Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Stelco swung to a loss in the first quarter on lower selling prices and increased costs. The Hamilton, Ontario-based steelmaker said that increased shipments weren’t enough to offset those headwinds. It predicted better times in the second quarter. “Prices in the second quarter have improved to more favorable levels, lead-times have normalized, […]
A much-anticipated bleeding in US flat-rolled steel prices has begun. On the hot-rolled coil side, we’ve been losing approximately $20-25 per ton per week since mid-April. That’s a boo-boo. Steel might need a Band-Aid. Does it become a wound that needs a tourniquet? I ask that question because the high end of our HRC price […]
Steel prices peaked at the start of the month, with hot-rolled coil reaching $1,160 per ton ($58 pet cwt) on average on April 10. Tags began to decline near the month’s halfway mark and closed out the month $40 per ton lower at $1,120 per ton. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator for sheet products was […]
Sheet price continued to decline this week on increased supply, shorter lead times, and aggressive pricing from some domestic mills. Also pressuring steel prices were expectations of lower scrap prices and import competition. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price now stands at $1,070 per ton ($53.50 per cwt), down $35 per ton from $1,105 per ton last […]
Flack Global Metals (FGM) founder and CEO Jeremy Flack will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat on Wednesday, May 17, at 11 am ET. The webinar is free. You can register here. We’ll talk about the increased volatility that has characterized the steel market since 2020. Remember when hot-rolled coil used to […]
Hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports remain attractive to US buyers despite the current price correction in the domestic market, according to SMU’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis. Domestic tags are still significantly more expensive than imported product, namely because offshore steel prices are declining concurrently with US tags. The price advantage domestic HRC had enjoyed over imported […]
Our hot-rolled coil price slipped modestly again this week. That wasn’t a surprise given the trends we’ve outlined in our newsletters over the last few weeks – shorter lead times, increased domestic output, and mills more willing to negotiate lower prices. Declines often aren’t modest for long. Could we see bigger drops in two weeks […]
US hot-rolled coil prices slipped for a third consecutive week as market participants debated whether and when the declines might accelerate. Another big question: where the new floor for HRC might be? SMU’s hot-rolled coil price dipped to $1,105 per ton ($55.25 per cwt), down $15 per ton from last week and down $55 per […]
Sheet prices are coming down now. The question isn’t one about market direction anymore. Instead, the question is whether the declines will be “managed” by a more consolidated group of sheet mills or whether it will be more precipitous, akin to what we saw last fall. We won’t release full results of our steel market […]
Sheet prices fell across the board this week on the heels of shorter lead times, higher-than-anticipated inventory levels, and potential import competition. Some market participants predicted that further declines would be “managed” by a more consolidated flat-rolled steel industry. Others said they feared that prices could come down quickly given how sharply they rose in […]
Drama surrounding AHMSA – Altos Hornos de Mexico, the largest integrated flat steel plant in Mexico – may finally be coming to an end as a bankruptcy now clears the way for new owners to restart the facility with fresh capital. Due to various issues, AHMSA stopped production in December 2022. This sudden closure caused […]
Has the domestic hot band pricing rally run its course? Data and market sentiment seem to suggest as much, and prices could indeed be heading down. Hot-rolled coil just slipped for the first time since late November, according to SMU’s latest check of the market. I’m certainly not willing to speculate what will happen next, […]
Hot-rolled coil prices edged downward for the first time since late November, according to SMU’s latest check of the market. The dip in HRC prices comes after we saw lead times contract slightly, an uptick in the number of mills willing to negotiate lower prices, and a modest increase in sheet inventories. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price […]
The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices has widened again in April from March, though much smaller than last month’s number, according to Steel Market Update data. Both SMU’s hot-rolled coil price average and busheling prices dropped this week. Our hot-rolled coil average slipped $15 per ton week-over-week to $1,145 per ton ($57.25 per cwt) as […]
Remember the forecasts about 2023 being a normal year for steel? Instead, we find ourselves in a third consecutive year of “unprecedented” volatility. But I wonder whether we’re seeing a rough redux of 2022 when it comes to sheet products. Namely, sheet prices shooting sharply higher in Q1 only to correct lower in early Q2. […]
