By Stephen Williamson, CRU Research Manager, Aluminum Aluminum prices continue to flirt with $3,000 per metric ton on the LME. While off a bit, now at $2,866, recent upsets in the market make price volatility the norm in the near term. Energy curtailments in China exacerbate not only global aluminum supply but also silicon (Si) […]
By Stephen Williamson, CRU Research Manager, Aluminum As in last week’s report, aluminum prices continue to flirt with the $3,000 per metric ton mark on the LME, $2,908/t as of this writing. However, this apparently steady price range belies a torrent of market activity. The protracted energy curtailments in China continue to cast doubt on […]
A lot has been written about how a severe shortage of prime scrap could be the lasting result of the widespread shift to electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking. I’d like to take a minute to point out that tri-state area around Pittsburgh, which Nucor is considering for its $2.7 billion, three-million-tpy EAF sheet mill mill, […]
By CRU China CEO John Johnson from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor In this Insight we examine China’s new Emission Trading System (ETS). We look at progress so far and consider its future potential. We do this by making comparisons with Europe’s ETS and consider the CO2 price necessary to impact investment decisions in China’s power and […]
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 […]
By CRU Analysts Zhenzhen Jiang and Kevin Bai, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor Evergrande, the second-largest property developer in China, has grown to be the most indebted, accumulating more than RMB1.97 tn in liabilities since China rolled out the “three red lines” policies. Market investors are concerned that Evergrande will collapse and default on […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Erik Hedborg, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor Iron ore prices have continued to fall with the commodity now reaching $93.0/dmt, a $31.0/dmt fall in the past week. Chinese demand remains weak and seasonal improvements in construction activity have thus far not materialized in any significant improvement in market conditions for […]
Prices for four of the seven steelmaking raw materials tracked in this SMU analysis decreased over the last 30 days. Through Sept. 17, iron ore prices stumbled 21% in one month’s time, busheling scrap prices declined 12%, pig iron prices fell 11%, and shredded scrap prices declined 3%. Coking coal prices jumped 49% in that […]
Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week puts the average spot price for hot rolled at an incredible $1,950 per ton. But for the first time in nearly a year, we are not reporting a new record high this week. Our HRC price actually dipped by a small $5 per ton. Next week […]
Foreign steel imports continue to entice U.S. buyers with potential discounts of 17% to 42%, according to Steel Market Update’s latest foreign versus domestic hot rolled steel price comparison. With domestic hot rolled averaging $1,950 per ton last week, foreign prices are theoretically $330 to $830 per ton cheaper than domestic prices after taking freight costs, trader […]
By CRU Analysts Kevin Bai and Zhenzhen Jiang, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor (Editor’s note: Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com.) China’s steel production control measures have been heatedly discussed in the past few months. With the […]
By CRU Senior Editor Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Steel sheet prices were either little changed or fell w/w across most of the globe, with the U.S. market now joining in the global cooldown. Prices in the U.S. fell w/w for the first time in over year, albeit the decline was only […]
By CRU Senior Economist Henry Hao and Principal Economist Alex Tuckett, from CRU’s Global Economics Outlook Since China rolled out the “three red lines” policies, China’s second-largest developer China Evergrande (EG) has grown to be the most indebted with more than RMB1.97 tn of liabilities. Market investors are concerned that Evergrande will collapse and default […]
Join Steel Market Update for the final Steel 101 Workshop to be held this year, running virtually on Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 5-6, 2021. Unsure what to expect from the virtual training experience? SMU and CRU have been successfully running virtual events on our customized virtual platform since 2020, including the last SMU Steel Summit […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Market fundamentals in the North American sheet market continue to evolve and clearly suggest that supply tightness is easing. From a broad point of view, these fundamentals include rising supply, service center inventories that are balanced with outbound shipments, and demand growth that […]
