By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group Century Aluminum Falls Prey to the Pitfalls of Day-Ahead Electricity Pricing When we wrote our column last week about INTALCO and the shortcomings of US energy policy, little did we know that we would see another example of this within a week. On Wednesday, June 22, Century Aluminum (CENX) […]
The temptation to purchase foreign hot rolled coil (HRC) over domestic steel is beginning to ease, according to SMU’s latest foreign versus domestic HRC price comparison. Foreign products now hold potential discounts of 9-15% over domestic steel, versus savings of 12-26% one month ago. Between mid-April and late May, foreign steel prices generally declined at […]
There are now two short months to go before we kick off the 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference at the Georgia International Convention Center. As you prepare to join us in Atlanta on August 22-24 we want to give you more details regarding the program for Wednesday, August 24th. You can find more information about […]
The 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta, is just 63 days away. The dates for this year’s conference are Aug. 22-24. We begin with a pre-Summit program at 9 a.m on Aug. 22. The official start of the conference will be at 1 p.m. The […]
The 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta, is just 63 days away. The dates for this year’s conference are Aug. 22-24. We begin with a pre-Summit program at 9 a.m on Aug. 22. The official start of the conference will be at 1 p.m. The […]
The NexGen Metals Community is an organization created to accelerate the growth and development of young professionals in the metals industry by helping members to build relationships with their peers and to educate future leaders. There are three main tenants for the NexGen Metals Community: educate, network, and inspire. With the assistance of Steel Market […]
The NexGen Metals Community is an organization created to accelerate the growth and development of young professionals in the metals industry by helping members to build relationships with their peers and to educate future leaders. There are three main tenants for the NexGen Metals Community: educate, network, and inspire. With the assistance of Steel Market […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group The Saga of the Alcoa INTALCO Aluminum Smelter In April 2020, Alcoa announced its decision to close its Ferndale, Wash., primary aluminum smelter known as INTALCO. This smelter was built in 1966 by the French aluminum giant, Pechiney, and at its peak produced 284,000 metric tons per year. In […]
By CRU Economist Veronika Akhmadieva, from CRU’s Global Economic Outlook With a higher-than-expected headline CPI inflation reading of 8.6% in May, the Fed opted for an even more aggressive monetary tightening. After a 50 bps increase in the federal funds rate in May – which is the highest increase since 2000 – the Fed raised […]
By CRU Senior China Economist Henry Hao, from CRU’s Global Economic Outlook and China Macro Monthly In May, overall economic activity in China has improved marginally as the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions led to the resumption of production in late May. Export and infrastructure investment have regained momentum. However, prospects for construction remain weak. While the contraction […]
There are 66 days to go before the start of the 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference. The final agenda tweaks are being announced as we look to provide the most timely and relevant program for those attending this year’s conference. The conference starts on Monday, Aug. 22, at 9 a.m. It runs through Wednesday, Aug. […]
There are 66 days to go before the start of the 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference. The final agenda tweaks are being announced as we look to provide the most timely and relevant program for those attending this year’s conference. The conference starts on Monday, Aug. 22, at 9 a.m. It runs through Wednesday, Aug. […]
The temptation to purchase foreign hot rolled coil (HRC) over domestic steel remains high, but imports are not as competitive as they had been, according to SMU’s latest foreign versus domestic HRC price comparison. Between mid-April and late May, foreign steel prices generally declined at a faster rate than domestic prices, resulting in greater potential discounts on imported […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group Global Deficit Reduced Again The headline on aluminum fundamentals is that the deficit is shrinking again. We now believe that the global deficit will be about 700,000 metric tons compared to 1,000,000 metric tons in April. This deficit is exclusively held in the World ex-China, as we believe China […]
By CRU Principal Economist Alex Tuckett, from CRU’s Global Economic Outlook Energy costs for consumers – in the form of utility bills and the cost of filling a car – have risen sharply, but not as sharply as the cost of crude oil and natural gas. But this doesn’t necessarily mean a lot more pain […]
