Distributor Kloeckner anticipates its continued drive to sell metals online, along with stable steel prices, will boost operating income this year. Efficiency improvements and cost savings, such as those generated through growing automation of processes through digital applications, will also play their part in raising earnings, the German company said. Kloeckner distributes carbon sheet, long, […]
By CRU Analyst Arshiya Sibia and Research Manager Paul Butterworth, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Current information from our China team shows that steel demand is closely tracking our base case forecast for the impact of Covid-19, though steel production remains slightly higher than we had forecast. While our forecast was for steel demand to return […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s March Steel Sheet Products Monitor Covid-19, the novel coronavirus, has severely disrupted China’s economy. While new cases in China have slowed, thanks particularly to a historically significant containment strategy, Covid-19 has moved on to other countries. These include Italy, Iran and South Korea, but also other areas […]
The following article discussing the global ferrous derivatives markets was written by David Feldstein. As an independent steel market analyst, advisor and trader, we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Note that Steel Market Update does not take any positions on HRC or scrap trading, and any recommendations or comments […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Metallics Monitor The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) rose slightly by 1.3 percent m/m to 206.4 (see chart). While this is broadly stable it bucked the trend compared to steel markets, which came under relatively more price pressure. Structurally, most markets were similar in condition to […]
Is it me, or has the world become much more complicated recently? The NBA has suspended games indefinitely. The NCAA “March Madness” basketball tournament will be played in empty stadiums. Princess Cruises just announced they are cancelling cruises for the next 60 days. Europeans will not be allowed to fly to the United States for […]
By CRU Senior Cost Economist Ross Cunningham, additional analysis by Ippolito Tarabini and Will Young The oil market is currently facing a large degree of uncertainty. Oil prices could feasibly remain around $40/bbl for a significant period of time. Three key judgements will determine CRU’s oil price forecast for 2020: (I) the extent to which […]
Covid-19 continues to spread globally, now detected in at least 103 countries. More than 80,000 cases have been reported in the epicenter of China and worldwide more than 114,500 people have been infected. The number of deaths reported has jumped to over 4,000. Testing for the virus has been slow in the U.S. as the […]
The world is changing in nanoseconds before our eyes. Did anyone think the whole country of Italy would be restricted/quarantined a few weeks back? Yesterday, Saudi Arabia decided to go to war with Russia over the price of oil, and voila the price drops 30 percent in one day. The U.S. has hardly begun testing […]
Now a rising concern in the U.S., the coronavirus is not only a tragic pandemic but a major economic disruption. The public is now invited to join the CRU Webinar: “How COVID-19 is affecting CRU’s outlook for 2020,” hosted by CRU economic and commodity experts and recorded on March 5. Click below to view additional […]
We get all kinds of reactions to articles we publish. However, I was a bit surprised when one of our readers sent a note regarding our coverage of IHS Markit’s forecast of the impact of the coronavirus on the U.S. economy. The note said, “Article on coronavirus was despicable. Let’s just start a panic.” Usually, […]
Our latest look at foreign versus domestic hot rolled prices shows the U.S price advantage remains strong, according to SMU and CRU price indices released earlier this week. The price gap between domestic HRC compared to German and Italian products has widened over our mid-February update, while the East/Southeast Asian price spread has shrunk (but […]
Ferrous scrap prices surprised to the low side in March, trading sideways to up just $10 per ton, well below initial expectations of up $10-30/GT. The mills were anticipating that higher scrap prices this month would lend support to the $40 increase in finished steel prices they announced last week. “In the Ohio Valley, obsolete […]
Sheet prices in the U.S. Midwest market fell by $5-9 /s.ton, w/w with HR coil losing the most, assessed at $560 /s.ton. These prices reflect transactions from last week, which were primarily conducted ahead of recently announced mill price increases. While prices fell, the overall volume component fell at a faster rate. Until the price […]
