I sold steel for 31 years. The last 10, I represented a domestic steel mill and a couple of trading companies. One thing I learned, the steel buyers determine the market, not steel mills. We had been hearing rumors of the move U.S. Steel made today regarding moving toward no-index contracts for their 2020 order […]
The mills may have the momentum today, but three out of four buyers responding to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week expect that pricing push to be short-lived. About 73 percent said they expect steel prices to drop in the fourth quarter. Another 11 percent said they are not paying higher spot prices […]
For the past three days, I have been studying the nominations of 21 young individuals who were nominated by their companies for the 2019 SMU NexGen Leadership Award, which this year is being sponsored by the Steel Manufacturers Association. The process has been exhilarating to say the least. I decided many years ago that as […]
The following calculation is used by Steel Market Update to identify the theoretical spread between foreign hot rolled steel prices (delivered to U.S. ports) and domestic hot rolled coil prices (FOB domestic mills). We want our readers to be aware that this is only a “theoretical” calculation as freight costs, trader margin and other costs […]
I have to apologize to those who are looking for insightful steel comments from me today. I’ve been busy with the final details of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference, reviewing the SMU NexGen Leadership Award nominations and planning for the next few Steel 101 workshop locations and dates. My focus has been a little […]
Steel Market Update sources report that ferrous scrap prices have turned around after repeated declines in the first half of the year and are settling up $20/GT for August, lending support to recent price increases on finished steel. “Demand is about the same for August as it was in July, there is just a little […]
Distributors of galvanized steel to the HVAC industry remain surprisingly positive despite steel prices that have been on the decline for more than six months. While there is some variance by region and market segment, members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International generally expect solid demand for their products at least through […]
By CRU Analyst Michelle Liu Rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China have driven one of the largest w/w falls in iron ore prices, a drop of $21 /t w/w to $98 /t. The U.S. president’s threat of imposing 10 percent tariffs on the remaining $300 billion worth of Chinese imports last Friday has escalated trade […]
By Josh Spoores, CRU Principal Analyst Sheet prices have continued to rise, but the bullish trend is clearly fading. Overall volume of spot transactions last week was the lowest recorded all year. Furthermore, manufacturing is now in recession based on the last two quarters of IP activity, while recent PMI data shows weakness in new […]
By CRU Analyst Alexander Ordosch On Friday, Aug. 2, the U.S. government announced 10 percent tariffs on an additional $300 billion in Chinese imports that are not already covered by Section 301 (S301) tariffs. About 50 percent of the new tariffs cover steel-bearing machinery, while the rest are non-steel-containing items such as food, clothing, base metals […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Iron ore prices continued to decline in the past week as international steel prices continued to fall on a weak demand outlook for steel in the coming month. On Tuesday, Aug. 13, CRU assessed the 62% Fe fines price at $90.30 /t, down $7.70 /t w/w. Steel prices in […]
I got a note from one of our readers today about the removal of the U.S. Steel blast furnace(s) and why the capacity utilization rates don’t reflect the change. The answer to that question is that as long as the furnace is still capable of producing (i.e. hot idle vs. being totally shut down cold) […]
U.S. Steel reported sales of $3.5 billion in the second quarter, down from $3.6 billion a year ago due to lower steel prices. Net earnings totaled $68 million, down from the $214 million in the second quarter of 2018. The company’s flat rolled segment posted earnings of $134 million despite significant weather-related logistics problems during […]
By CRU Principal Economist Lisa Morrison Total IP contracted q/q in both Q1 and Q2, but the June report pointed to potential stabilization in manufacturing. YTD through June, total IP is up 2.2 percent y/y, but it is averaging just 1 percent higher than in 2018. Since we expect little expansion during H2, we now […]