Mills are struggling to fill July order books, and some might still have room in June – that’s the feedback we’re getting from market participants and in our survey. You can check the full details in Brett Linton’s writeup of our latest lead time figures. One consequence of slipping lead times: We’re hearing from more […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor, June 8 The CRUspi plummeted again month-on-month in June by over 12.3%, which is a larger drop than in May. This makes it the third-largest percentage point drop on record and the second largest in terms of total points. The supply shock caused by […]
The temptation to purchase foreign hot rolled over domestic steel remains high, according to SMU’s latest foreign versus domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) price comparison. Since mid-April, foreign steel prices have declined at a faster rate compared to domestic prices, resulting in greater potential discounts on imported products. Select foreign prices now range between $119-238 per […]
By CRU Economist Frank Eich and CRU Sustainability Analysts Zsombor Garzo and Lize Wan In this Insight, CRU Sustainability looks at carbon pricing schemes around the world. These schemes, which can be either in the form of carbon taxes or emission trading, are generally regarded as one of the most effective ways to mitigate climate […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group The First Movers Coalition (FMC) was launched in November 2021 at COP26 as a public-private partnership to decarbonize hard to abate sectors. At that time, the 25 founding members of FMC targeted eight sectors where innovative technology would need to be applied to effect change. The sectors of initial […]
The 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference is only 13 weeks away, and we are looking forward to providing a quality program filled with knowledgeable and interesting speakers. We know your time is valuable, so we have gone the extra mile to provide an environment that will allow you to gather intelligence about the marketplace and to […]
The 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference is only 13 weeks away, and we are looking forward to providing a quality program filled with knowledgeable and interesting speakers. We know your time is valuable, so we have gone the extra mile to provide an environment that will allow you to gather intelligence about the marketplace while also […]
Major capital investments come to the aluminum can sheet market By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group This month, the market has seen two new projects announced in the flat-rolled aluminum product sector: • Novelis will spend $2.5 billion for a new state-of-the art rolling mill in Bay Minette, Ala. • Ball Corporation will partner with […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Puneet Paliwal, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service, May 23 The Indian government’s sudden move to levy a 15% tax on most exported steel products has surprised the steel industry. While an attempt has been made to soften the impact by exempting import tariff on coking coal/coke and raising export tax […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group The London Metal Exchange announced plans on May 13th to require its members to make weekly reports of their over-the-counter (OTC) transactions to the Exchange. It also set an unusually short consultation period of two weeks for member response. This action is in direct reaction to the debacle in […]
The temptation to purchase foreign hot rolled over domestic steel remains high, according to SMU’s latest foreign versus domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) price comparison. Select foreign HRC prices range from $164-364 per ton cheaper than domestic prices, after taking freight costs, trader margins and tariffs into consideration. The price differentials between domestic HRC and foreign import […]
Strict and strictly enforced trade laws are key to backing the steel industry’s investments in decarbonization. That was the takeaway from a press conference on Tuesday, May 17, at the AISTech 2022 conference in Pittsburgh. Executives from Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI), Commercial Metals Co. (CMC), the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), and the American Iron and […]
Being at a Crossroad. Where would you be if you had not stood at a crossroad, that point in your history when a decision you made dramatically impacted your future? We are at the end of the collegiate school year for most universities across the United States. Each of the students graduating has reached a […]
North American auto assemblies shrank by 15.8% in April, falling for the first time in 2022 as ongoing supply hurdles mount. Despite the recent decline, North American production has improved since bottoming out last December. April’s results are just 4.6% higher year-on-year (YoY), and still 14.4% below the pre-pandemic period of April 2019. North American […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group The LME cash price for high grade aluminum continues to give ground, with prices at $2,715 per metric ton versus $2,861 per ton last week. There is still a lot of gloom and doom out there. Fear factor over demand is dominating price discovery Here are a few of […]