Over the past two days Tim Triplett and I have been participating in the FMA Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. The mood of the steel buyers I met with was moderately negative when it came to the ability of the steel mills to collect the price increases announced. One very large service center buyer […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Market Outlook Two pieces of news have led us to lower our global forecasts for 2020. First, disruptions caused by the Covid-19 epidemic are expected to lead to a sharp downturn in near-term global growth, followed by a sharp recovery later in the year. […]
Gauging how COVID-19 will impact global commerce, specifically the world’s steel industry, is almost as difficult to predict as the spread of the virus itself. CRU analysts will tackle the subject in a new webinar this week. As CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg reports, the news is not all bad. For one, the pace of […]
The U.S. International Trade Commission rejected antidumping and countervailing duties for fabricated structural steel from Canada, China and Mexico. The USITC found that the U.S. industry is not materially injured or threatened by imports of the products from the three countries after a Commerce investigation determined that China and Mexico were subsidizing the products and […]
By CRU Prices Analyst Estelle Tran, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service The impact of the U.S. International Trade Commission’s surprising negative determination that allegedly dumped and subsidized fabricated structural steel imports from China, Canada and Mexico have not materially injured a U.S. industry is tough to define in the current protectionist environment. Preliminary tariffs […]
CRU’s U.S. Midwest hot-dipped galvanized (HDG) coil base price index will be used in the settlement of the CME Group’s new cash-settled U.S. Midwest Domestic Steel Premium (CRU) Futures contract. As announced earlier today by CME Group, the contract will settle on the premium of CRU’s HDG coil base price over the established CRU U.S. […]
By Senior Coal Analyst Ben Carstein, from CRU’s Metallurgical Coal Market Outlook Despite weakening fundamentals in the Chinese steel market, the seaborne metallurgical coal market, and hence prices, remain supported. Chinese HRC and rebar prices are up about RMB90 /t over the week. However, we believe this largely reflects trader purchases that have not been […]
We have adjusted our plate price momentum indicator from neutral to lower. Prices have been dropping over the past couple of weeks, and steel buyers are very negative on the markets right now (see some of the comments in an article above). I have to tell you I am really struggling with all of the […]
By CRU Research Manager Paul Butterworth and Analyst Zhenzhen Jiang, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service The loss of steel demand from Covid-19 has pushed Chinese steelmakers to either reduce utilization or idle capacity but, as steel stocks at mills reach critical levels, they will increasingly seek to offload in the export market. Decisions by […]
Earlier today I moved our Price Momentum Indicator to Lower from Neutral. I explained my reasoning in an article in tonight’s issue. What happens should one of the steel mills announce a price increase within the next couple of weeks? With scrap poised to move higher, and lead times being decent at most of the […]
After the early-February blip when SMU reported the foreign versus domestic hot rolled price spread as slightly widening, we now see that foreign prices have declined a bit more than domestic prices. As a result, the price advantage held by U.S.-produced HRC has begun to shrink again, meaning foreign import prices are somewhat more attractive […]
The following article discussing the global ferrous derivatives markets was written by David Feldstein. As an independent steel market analyst, advisor and trader, we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Note that Steel Market Update does not take any positions on HRC or scrap trading, and any recommendations or comments […]
By CRU Multi-Commodity Analyst Zanna Aleksahhina As of Feb. 19, the outbreak of coronavirus Covid-19 has killed more than 2,000 people, infected over 75,000 others, and put millions in self-isolation. Aside from the human tragedy, the virus poses a real threat to the Chinese economy. The automotive industry will be hit hard, and we expect […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary, from CRU’s Zinc Monitor Disruption caused by the Covid-19 outbreak has cut Chinese demand and visible stocks have risen sharply, placing downward pressure on prices. In Hubei, where restrictions on the movement of goods and people was due to be lifted tomorrow, the local government has just announced today […]
It is rare that market direction is clear and uncontested. There have been a few times during my 42-year steel career when it was obvious prices were going to be higher tomorrow than they are today. It was during one of those times in history that I began writing a note to my steel buying […]
It is rare that market direction is clear and uncontested. There have been a few times during my 42-year steel career when it was obvious steel prices were going to be higher tomorrow than they are today. It was during one of those times in history that I began writing a note to my steel […]