage over imports, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis on foreign and domestic prices. US HRC is approximately 5–12% cheaper than foreign prices this week, after consideration of freight costs, trader margins and any applicable tariffs. This is the fifth consecutive week that US […]
Rumors of a holiday-season price increase continue to ping pong around the market. Will mills announce one on Wednesday ahead of Thanksgiving, in early/mid-December, or not until early next year? Let’s leave the timing aside for a moment and consider why those rumors have been so persistent. On the spot market side, we’ve seen some […]
By CRU Research Analyst Aaron Kearney-Keaveny, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) for November fell by 3.5% month-on-month (MoM), to 298.3, which is the lowest level since December 2020. Global scrap demand continues to be undermined by weak steel market fundamentals in key markets. Over the past few months, […]
New Commitments in Middle East Around Carbon Capture and Alcoa Gives Updates on Elysis Technology We were struck this week by reports from Saudi Arabia that the Ma’aden smelter intends to pursue a carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) approach to reducing its carbon footprint. During the current COP27 event in Egypt, Ma’aden’ Senior Vice […]
Prices between imported hot-rolled coil (HRC) and domestic steel have further diverged, according to Steel Market Update’s latest foreign versus domestic price analysis. US HRC is approximately 9–14% cheaper than foreign prices this week, after consideration of freight costs, trader margins and any applicable tariffs. This spread has been growing for the last four to […]
A new international initiative aimed at setting a global standard for green steel has been launched and is being led by major players in the US steel industry. The founding members of the new Global Steel Climate Council (GSCC) include Nucor Corp., Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI), Commercial Metals Co. (CMC), Spain’s Celsa Group, the Steel […]
By CRU Senior Analyst, Puneet Paliwal, from CRU’s Scrap, DRI/HBI & Pig Iron Monitor The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) for November fell by 3.5% month-on-month (MoM), to 298.3, which is the lowest level since December 2020. Global scrap demand continues to be undermined by weak steel market fundamentals in key markets, causing prices to stay […]
The London Metal Exchange (LME) consultation with industry has come and gone with no action. The Exchange on Friday, Nov. 11, published its response to submissions from the industry on the issue of Russian metals. As a refresher, the LME asked for opinion on three options: • Do nothing • Impose limits on the warranting of […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active […]
Domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) continues to hold the upper hand over imported steel when it comes to price, according to Steel Market Update’s latest foreign versus domestic price analysis. US HRC is approximately 4–7% cheaper than foreign prices this week, after consideration of freight costs, trader margins and any applicable tariffs. Prior to this week, […]
By CRU Sustainability Analyst Zsombor Garzo, from CRU’s Sustainability Services – The US political system was designed to balance power – with the President, the Congress, and the Supreme Court all being able to challenge each other. – Democrats losing control of Congress would considerably limit the Biden administration’s ability to pursue its climate change […]
The Hard Work Starts Now, Executing on the Announced New Aluminum Capacity After the flurry of announcements in May and July of this year, the three new greenfield aluminum rolling mills are in various stages of execution. Novelis Breaks Ground Official ground breaking took place on Novelis’ Bay Minette, Ala., mill on Oct. 7. The […]
Steel prices really took a dive this week. I’ve noted before that some of that could be explained by seasonal factors. And it doesn’t help that inflation and rising interest rates are hurting consumer demand. But it’s also important to keep an eye on what was said during recent earnings calls. Because I think some […]
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 Princeton […]
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 Princeton […]
Hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports offer no cost advantage over domestic steel this week, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis. Domestic HRC prices are now approximately 1-3% cheaper than foreign steel, after consideration of freight costs, trader margins and any applicable tariffs. Although down, the relationship between foreign and domestic prices has remained within $18 […]
By CRU Principal Economist Alex Tuckett, from CRU’s Global Economic Outlook Despite some slightly better-than-expected data for Q3, we have further revised down our forecast for 2023. We continue to believe that stubbornly high inflation, the energy crisis, and China’s domestic problems will lead to a sharp slowdown in world growth, with outright recessions in […]
The Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum Just over a year ago, on Oct. 3, 2021, the EU and the US signed an agreement to negotiate on carbon intensity and global overcapacity in both steel and aluminum. This lofty goal seemed to have been trumped by the agreement that the US suspended Section 232 […]
Foreign hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports offer little to no cost advantage over domestic steel at this time, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis. After taking freight costs, trader margins and tariffs into consideration, HRC imported from Germany and Italy are theoretically more expensive than domestic steel, and Far East Asian HRC offers just a […]
With September’s quarter close comes the wave of corporate analysts’ reports. Several were released this week, and all warn of challenging times ahead. Demand and prices are falling, as costs are rising, leaving the aluminum value chain scissored in the near term. As context for these results, CRU has refreshed June’s base economic forecast and […]
US sheet prices continue to slide, and the weakness in the domestic market has buyers confident that they can get domestic suppliers to negotiate. For hot-rolled coil, imports have not been very advantageous relative to futures. There have been some workable offers for tandem mill products. But buyers have been more inclined to buy domestically or […]
This week, foreign hot-rolled coil (HRC) offers little to no cost advantage over domestic steel, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis. Foreign prices now hold a theoretical discount of 0–1% over domestic steel, after adjusting foreign prices for estimated freight costs, trader margins, and tariffs. This relationship has teetered back and forth lately, with […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Sheet prices took split paths between eastern and western regions. Prices in Asia found support from restocking in China and supply disruptions in South Korea. Meanwhile, western markets remained weak, and we expect this to persist over the near term. October is the […]
By CRU Senior Analyst, Puneet Paliwal, from CRU’s Scrap, DRI/HBI & Pig Iron Monitor Global scrap prices stay subdued while those of ore-based metallics have found some support. Overall metallics demand continues to be hampered by the steel market weakness, a trend which may sustain through the short term, particularly in Europe. The CRU metallics price […]
News that the Biden Administration is considering a total ban on Russian aluminum imports lifted the market Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 11. The LME aluminum three-month price increased sharply to a high of $2,400 per ton before some of the gains were reversed by the close. The price saw some volatile shifts during the week but […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor Michael D’Angelo is a researcher and trader at Marex who has been active in the metals markets for two years. 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 […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor Michael D’Angelo is a researcher and trader at Marex who has been active in the metals markets for two years. 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 […]