Tag: CRU

The Italian government says it will appoint commissioners with specific steel-sector expertise in the coming days to assume control of the Taranto works, which is majority owned by ArcelorMittal.

The CRUmpi declined by 1.7% month over month (m/m) to 325.2 in February, compared to a 4.3% m/m increase in February 2023.

The LME 3-month price was broadly stable again on the morning of Feb. 16, and was last seen trading at $2,230 per metric ton (mt). On Feb. 16, LME stocks were reported at 534,925 mt, an increase of nearly 10,000 mt from last Friday. The change comes after 15,125 mt of metal was delivered into […]

The scrap export market has demonstrated resiliency so far this year from the US East Coast. This strength has mainly come from the Turkish market. Despite weakening orders for rebar in their domestic market, imported scrap prices have held up until the last several days. The US West Coast is not as active, but there are orders in South Asia and in South America that are keeping things afloat.

It’s no secret that HRC futures have been particularly volatile over the past several years. The most recent instance was the outsized break in the March futures contract early this week. For companies procuring raw material in anticipation of higher prices or even to get ahead on future purchase orders from customers, understanding the relative price of that raw material versus the hot-rolled coil futures curve is important.

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices moved lower again this week, remaining largely on a downtrend since mid-January. The result has caused domestic tags to lessen their price premium over imported products week on week (w/w).

The iron ore market has been largely calm, with China observing the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday period, while demand in Europe and JKT has been slow to pick up. Supply has been somewhat weaker, but overall, the price has held steady. Supply from Port Hedland remained unchanged w/w despite Roy Hill having no shipments […]

US busheling scrap prices fell this month, while HMS and shredded grades remained largely unchanged.

South Korean integrated steelmaker Posco has started building a 2.5-million-metric-ton-per-year (Mt/y) electric-arc furnace (EAF) at its Gwangyang works, a key stage in the company’s transition to becoming a green steel producer.

The US Midwest premium continued to trade between 18.8–19.4 cents per pound (¢/lb) this week. There remains a host of macroeconomic and geopolitical risks in the current environment, but none have affected the short-term outlook for the premium. Current trading for April reached 20 ¢/lb which is on par with CRU’s current forecast for Q2’24. Dates closer to the end of the year have fallen to 21.2 ¢/lb.

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices were again lower this week, pushing the price premium domestic hot band carries over imported products lower vs. the prior week.

Timna Tanners, managing director of equity research at Wolfe Research, will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat. The chat will be on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 11 a.m. ET. You can join the ~600 people who have already registered here.

Timna Tanners, managing director of equity research at Wolfe Research, will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat on Feb. 7.

The US Midwest premium was flat week over week (w/w) at 18.8–19.4¢/lb. Again, the premium has exhibited remarkably low levels of volatility and has yet to react to news in the geopolitical or macroeconomic spaces.

Three of Japan’s major banks have agreed to lend Nippon Steel a combined $16 billion for its $14.1-billion planned acquisition of United States Steel, provided the acquisition is completed, the Japanese steelmaker said.

Much has happened since we last met on Jan. 4. Cleveland-Cliffs announced a price increase on Jan. 3, lifting the futures market in the morning only for it to finish the day $20-$30 per short ton (st) below those morning highs. On Jan. 4, the futures curve was down another $10-$28/st. And in my column for SMU that evening, I asked a question: Would those aggressive sellers be met with a short-squeeze forcing them to cover, or had the market peaked with the negative price action to start the year the proverbial canary in the coal mine?

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices law little movement this week, a similar trend seen in offshore markets. Thus, the price premium domestic hot band carries over imported products was largely unchanged vs. the prior week.

With rising steelmaking capacity and relatively flat demand, industry analysts are predicting lower prices for sheet products this year.

U.S. Steel is to permanently idle battery No. 15 at the Clairton coke plant in its Mon Valley works in Pennsylvania following a series of air pollution incidents and fines.

I’m writing these final thoughts from the JW Marriott in Tampa. And I’m looking forward to seeing some of you reading this in just a few hours at the opening networking reception of the Tampa Steel Conference. Nearly 550 people will be there – a new record for the event. If you’re looking for things […]

This week Magnitude 7 Metals issued a statement to announce the curtailment of its New Madrid smelter in Marston, Mo. The plant, one of only five remaining primary smelters in the US, employs approximately 450 union workers. With over 275,000 metric tons (mt) of capacity per year, New Madrid is the second-largest plant by capacity […]

Brazilian steel maker Usiminas has resumed operations at blast furnace (BF) No. 3 at its Ipatinga works in the state of Minas Gerais. The restart comes after a BRL2.7-billion ($546-million) refurbishment on the unit, which has capacity of three million metric tons (mt) per year.

The Tampa Steel Conference is just a few days away. Here are some topics I’m looking forward to learning more about during the proceedings on Monday and Tuesday. For starters, we’ll have about a month of 2024 under our belt when we convene on Sunday. How does that compare to what we thought the start of the year would look like? And what’s the outlook for the balance of the year?

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices declined further this week, easing to their lowest level since late November. And while domestic tags remain notably more expensive than offshore product, the premium has declined as imported hot band tags have moved higher.

SMU’s Jan. 24 Community Chat, featuring CRU's Principal Analyst Erik Hedborg, provided viewers with an update on the current state of the global iron ore market.

CRU principal analyst Erik Hedborg, who has deep experience in iron ore and in pellets, will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat.

India-based Tata Steel is to close down the two blast furnaces at its loss-making Port Talbot works in South Wales, UK, during a four-year switch to EAF-based steel making. Under the proposals, 2,800 jobs are at risk.

This latest SMU steel market survey is a snapshot of a sheet market inflecting lower. A significant 43% of survey respondents said that the hot-rolled (HR) coil market has already peaked. Compare that to only 8% when we released our last steel market survey on Jan. 5.

CRU forecasts that global demand for steelmaking raw materials will fall month over month (m/m) between mid-January and mid-February. The major downward pressure on raw materials demand will come from China, where steel end-use demand will fall toward the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday (Feb. 10–17).

The LME three-month price was broadly stable on the morning of Jan. 19 and was last seen trading at $2,170 per metric ton (mt). The $2,200/mt level is now acting as a resistance it seems, but the break of the previous support level has not inspired a sell-off, at least not for now.