Flat rolled steel buyers are advising Steel Market Update that lead times have extended about one week since the recent price announcements. The mills continue to ask about their competition and to negotiate, which is not a sure-fire sign of strength or conviction in the new increases. Plate is a different animal and continues to […]
Lead times for most flat rolled steel products ticked up slightly this month, according to returns from Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire. Could this signal the end of the downtrend? This is an important question considering the domestic steel mills announced price increases just last week. Lead times for steel delivery are a […]
Steel buyers still have a strong bargaining position with the mills, but perhaps not quite as strong as a month ago. Steel Market Update tracks how buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel characterize the mills in price negotiations. A slightly lower percentage report mills willing to negotiate spot prices on new orders placed this […]
They may be off the table as of today, but late last week (and some buyers reported some still existing early this week) there were special deals – many tied to large tonnage – as the domestic mills attempted to fill their hot rolled order books. We did have a number of buyers and a […]
Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest foreign steel import license data for September and October. Based on our analysis, the import trend for October continues to be much higher than we would have anticipated. We are looking at the month trending over 3 million net tons. The biggest reason for the […]
We saw mixed results in the flat rolled markets this week. Benchmark hot rolled dropped $5 per ton compared to one week ago. Cold rolled was modestly higher ($5/ton), while galvanized and Galvalume were down $15 per ton. Plate prices remained intact with no change compared to one week ago. Here is how we see […]
We saw more erosion in hot rolled steel prices this week based on the responses we received from our data providers throughout the day today. Benchmark hot rolled dropped to an average of $835 per ton, while other flat rolled products saw mixed results. Cold rolled rose as the low-end numbers disappeared from last week. […]
In an article last week, I overstated the amount of quota Brazil had for Galvalume. One of the other traders/mills was nice enough to provide me the accurate data. The yearly quota on AZ is 49,974.44 metric tons. The other flat rolled and plate product quotas out of Brazil are as follows: Hot rolled = […]
Lead times for most flat rolled steel products continue to shrink, according to returns from Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level—the shorter the lead time, the less busy the mill, and theoretically the more flexible the price. Lead times for […]
Hot rolled prices slipped this week while the other flat rolled products pretty much held their own. Plate prices in December are running essentially unchanged to November with limited spot tons available. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $820-$860 per ton ($41.00/cwt-$43.00/cwt) with an average of […]
CSN continues to export slabs and coated steels to the United States, but tariffs and quotas make the market a challenge for the Brazilian steelmaker, reports a Steel Market Update source. Earlier this year, Steel Dynamics bought the CSN conversion mill in Terre Haute, Ind. At the time of the purchase, the company had two […]
The slippage in spot pricing has slowed as flat rolled and plate prices continue to remain firm. We saw a tightening of the spread on hot rolled as both the upper and lower ends of the range moved closer. The other flat rolled products saw strength at the lower end of the range with adjustments […]
When looking at the last four years of import data, as well as the first seven months of data available from the U.S. Department of Commerce, we are seeing a reduction in most flat rolled products. Of the past four years, 2014 was by far the biggest year for foreign steel imports into the United […]
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Commerce released license data for the month of September. Steel Market Update takes that data, turns it into a daily average and then uses that number to project where we see the trend taking the total by the end of the month. The past few months have been […]
Lead times for most flat rolled steel products are about a week shorter than they were two months ago. Shorter lead times suggest that steel demand is easing. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level—the shorter the lead time, the less busy the mill. Lead times for hot […]
The pendulum has definitely swung back in buyers’ favor when it comes to negotiating steel prices with the mills. Steel Market Update tracks how buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel represent the mill negotiation position. More than nine out of 10 buyers report that mills are willing to negotiate spot prices on hot rolled […]
Steel Market Update saw slippage in the lower end of the ranges on hot rolled, cold rolled and Galvalume steel prices this week. Galvanized remained the same, as did plate. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $810-$890 per ton ($40.50/cwt-$44.50/cwt) with an average of $850 per […]
Flat rolled spot base prices continued to drop over the past week. There are mixed emotions from steel buyers with some believing the weakness being seen is an “overreaction” to a “perceived” weakness in the steel mill order books. Comments were made to Steel Market Update during the data gathering process that weakness is mill […]
Lead times on most flat rolled steel products continue to shorten, according to Steel Market Update’s latest market trends data. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level—the longer the lead time the busier the mill. Shortening lead times suggest steel demand is easing. Lead times for hot rolled […]
Steel buyers appear to have considerably more leverage in mill negotiations than at any other point this year. Twice per month, in a proprietary poll, Steel Market Update tracks how buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel represent the mill negotiation position. Most buyers report that mills are willing to negotiate spot prices today. According […]
Once again flat rolled steel prices fell as steel buyers held back orders sensing blood in the water (lower prices). As one service center owner put it to Steel Market Update this afternoon, “The question is how weak can it get?” We were told the market had been acting like it had a “slow leak” […]
Flat rolled steel prices declined over the past week. We saw prices drop by $15 per ton on all products except hot rolled, which was down $5 per ton. Plate prices remained the same with prices essentially rolling over for many customers from October to November. However, plate buyers are warning SMU of maintenance issues […]
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Commerce released preliminary license data for July foreign steel data and license data for August. The latest data suggests July imports will rebound from June’s dip to almost reach 3.0 million net tons, and August levels will be in the 2.85 million ton ballpark. Semi-finished imports (slabs/billets) continue […]
Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level—the longer the lead time the busier the mill. Lead times on hot rolled and cold rolled steel products have remained flat over the past couple of weeks, while coated products saw some shortening of delivery times, according to Steel Market Update’s […]
Mills appear more willing to negotiate spot prices on most flat rolled steel products than at any other point this year. Twice per month, in a proprietary poll, Steel Market Update tracks how buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel represent the mill negotiation position. According to respondents to this week’s market trends questionnaire, 71 […]
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest license data on foreign steel for the months of July and August. As SMU reported last week, the August trend has been for imports to be at, or above, 3 million net tons. This week the trend suggests August will be closer to 2.9 […]
Flat rolled steel prices moved lower over the past week. Benchmark hot rolled coil dropped to $885 per ton and momentum continues to point toward lower prices on all but plate products. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $860-$910 per ton ($43.00/cwt-$45.50/cwt) with an average of […]
This analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into the district of entry and the source country. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about local import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis is to describe in detail what is going on in a […]
We saw flat rolled steel prices as being lower this week compared to one week ago. As we reported last week, we are seeing lead times shortening and the mills more active and willing to discuss price during their negotiations. The ArcelorMittal USA price announcement on cold rolled and coated products is not a sign […]
Mills historically have enjoyed a healthy price premium for cold rolled and galvanized products over hot rolled, at times reaching as high as $220 per ton. More recently, due to the tight supplies of hot rolled, the differential has dipped as low as $80 per ton, prompting at least one mill to act. ArcelorMittal USA […]