Mills are still willing to negotiate on price, especially on hot rolled, even as they work to collect the two $40 per ton price increases they announced in January and February. In every product category except plate, the majority of respondents to Steel Market Update’s questionnaire this week reported mills willing to talk price. Most […]
Lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel saw little additional change in the past two weeks after moving out by a few days following the mill price increase announcements in January and February. Hot rolled lead times now average a bit more than four weeks, cold rolled more than six weeks, plate six […]
Bank of America Merrill Lynch predicts that billions in capital investments by domestic steelmakers over the next few years, adding more than 20 million tons of new capacity to the market, will cause a glut of supply that proves disastrous for steel prices—a phenomenon they have dubbed “Steelmageddon.” Steel Market Update canvassed the market this […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Chief Market Risk Officer, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
This report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products and 16 subcategories through December. Table 1 shows total supply to the market in three months through December and in 12 months through December for the four product groups and the 16 subcategories. Supply to the market is the total of domestic […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices saw relatively little movement over the past week. Steel Market Update leaves its hot rolled and galvanized prices unchanged, with small declines reported in cold rolled, Galvalume and plate. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $690-$720 per ton ($34.50/cwt-$36.00/cwt) with […]
Are steel prices witnessing a dead cat bounce or the beginning of a bullish reversal? The market appears split on the feline vs. bovine analogy. In other words, there is a huge divergence of thought on what is going to happen to steel prices over the next three or four months. The benchmark price of […]
This is a report that we provided monthly through August 2018 data. The USITC then revamped their DataWeb and the new version didn’t work. Our SMU staff worked with the USITC to fix the problem, then the government shut down. The March 2019 data is the first available that has been released on time since […]
Total foreign steel imports are on the decline as license data from the U.S. Department of Commerce has February imports at 2.5 million net tons. Based on license data through March 12, it appears March imports will also be in that same vicinity. To put this into perspective, imports for February 2018 were 2,478,000 net […]
Total foreign steel imports are on the decline as license data from the U.S. Department of Commerce has February imports at 2.5 million net tons. Based on license data through March 12, it appears March imports will also be in that same vicinity. To put this into perspective, imports for February 2018 were 2,478,000 net […]
Steel imports are trending up in March as license data from the U.S. Department of Commerce shows total imports tracking towards 2.9 million net tons–above the 3-month and 12-month moving averages. Based on license data through March 19, both finished and semifinished steels (mostly slabs purchased by domestic mills) are up significantly over February levels. […]
Flat rolled prices moved a bit over the past week, while plate prices remained unchanged. Benchmark hot rolled was up $10 per ton as both the low and high end moved by $0.50/cwt. Hot rolled continues to be the weakest of the flat rolled products. The strongest are coated steels with a number of data […]
Not surprisingly, steel buyers report a tightening in negotiations with the mills following the two $40 per ton price increases announced in January and February. However, the majority of those responding to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week say the mills are still willing to talk price–on all products but plate and Galvalume–if […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel continue to slowly move out as the market sees upward momentum following the mill price increase announcements in January and February. Hot rolled lead times now average more than four weeks, cold rolled and plate more than six weeks, and galvanized nearing seven weeks. Lead […]
Foreign steel imports dropped to an eight-year low in December, coming in under 2 million net tons, according to final data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Removing the 200,000 tons of semi-finished steels (mostly slabs used by domestic steel mills), finished steel imports were just under 1.7 million net tons. As shown […]
Steel Market Update did not see a huge move in flat rolled steel prices this week. Our benchmark hot rolled average rose a modest $5 per ton, but is still below $700 per ton and a long way away from the $730 per ton suggested by ArcelorMittal USA in their announcement email. The other flat […]
Flat rolled steel prices have begun moving higher. Benchmark hot rolled coil (HRC), which has been one of the weakest of the flat rolled products recently, was up $10 per ton. Cold rolled did even better, up $15; galvanized better than CR, up $20; and Galvalume bested them all, up $25 per ton compared to […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel continue to inch out as market momentum shifts toward strengthening steel prices. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level. The longer the lead time, the busier the mills. The busier the mills, the less likely they are to […]
With steel prices in transition following last month’s price increase announcement from the major mills, the tone of negotiations between producers and buyers appears mixed. The majority of buyers report the mills are still willing to talk price on all products but plate, but fewer in the high-demand categories of hot rolled and galvanized. Most […]
We found mixed results in flat rolled steel prices this week. Steel buyers are telling Steel Market Update that the bottom has been “firming” and that prices are moving sideways to slightly higher on most products. SMU talks more about price momentum and pricing in a separate article in tonight’s issue. Here is how we […]
February imports are trending high, close to 3 million net tons, according to U.S. Department of Commerce license data released Feb. 12. However, looking at the data more closely, the domestic steel mills continue to bring in a tremendous amount of semi-finished steels (slabs, billets – but most are slabs). The mills are on pace […]
Now in the second month of the new year, shortly after the mills announced a $40 price increase, price negotiations appear to be tightening up a very small bit. Buyers generally report that the mills are still willing to talk price on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and to a lesser degree Galvalume. On the […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel have extended slightly in the past few weeks, lending support to those who believe the market is near the bottom. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level. The longer the lead time, the busier the mills. The busier […]
We gathered mixed results regarding flat rolled and plate steel pricing over the past two days. When we say mixed, we don’t mean some prices falling while other prices were rising. What we found was pricing stable to rising. We heard from a number of buyers that there were mills still actively pursuing prices at, […]
Steel Market Update data and comments from industry executives suggest that steel prices may be near a firm bottom. Prices are trying to move higher following the mills’ $40 per ton increase announcement last month. SMU’s Steel Price Momentum Indicators remains at Neutral, but we will be reviewing the situation over the next few days. […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released all kinds of foreign steel import data late this afternoon. We are studying the numbers to see if they make sense, as one of the steel mills told SMU late today that the mechanical pipe and some of the other pipe categories appear to be out of whack. In […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. announced it will acquire a 75 percent equity interest in Galvalume supplier United Steel Supply (USS), with an option to gain the other 25 percent in the future. United Steel Supply, Austin, Texas, is a leading distributor of painted Galvalume flat rolled steel used for roofing and siding applications. The company operates […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released import license data through the month of December 2018 earlier this week. The December license data is showing a large reduction in semi-finished imports (mostly slabs going to domestic steel mills). SMU believes the lower slab numbers may be due to quotas from Brazil having been reached, thus capping […]
We have seen Nucor, U.S. Steel, NLMK USA and ArcelorMittal move spot flat rolled base prices up $40 per ton effective immediately. That is what was announced this week. The reality is not yet clear, and the prices referenced in tonight’s pricing assessment only marginally take the increases into account as negotiations are very early […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel continued to shrink this month. Even plate, which has been in short supply, is showing signs of loosening with its average lead time dipping to less than six weeks from more than seven weeks at the beginning of January. Lead times for steel delivery are […]