Flat rolled and plate steel prices moved higher last week, based on the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Benchmark hot rolled is quickly approaching $700 per ton (average) with SMU having the highest pricing while Platts, which was at $695.75 on Friday morning, dropped to $694 ($693.50) when we checked again over the […]
Mill lead times on flat rolled steel have extended in the past two weeks to levels not seen since the spring of 2017, according to the latest data from Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire. The average lead time for hot roll has hit four and a half weeks, while lead times for cold roll, […]
The mills are clearly trying to collect the price increases they announced on flat roll in December and January, but they appear to be experiencing only some success. About 40 percent of steel buyers responding to the latest Steel Market Update market trends questionnaire say they have found their mill suppliers unwilling to negotiate on […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released import license data earlier today, which indicates that January steel imports are trending slightly higher than December’s 2,475,249 tons. Right now, based on the first 16 days of data, January is trending toward a 2.5 million to 2.7 million net ton month. Semi-finished imports (slabs/billets), which are purchased by […]
The January import licenses are catching what one domestic mill callls, “Taiwanese January onslaught on Galvalume” as it trends toward 100,000+ net tons for the month (from less than 40,000 tons in December). This is what the mill had to say about pricing in general: “We keep moving our HR and CR up. Coated is […]
Flat rolled steel prices moved higher this past week, according to the steel price indexes followed by Steel Market Update. It’s a combination of moving into the New Year and getting the holidays behind us, stronger demand on many products and the steel mills moving to collect some, if not all, of the recent flat […]
United Steel Supply, Austin, Texas, has acquired Paramount Coils, Inc., and Alpine Building Materials, LLC. The acquisition of the two companies gives United Steel Supply coast-to-coast coverage and distribution in the United States. The two brands will assume the United Steel Supply name. Paramount Coils has locations in both Springdale, Ark., and Kingsbury, Ind., while […]
U.S. demand for steel sheet products continued to expand through November, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Apparent supply is a proxy for market demand. Demand momentum for sheet products in total was negative in the three months through […]
Imports of rolled steel into the United States have been on the decline since peaking in July, based on a three-month moving average of government import data through the end of 2017. In three months through December compared to three months through September, total rolled steel imports declined by 16.8 percent, while sheet products dropped […]
As we collected hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, Galvalume and plate prices earlier this week, we asked a number of questions trying to get reactions from the steel buyers. We asked how high steel prices could go (using hot rolled as the benchmark) and what were the key drivers affecting prices right now. Here are […]
On Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018, Nucor announced a $40 per ton price increase on all spot flat rolled products produced at their steel mills. Their announcement was quickly followed by similar announcements on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steels (galvanized and Galvalume) by U.S. Steel, NLMK USA and AK Steel. On Friday of this […]
During the middle of this past week, a number of the domestic mills, led by Nucor in the east and California Steel in the west, raised flat rolled steel prices. With steel buyers just returning from the extended Christmas and New Years holidays, we found price offers were up, but the actual placement of orders […]
Mill lead times on flat rolled steel extended a bit last month, but defied expectations and returned to prior levels despite mill price hikes in December and January, according to the latest data from Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire. Lead time for hot roll remains slightly over four weeks, for cold roll slightly over […]
Despite price increases by the major mills in December, followed by additional increases this week, the majority of buyers of flat rolled steel report mixed results in their negotiations with mill representatives. About 53 percent of respondents to the latest Steel Market Update market trends questionnaire report that some mills are firm and some still […]
Flat rolled steel prices barely budged over the past couple of weeks as steel buyers and sellers took a break for the Holidays culminating in the calendar flipping over to 2018. When we asked one commercial manager of a steel mill to comment about pricing earlier today we were told, “Gotta let the market percolate […]
After treading water through the Christmas and New Year Holidays, and then pushed by the most recent price increase announcements (+$40 on flat rolled and +$50 on plate), we are seeing steel prices moving higher by an average of $10 to $20 per ton. The expectation by most steel buyers (not all) is for higher […]
Flat rolled steel prices moved higher over the past week. Hot rolled offers are reaching (or exceeding) $700 per ton, while cold rolled and coated offers are moving into the low to mid $800s (base pricing, before extras). Steel buyers seemed resigned to paying higher numbers with many waiting to see what will happen with […]
The fire at AK Steel helped some buyers to accept the price levels being suggested by the domestic mills. Steel Market Update heard from a number of sources that offer prices were in many cases close to the levels suggested by ArcelorMittal USA in their most recent price announcement: $720 per ton hot rolled ($36.00/cwt) […]
Flat rolled steel prices were essentially unchanged last week (week ending Dec. 29, 2017) due to the Christmas and New Year’s Holidays. The only exception being SteelBenchmarker, which only produces their indices twice per month with last week being one of those weeks. Hot rolled spot prices are hovering at, or near, $640 per ton […]
The year 2017 proved a bit “odd” as the threat of political action against foreign steel worked against the domestic steel mills. Early in the year, newly crowned President Trump authorized the U.S. Department of Commerce, led by former steel magnate Wilbur Ross, to investigate if the steel industry is essential to the U.S. for […]
Mill lead times have inched up slightly in the past two weeks following price hikes announced by the major mills earlier this month, according to the latest data from Steel Market Update’s flat roll market questionnaire. One of the key indicators tracked by SMU, lead times reflect the activity at the mills and the order […]
Buyers of flat rolled steel report that more mills are holding the line on pricing following the price increases announced earlier this month. Mill order books are firm and there’s no negotiating for a better price, according to 28 percent of respondents to SMU’s latest steel market questionnaire. About 22 percent say they still find […]
Eight out of 10 respondents to this week’s SMU market trends questionnaire believe the fundamentals are pointing toward higher steel prices in the first quarter. As one service center executive commented, “it’s only a question of how high and for how long.” But so far, the price increases announced by the major mills this month […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices moved higher this past week, according to all of the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Benchmark hot rolled jumped to $640 per ton on both Steel Market Update (SMU) and Platts indexes. SteelBenchmarker did report prices and their HRC average was $626 per ton, up $8 per […]
Flat rolled steel prices jumped this week as buyers and sellers of steel react to the latest round of price increase announcements. Last week, there was a $50 per ton increase announced on steel plate and then later in the week the sheet mills announced a $30 per ton price increase on hot rolled, cold […]
With mill order books extending into February on some products, most domestic steel producers have announced price increases. Steel Market Update sees steel prices moving higher for the next 30-60 days. The steel plate mills were the first to go last week, adding $50 per ton ($2.50/cwt) to the base price of plate steel. SSAB […]
Demand for sheet products improved in the three months through October by 3.2 percent year over year, led by hot rolled and other metallic coated. Demand for Galvalume is surging at the expense of galvanized sheet, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and U.S. Department of Commerce […]
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 regional 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 […]
Flat rolled prices moved higher as the domestic mills announced yet another price increase this past week. There is now a large division between Platts and Steel Market Update (SMU) steel indexes as we prefer to wait a few days to let the dust settle after an increase has been announced. Benchmark hot rolled, prior […]
Mill lead times have seen little change in the past month, according to the latest data from Steel Market Update’s flat roll market questionnaire, despite the price hikes announced by the mills two weeks ago. One of the key indicators tracked by SMU, lead times reflect the activity at the mills and the order levels […]