We got a taste of everything this past week from the various steel indexes we monitor on a regular basis. Platts, which recently has been on the leading edge of higher flat rolled steel prices, scaled their numbers back on both hot rolled and cold rolled this week. CRU budged ever so slightly higher on […]
Lead times slipped slightly across the board compared to where we saw them at the beginning of August. The lead times reported by those responding to our Steel Market Update (SMU) steel survey dropped from 4.5 weeks on hot rolled (weighted average) to 4.11 weeks. This is still well above where we were reporting lead […]
Other metallic coated (mainly Galvalume) imports June 2013 and YTD by source and port of entry. This is the fourth of an expanded series of analyses, exclusive to the Steel Market Update that is designed to provide a much more comprehensive view of actual volume by product. This will enable a steel buyer or manager […]
This is one of an expanded series of analyses, exclusive to the Steel Market Update that is designed to provide a much more comprehensive view of actual volume of steel imports by product. This will enable a steel buyer or manager to see exactly what flat rolled steel came into his immediate vicinity and where […]
Cold rolled sheet imports June 2013 and YTD by source and port of entry. This is one of an expanded series of analyses, exclusive to the Steel Market Update that is designed to provide a much more comprehensive view of actual volume by product. In the future, this data will be available to our Premium […]
This is one of an expanded series of analyses, exclusive to the Steel Market Update that is designed to provide a much more comprehensive view of actual volume by product. This will enable a steel buyer or manager to see exactly what came into his immediate vicinity and where it came from. This series of […]
Prepainted flat rolled imports declined on a month-over-month basis on all products with the exception of prepainted cold-rolled sheet and strip. Compared to the same month one year ago, prepainted imports increased for galvanized and electro-galvanized, but decreased for cold rolled sheet and strip. As you can see by our table below – prepainted cold […]
Written by: John Packard Essentially our review of the market has found little measurable movement in spot flat rolled prices this week. The opinion of many buyers is the market is closer to the top and any purchases need to be carefully considered prior to making any commitments. Buyers continue to express confidence in their […]
The main issue driving steel prices during the month of July was supply and the constraints in supply related to production issues at the North American steel producers. U.S. Steel Lake Erie Works continued to be on lockout throughout July. The 2.5 million ton a year slab and hot rolled mill was first locked out […]
From Steel Market Update perspective there are a number of keys to watch during the month of August: • Scrap prices: Shredded scrap prices are forecast to be down $10-$20 per gross ton due to oversupply. Other scrap grades such as cut grades and prime are forecast to be sideways to down $5 per […]
By Peter Wright Shipments of sheet steel products in the 2nd quarter averaged 4,114,539 tons / month, down from 4,138,875 in the 1st quarter, 0.6 percent, and down by 4.8 percent from Q2 2012. Year to date (YTD) shipments of all sheet products through the first half were 24,682,298 tons, down by 5.6 percent from […]
Written by: John Packard and the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) The U.S. Department of Commerce released June export data on Tuesday evening. We have two analyses of the data. First, we are reproducing the AIIS press release and then after their release we have our quick analysis of hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized […]
Written by: John Packard Are we seeing early signs of prices weakening? The combination of our survey, which began on Thursday of last week and concluded earlier today, and our channel checks with both manufacturing and distributors produced a wider range in pricing than we had been seeing in recent weeks. Is this the beginning […]
When reviewing our flat rolled price assessments it is important to note that our opinion is the range is more important than the average. Our index is nothing more than the average of our high and low. Our SMU Price Momentum Indicator which is currently at “Lower” provides the trend we see in our price […]
Lead times continue to be quite short on all but Galvalume. Hot rolled lead times retreated to —- weeks based on the results from our ongoing SMU steel survey. Cold rolled and galvanized lead times remained relatively stable compared to the beginning of the month. According to our survey responders, mills are more willing to […]
The domestic steel mills continue to struggle to keep the flat rolled steel averages (indices) above benchmark levels. Hot rolled coil, which according to our index rose during the previous two weeks to $615 per ton (average), is now struggling to hold its gains. Other flat rolled items are having their issues and this was […]
All of the indices followed by Steel Market Update had benchmark hot rolled above $600 per ton with all being above $610 per ton with the exception of the CRU. With the exception of Platts – which has been higher than the other indices for a number of weeks recently – cold rolled could be […]
The chart below is for prepainted flat rolled steel imports. What we like to do is to show the base bare substrate and then the prepainted item as separate line items. As with many of our reports, to take the “noise” out we show the 3-month and 12-month moving averages, the change compared to the […]
The domestic mills are trying to collect increases – some are a little more adamant than others – but there does appear to be an effort. Lead times continue to be relatively short for this time of year. Demand levels are inconsistent with a number of service centers reporting slower shipments than anticipated for the […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce has released final January import data (Census Data) and Preliminary License data for the month of February 2013. January imports grew by 6 percent over the previous month. When looking at the data closer SMU notes – only two products (of those we follow closely) were significantly higher than the […]
Mill lead times grew only fractionally since the price increase announcements which began on Tuesday of this past week. Based on our SMU steel market survey results, hot rolled lead times went from 3.15 weeks to 3.28 weeks; cold rolled actually declined from 4.97 weeks to 4.65 weeks; galvanized rose slightly from 5.14 weeks to […]
Large steel buyers with whom Steel Market Update had direct contact with over the past few working days paint a picture of the domestic mills still uncomfortable leading on pricing. Although that may be changing as word starts to spread on the newest scrap pricing. We saw a widening of the range on hot rolled […]
Written by: Sandy Williams “Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.”—Theodore Roosevelt. When I was asked to write for SMU I did exactly what Teddy suggested and every day since I’ve been learning how. With a background […]
The indices watched by Steel Market Update (SMU) tumbled this past week as benchmark hot rolled averages were at, or below $600 per ton in three of the five indexes. We saw many indices dropping by double digits prior to the U.S. Steel pricing announcement. It is normal for prices to move lower the week […]
Frustration appears to be running high as buyers and sellers try to hold on to the gains (or to the floor) made a few weeks ago. Despite their order books being weak, domestic mills do not seem willing to go below (or in many cases match) their previous deal. However, if they are not willing […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) flat rolled price assessments remained the same on hot rolled, cold rolled and Galvalume this past week compared to the week before. Our galvanized price average was $5 per ton lower than one week earlier as the lower end of our range dropped by $10 per ton. Platts did not change […]
Based on the results of this week’s survey, lead times on hot rolled and cold rolled slid slightly compared to where they were at the beginning of the month. We found aluminized to have dropped by slightly more than half a week from 6.40 weeks down to 5.83 weeks while galvanized lead times actually increased […]
Flat rolled steel prices remained – well, flat – this week compared to one week ago. Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum Indicator is now in its 12th week at Neutral as we watch flat rolled steel prices drift without any real pressure to move prices higher, or lower at this time. Here is how […]
The following table shows bare and prepainted cold rolled, galvanized, electro-galvanized, Galvalume, bare aluminized and bare Terneplate imports for the month of December 2012. We show the comparison to November 2012 and the three-month moving average (3MMA) and twelve-month moving average (12MMA) with the change year-over-year (YOY).
In one corner we have ArcelorMittal scratching and clawing and trying to hold on to at least a portion of their price increase. One week ago they were trying to collect $650. As the week progressed the number slipped a bit. This week…well, it slipped some more. In the other corner we have a group […]