Some people like to talk scrap, but not many talk as much scrap as CRU’s Senior Analyst, Alexandra (Alex) Anderson. We sat down with Alex ahead of the ISRI conference to discuss the role scrap plays in the steel industry. A lightly edited version of the interview is below. Steel Market Update: How long have […]
Some people like to talk scrap, but not many talk as much scrap as CRU’s Senior Analyst, Alexandra (Alex) Anderson. We sat down with Alex ahead of the ISRI conference to discuss the role scrap plays in the steel industry. A lightly edited version of the interview is below. Steel Market Update: How long have […]
Hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports remain attractive, even as US price gains have slowed, according to SMU’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis. And while domestic tags continue to inch higher, they remain well behind the targeted base price of $1,300 per ton ($65 per cwt) for HRC issued by Cleveland-Cliffs back on April 3. The price […]
Hot-rolled coil prices marked a third consecutive week of very modest gains amid questions about whether the market was at or near a peak. Steel Market Update’s hot-rolled coil prices stands at $1,160 per ton ($58 per cwt), up $5 per ton from last week. HRC prices have risen only $20 per ton since March […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. this week provided an early look into its first-quarter earnings – which the company will disclose in full detail on April 23. Q1 steel shipments, revenues, and adjusted EBITDA are all expected to be higher than the prior quarter, the steelmaker said in a news release. At the same time, despite higher shipments, […]
Despite economic headwinds on the horizon, we are probably in store for a “shallow recession” rather than a prolonged one, according to Josh Spoores, CRU’s principal analyst – steel. Spoores sat down with SMU managing editor Michael Cowden on an April 5 Community Chat where they spoke about the outlook for the steel industry for the […]
Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) is proceeding with a plan that would see the company sold to a group of investors, according to a filing with the Mexican Stock Exchange. Under terms of that deal, the Mexican steelmaker is expected to receive an initial infusion of $200 million to pay for working capital and labor obligations. AHMSA makes […]
What should we make of Cleveland-Cliffs’ price increase, and will it stick? We’ve asked some of you to weigh in on that, and we’ll publish your feedback on Thursday. Here is some initial reaction I’ve received in the meantime. Some market contacts stress that a spot price increase from a company not heavily involved in the […]
Sheet prices moved slightly higher as domestic steelmakers held to previously announced price increases and as Cleveland-Cliffs rolled out another round of price hikes. Cliffs had been inching prices above $1,200 per ton ($60 per cwt) before the price hike was announced, some sources noted. It’s not clear whether other producers will follow Cliffs’ move. […]
This pre-holiday steel market feels a little like the one before Thanksgiving – albeit at approximately double the price. Back in November, hot-rolled coil prices had crashed to around $600 per ton ($30 per cwt), and there were questions about whether and when mills might push to increase prices to more sustainable levels. Now, HR […]
Steel mill leads time were largely flat this week, a trend change in a year that has seen them mostly rising, according to SMU’s latest steel market survey data. Case in point: hot-rolled coil lead times were flat for the first time since early January. We’ve noted a similar trend in prices, which tend to trend […]
The appeal for imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) remains strong even as US price gains have slowed, according to SMU’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis. And while we haven’t seen an official mill pricing notice in nearly three weeks, domestic tags continue to inch higher towards the targeted base price of $1,200 per ton […]
SMU’s hot-rolled coil price posted its smallest week-over-week (WoW) price gain since mid-January. Some sources said the market might be at or near a peak. But others said it might be taking a break ahead of domestic mills rolling out another round of price hikes. Our average hot-rolled coil price stands at $1,145 per ton ($57.25 […]
The outlook for the construction industry is relatively optimistic, despite the uncertain state of the overall economy, according to Ken Simonson, chief economist of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Simonson, who chatted with SMU chief editor Michael Cowden on the March 22 SMU Community Chat, provided the most recent data covering many aspects […]
The appeal for imports of hot-rolled coil (HRC) continues to grow as US prices move higher in response to repeated mill tag hikes. The price advantage domestic HRC had enjoyed over offshore just last month has swung negative at an accelerated rate, according to SMU’s latest foreign vs. domestic price analysis. The most recent pricing […]