I was pleased that we got 21 quality nominations for our first SMU NexGen Leadership Award, sponsored by the Steel Manufacturers Association. I mention each of the canidates in an article earlier in tonight’s newsletter. I hope we are able to double the canidates next year as we strive as an industry to bring new […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores Sheet prices in the U.S. have continued to rise as both buyers and sellers have reported higher transactions. Overall volume reported has been steady over the past few weeks and near 2019 average levels. The overall price range remains wide, around $50 /s.ton. We anticipate that prices will continue […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Iron ore prices were steady in the past week as mills in China continue to demand spot cargoes while inventories at ports and mills remain low. Seaborne supply has, although somewhat improved, remained relatively weak as we conclude the month of July, a month that typically has lower Australian […]
Prices continued to move higher this week and the mills seem to have gotten a handle on price momentum both on flat rolled and plate. Whether this is temporary or not will depend on lead times and the ability of the steel mills to fill their order books. As one buyer told me this morning: […]
By CRU Analyst Chris Bandmann CRU is launching weekly Turkish HR coil export prices, enhancing the existing suite of weekly Turkish long product and scrap prices. This Insight being offered for these other markets has now been brought to flats – and offers a window into the world of Turkish hot rolled coil exports. Turkey […]
If you haven’t registered for the Premier Steel Conference in North America, then this is the time to do so. The Steel Market Update Events App, which all 900+ attendees have access to, was launched last week, meaning registered attendees are now busy organizing meetings with each other in advance to make the most of their time […]
If you haven’t registered for the Premier Steel Conference in North America, then this is the time to do so. The Steel Market Update Events App, which all 900+ attendees have access to, was launched last week, meaning registered attendees are now busy organizing meetings with each other in advance to make the most of their time […]
The surge in the price of iron ore and the decline in the price of scrap continued through mid-July, benefiting the EAF producers in the U.S. over the integrated mills Table 1 summarizes the price changes through July of the five materials considered in this analysis. It reports the month/month, 3 months/3 months and 12 […]
There have been $120 per ton ($6.00/cwt) of flat rolled price increases going back to late June. Nucor announced the first plate price increase late on Friday afternoon. That increase is $40 per ton. I heard from a couple of plate service centers who basically said, “It’s about time.” I guess those distributors will support […]
The following calculation is used by Steel Market Update to identify the theoretical spread between foreign hot rolled steel prices (delivered to U.S. ports) and domestic hot rolled coil prices (FOB domestic mills). We want our readers to be aware that this is only a “theoretical” calculation as freight costs, trader margin and other costs […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores U.S. sheet prices continue to be supported by new mill price announcements as HR coil gained $5 /s.ton, rising to $553 /s.ton. This price assessment reflects transactions taking place last week. On Monday of this week, ArcelorMittal led the third round of increases since late June, signaling $630 /s.ton […]
A note today for those companies who will be renewing their memberships for our newsletter in the coming weeks. Please take some time to speak with Paige Mayhair at 724-720-8630 or by email: Paige@SteelMarketUpdate.com to see what options we now have for membership. We made significant changes in the way we are marketing our newsletters, […]
By CRU Analyst Jordan Permain Ironmakers are continuously seeking ways to increase production efficiency and reduce costs but, particularly when profitability is good, productivity is a focus area. To achieve this, ironmakers can increase their usage of metallics in the blast furnace (BF), and benefits include not only increased productivity but also a lower coke […]
It has been an interesting last four weeks with now three price increase announcements having been made by most of the steel mills. With this latest announcement, I am hearing from buyers the mills are pushing to get orders in “before the increases take effect.” A way of pushing the increases off for a few […]
I had a long conference call this morning with the events team in London regarding the ongoing arrangements being made for the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. I think those attending this year’s event will be very pleased with the cosmetic changes, more exposure for sponsors and exhibitors, networking opportunities and the availability to information […]
Steel Market Update has been analyzing service center inventories for two years now. With our acquisition by the CRU Group, we expanded the breadth and depth of our coverage. Our new Service Center Inventories Index will be rolled out to the public at the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta at the end of […]