By CRU Aluminum Advisor Greg Wittbecker Steel and aluminum are vigorous competitors, but share a common plight, supply chain woes. Just-in-time manufacturing, lean manufacturing, vendor-managed inventory…we all know the buzzwords that have shaped the way both the aluminum and steel supply chains have operated for several decades. Since the Global Financial Crisis, the primary aluminum market […]
By CRU Aluminum Advisor Greg Wittbecker China has been wrestling with inflationary tendencies in its aluminum market for some time: Spot Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) high aluminum is at $3,516 per ton; that compares to $2,139 a year ago and $1,849 five years ago. The Chinese State Reserve Board (SRB) is releasing part of its […]
Now is a good time to think about protecting your business. Steel Market Update’s Introduction to Steel Hedging: Managing Price Risk course will introduce you to hedging principles and give you a solid foundation, so you can learn how to protect your business and minimize the risk associated with unfavorable price changes. In just two […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Regional sheet markets have continued to exhibit divergent trends for not only prices, but also production and demand. The lone continent where sheet prices have yet to fall from a peak is North America. All other markets now have prices below their recent […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Richard Lu, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor In a recent Insight titled “Iron ore at $140 /dmt – what’s driving the fall?”, we explained that weak demand in China has caused a sharp iron ore price fall and we expect the downtrend to persist for the rest of the year. […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Metallics Monitor The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) fell by 4.6% in September to 375.5, marking a second straight month of decline. Scrap prices were down in nearly every market we cover, although pig iron and HBI prices again fell by more than scrap. Lower demand […]
By CRU Economist Frank Eich, from CRU’s Global Economic Outlook COP26, the first Conference of the Parties since the outbreak of the pandemic, is widely seen as an important follow-up to the 2015 Paris Agreement. In 2015 countries committed to carbon reduction targets in the form of nationally-defined contributions. Expectations are high that governments will […]
Prices for four of the seven steelmaking raw materials tracked in this SMU analysis decreased over the last 30 days. Through Sept. 1st, iron ore prices stumbled 18% in one month’s time, pig iron prices fell 11%, shredded scrap prices declined 4%, and zinc prices decreased 2%. Busheling scrap prices remained flat month over month, while aluminum prices rose […]
As domestic hot rolled steel prices surpass $1,900 per ton, foreign steel imports continue to tempt U.S. buyers, according to Steel Market Update’s latest foreign versus domestic hot rolled steel price comparison. While domestic prices rise week after week, foreign prices have remained steady or declined, holding potential discounts of 16% to 44% after taking freight […]
By CRU Aluminum Advisor Greg Wittbecker The fundamentals in the aluminum market are continuing to tighten as we complete the third quarter. Growing Deficit in 2021 Driven by Chinese and Canadian Production Excursions CRU has substantially increased the size of the global deficit for 2021, moving it from a 240,000-ton surplus to a deficit of 1,180,000 […]
In the near term, ferrous scrap prices are heading down. But in the long term – with the proliferation of electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking around the globe putting added pressure on scrap supplies – the price trend for scrap is definitely pointing upward. The cost of scrap and other metallics is of high interest […]
Earlier this month Steel Market Update celebrated our 13th anniversary of officially being in business. I say “officially” because I was publishing the newsletter for a few years prior to starting SMU as a legal entity. It has been a while since I last related the history of Steel Market Update. Where did the idea […]
Two of the steel industry’s most respected analysts delivered a reality check to the market on Monday during SMU’s Steel Summit in Atlanta. Record-high steel prices enjoyed by steelmakers and distributors for the past year “can’t last,” they declared. Simply put, supply-demand fundamentals indicate that prices are due – indeed overdue – to drop significantly in the next […]
In the face of tough circumstances, the SMU and CRU teams proved once again that we could conduct a safe, energetic, entertaining and informative Steel Summit conference. We did it despite suffering a power outage at the Georgia International Convention Center that lasted the entire afternoon on Monday. Our team was quick to react, and […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Erik Hedborg and Senior Analyst Richard Lu, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor After reaching a new all-time high of more than $230 /dmt in May, iron ore prices held steady in the following months and traded in the $200-220 /dmt range for most of June and July. However, things have […]