Tag: demand

Nucor’s Dan Needham views the steelmaker’s flexibility and diversification as key to pivoting when economic conditions require.

Steel executives packed the main conference hall of the 2025 SMU Steel Summit on Tuesday, Aug. 26, to hear economist Dr. Anirban Basu lay out his blunt view of tariffs, inflation, and demand.

Steel prices, end-use demand, inventory levels, tariffs, imports, and evolving market events... what is the steel industry talking about this week?

SMU’s Mill Order Index (MOI) moved higher in July after rebounding the month prior. The shift comes after mill orders declined from March through May.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to tariffs, imports, and evolving market events.

Russel Metals posted its strongest quarterly revenue in three years, fueled by higher steel prices, steady demand, and near-record shipments across its service center network.

SMU’s Monthly Review provides a summary of our key steel market metrics for the previous month, with the latest data updated through July 31.

Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to tariffs, imports, and evolving market events.

ArcelorMittal expects less demand growth across most of the markets it operates in, including the US, because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. But the Luxembourg-based steelmaker also thinks it stands to benefit from an increasingly regionalized world thanks to investments like the new EAF at its mill in Calvert, Ala.

Resilient demand across its steel product lines, combined with the continued ramp-up of key expansion projects, drove Nucor’s improved financial results and record-setting performance in the second quarter. That’s according to company executives speaking on an earnings conference call on Tuesday.

The Steel Demand Index now stands at 42, up from 38.5 in early July, but off from a four-year high of 65.0 in late February.

Ryerson’s earnings slumped in the second quarter amid “recessed” demand.

Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.

CRU Principal Analyst Shankhadeep Mukherjee expects a restocking cycle for steel sheet products in most parts of the world due to either low inventories or seasonally stronger demand.

AZZ Inc. posted record earnings for the first quarter of its 2026 fiscal year on the back of strong infrastructure-related demand and improved operating performance.

US manufacturing activity slowed for a fourth straight month in June. That's a sharp shift after trending up for most of Q1.

Oil and gas drilling activity declined for the ninth-consecutive week in the US, while Canadian counts rose for the fourth straight week, according to Baker Hughes.

Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.

Steel prices inched higher again this week across most of the sheet and plate products tracked by SMU.

More developments with USS-Nippon. A look at whether imports will be needed. The latest prices. And more.

If we review the price trends for the last two years, we can see this year’s pattern following a similar path.

On Monday and Tuesday, SMU polled steel buyers for their thoughts on the current market. We received an array of feedback, including prices, demand, inventories, imports, and evolving market events.

Service centers and distributors contend that weak demand is to blame for the flattening of domestic steel spot prices, as reflected in Nucor Steel’s weekly Consumer Spot Price (CSP) notice. On Monday, the Charlotte, North Carolina-headquartered steel producer left prices unchanged from the previous week. Nucor has maintained prices of plate produced in Brandenburg since March 28.

May marks the third consecutive month US manufacturing activity declined, according to supply executives contributing to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM)’s latest report.

With higher tariff rates on steel and aluminum set to go into effect on Wednesday, June 4, a new round of chaos across the supply chain is likely in store. Expect a significant impact on manufacturers and metal fabricators. But even before the latest round of Trump-tariff whiplash on Friday evening, there was a lot of interesting data coming out of SMU's steel-market survey.

Here are highlights of what’s happened and a few things to keep an eye on this upcoming week.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.

While I would anticipate market sentiment to pivot and improve if all the questions around tariffs were answered, that still leaves us with a few other factors.

An analysis of the North American energy market in May.

SMU’s Mill Order Index (MOI) declined for a second straight month in April after repeated gains at the start of the year, according to our latest service center inventories data.