The U.S. Department of Commerce released March license data this afternoon that shows foreign steel imports trending toward a 3.5 million net ton month. SMU does not believe the month will come in at that level when all is said and done, but it appears it will be the first month to reach or exceed […]
Steel mill lead times are one of the key indicators of future direction of steel prices. Steel buyers must be aware of the amount of time it takes a supplier to produce and ship a new order. Lead times and balancing inventories go hand in hand. When lead times shrink, buyers can pull back on […]
You will notice a couple of changes in our Comparison Price Indices (CPI) report. The U.S. and Canadian steel mills have adjusted their extras for placing zinc on the surface of steel (galvanized). One of the items referenced in the CPI is .060” G90 which prior to this week was based on a $3.45/cwt ($69 […]
Flat rolled steel prices are reacting to the two $30 per ton price announcements made by the domestic steel mills over the past month. The culprit (or scapegoat depending on your perspective) has been the rapid rise in ferrous scrap prices which are the primary inputs for electric arc furnace (EAF) steel mills and is […]
This report summarizes total steel supply from 2003 through January 2017 and year on year changes. It then compares domestic mill shipments and total supply to the market. It quantifies market direction by product and enables a side by side comparison of the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron […]
Flat rolled prices have begun to move higher based on the most recent analysis of the steel price indexes from last week that are followed by Steel Market Update (SMU). Benchmark hot rolled prices were up $10 per ton on our own index while Platts took their average up $7.50 per ton by the end […]
Total foreign steel imports for the month of January were announced this past week by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Imports totaled 2,814,081 net tons or about 120,000 tons more than December and slightly above the twelve month and three month moving averages. At the same time license data was updated for February imports and […]
On Wednesday, Nucor Sheet Group announced a $30 per ton ($1.50/cwt) price increase on hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steels. The base price increase was to take effect immediately and was the second $30 per ton increase announced since the beginning of the New Year. Since October 21, 2016 Nucor has made six price […]
Licensed data for February was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on March 7th. An explanation of the methodology that we at SMU use to analyze the trade data is given at the end of this piece. All volumes in this analysis are reported in short tons. Total rolled […]
Hot rolled average lead times remain extended at 4.38 weeks compared to the 3.79 weeks SMU was reporting one year ago. Cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume lead times were running close to or just below last year’s reported average. Lead time is the average amount of time it takes for a new order of a […]
Flat rolled steel mills have become less enthusiastic about negotiating prices for new orders of hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. Based on the results of the flat rolled steel market trends analysis coming out of the survey we have been conducting over the past four days. We found 33 percent of the […]
Flat rolled steel prices firmed a little with benchmark hot rolled up $10 and cold rolled the same. Galvanized price average remained the same and Galvalume was up $5 per ton. We heard from a number of steel buyers that they were waiting to see what was going to happen with scrap prices (expectation was […]
Flat rolled steel prices rose this past week on every item with the exception of the SteelBenchmarker hot rolled index. Steel Market Update (SMU) saw benchmark hot rolled as up $25 per ton to $625 per ton. Platts moved up $5 per ton to $630 per ton and SteelBenchmarker, who reports prices twice per month, […]
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce released Preliminary Census Data for January showing steel imports were just shy 2.8 million net tons for the month (2,769,215 tons). The February license data, which was also updated through the last day of February was down slightly from the January levels at 2,614,907 net tons. Of interest […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator to reference spot prices as moving higher from this point over the next 30 days. Our decision to move our indicator is due to the continued high prices for steel mill inputs, such as 62% Fe iron ore fines in China being sold at $91.50/dmt […]
Flat rolled steel prices are starting to react to the price increase announcements made last week. We saw a large bump in the hot rolled price average while cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume increases were a tad muted in comparison. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU Range is $610-$640 […]
A number of steel mills increased flat rolled steel prices, or provided price guidance higher than what was being collected in the spot markets, this past week. Steel buyers are telling SMU that there is a good chance the erosion of steel prices will cease because of these moves by the domestic steel mills. Steel […]
The following article was written by Mario Briccetti, one of our Steel 101 workshop instructors and the director of the consulting firm: Briccetti & Associates. Mario has written other articles about the costs associated with coating galvanized and Galvalume steels. Those articles can be found in our website in the “Steel Buyers Basics” section of […]
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. On Monday Nucor began the flat rolled steel price increase announcement train as they, and just about every other flat rolled mill in the United States, came out with a $30 per ton increase. Steel buyers, however, were confused as to where spot base prices were […]
February 2017 steel import licenses are suggesting that foreign steel imports will be markedly higher than February 2016. Last year the U.S. imported 2.2 million tons of foreign steel. Right now, based on import licenses collected through February 21, 2017, the trend is for imports to reach 2.6 to 2.7 million net tons. This would […]
We had three price announcements and at least one verbal announcement on flat rolled steel since the week began. Everyone is wondering if the other steel mills will follow and what will the base prices be when the dust settles? Based on what we have been hearing from steel buyers today, the suggested minimum base […]
This report summarizes total steel supply from 2003 through December 2016 and year on year changes. It then compares domestic mill shipments and total supply to the market. It quantifies market direction by product and enables a side by side comparison of the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron […]
Steel mill lead times, the time it takes for a new order to be produced by the domestic flat rolled steel mills, remain essentially unchanged from what Steel Market Update reported at the beginning of February. The lead times being reported are compiled by Steel Market Update as part of our flat rolled steel market […]
The respondents to our latest SMU Flat Rolled Steel Market Trends Analysis are reporting steel mills as actively negotiating prices on all flat rolled with the possible exception of Galvalume. Seventy-nine percent of the respondents reported steel mills as willing to negotiate hot rolled spot pricing. We need to go back to our mid-October 2016 […]
Flat rolled steel spot prices have recently given back some of the gains made since the first price announcements were announced by U.S. steel mills in late October. In the past 13 weeks flat rolled prices increased by $160 per ton or more depending on product and the starting point for any specific steel buyer. […]
The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) released shipment and inventories data for the steel service centers located in the United States. They reported higher shipment rates coupled with lower flat rolled inventories (higher overall for all products) which is very supportive for prices to tighten over the next 30 days. U.S. steel service centers (all […]
We believe that miss-information (or lack of) about regional import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis of tonnage by district of entry is to describe in detail what is going on in a company’s immediate neighborhood and thus provide a negotiating advantage for our premium subscribers. We are […]
Flat rolled prices held their own this week and remained at, or very near, last week’s levels. At the moment we are seeing the mills as willing to negotiate prices on some items but, at the same time we are see some strengthening as scrap prices have firmed up over the past week and may […]
ArcelorMittal NAFTA segment results declined in fourth quarter 2016. Steel shipments decreased by 6.6 percent to 5 million tonnes from third quarter driven by an 8.5 percent decrease in flat volumes due to destocking in the United States. NAFTA sales were down 11.1 percent from the prior quarter to $3.8 billion due to lower average […]
We saw some “minor” slippage in flat rolled steel pricing this past week. When reviewing Platts (SteelBenchmarker did not report prices this past week) and our own steel indices we saw movement in hot rolled, cold rolled as stable, movement in galvanized and Galvalume and plate were stable. Hot rolled prices were down $10 per […]