A growing number of steel market participants think that hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices will fall below $1,000 per ton ($50 per cwt). An increasing number also think that prices won’t hit bottom until the third quarter at the earliest. Check out the charts below. SMU’s HRC price was at $1,190 per ton ($59.50 per cwt) […]
Mills are struggling to fill July order books, and some might still have room in June – that’s the feedback we’re getting from market participants and in our survey. You can check the full details in Brett Linton’s writeup of our latest lead time figures. One consequence of slipping lead times: We’re hearing from more […]
The temptation to purchase foreign hot rolled over domestic steel remains high, according to SMU’s latest foreign versus domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) price comparison. Since mid-April, foreign steel prices have declined at a faster rate compared to domestic prices, resulting in greater potential discounts on imported products. Select foreign prices now range between $119-238 per […]
The big news of the day is that hot-rolled coil prices slipped below $1,200 per ton ($60 per cwt) for the first time since the start of the Ukraine war. The big question remains how far they’ll fall and how fast. There are no immediate signs of what might stop the declines. The Detroit-area scrap […]
US hot-rolled coiled prices have fallen below $1,200 per ton ($60 per cwt) for the first time since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price stands at $1,190 per ton ($59.50 per cwt), down $65 per ton from last week and down $290 per ton from a post-war high of $1,480 […]
SMU updates its prices every Tuesday evening, and all indications are that prices could be in for a significant adjustment downward this week. This time last year, big orders at times had to pay a premium over small orders because the market was so tight and because prices were shooting up so fast. That’s no longer […]
Several of you, including some senior executives, have told me recently that I’m being too pessimistic about pricing. I’m not sure what to say about that. It gives me no joy to write about prices falling. No doubt it hurts those holding inventory to see it devalued. But me not writing about prices falling doesn’t […]
Volatility in the steel industry is a given. So rather than trying to predict when or what will be the next big event to trigger a change in the market, why not instead create strategies to help drive volatility down and capital return up for your business? Jeremy Flack, founder and CEO of Flack Global […]
Volatility in the steel industry is a given. So rather than trying to predict when or what will be the next big event to trigger a change in the market, why not instead create strategies to help drive volatility down and capital return up for your business? Jeremy Flack, founder and CEO of Flack Global […]
Steel prices eased each week in May, following increases in March and most of April. Hot rolled prices were $1,440 per ton ($72 per cwt) the first week of May, just $40 lower than the mid-April peak. Prices then slipped between $15 and $75 each of the following weeks, with the SMU index averaging $1,255 […]
Sheet and plate prices continue to fall. That’s not a surprise, as there is little reason for them to do otherwise. What is surprising when you step back is just how quickly prices have fallen, and how much further they could continue to fall. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price now stands at $1,255 per ton ($62.75 […]
Sheet and plate prices continued to slip this week on expectations of lower scrap costs in June, increased import competition, and so-so demand, market participants said. Hot-rolled coil prices were down $35 per ton as were plate prices. Coated products were off by $25 per ton. Cold-rolled prices were up $10 per ton – or effectively […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) sees a “myriad of opportunities” on the M&A front but disagreements over valuations have prevented some of those deals from moving forward, the company’s top executive said. “It’s a matter of determining what is a great strategic fit at a reasonable value. … People’s aspirations of value are a little steep […]
Who wants to be in the hot-rolled coil business anymore? I ask that only partly in jest. It’s not that no one wants to make spot HRC anymore. It’s just that not many companies seem to want to make it their bread and butter. Nucor spending $3 billion for a garage door company and looking […]
Nucor has signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Steel Technologies LLC’s pickle line facility and associated equipment in Ghent, Ky., where the steelmaker also operates a sheet mill. Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor said Steel Technologies would continue to own and operate slitting equipment at the Ghent location in a letter to customers dated Wednesday, May […]
Flat-rolled steel prices were down again this week. Not as much as some had feared but the drops were more substantial than those hoping for a modest decline or stable pricing might have liked. The takeaway: Hot-rolled coil is now down $190 per ton ($9.50 per cwt) over the last five weeks. In other words, […]
Nucor will decrease plate prices by $50-200 per ton ($2.50-10 per cwt) depending on the product. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker made the announcement with the opening of its July orderbook for plate. Prices for as-rolled and normalized plate will be cut by $50 per ton, those for cut-to-length plate less than 72 inches wide will […]
What a whirlwind last week was. I want to thank Wolfe Research and Bank of America for inviting me to speak, the former virtually, the latter in person. I also want to thank Stanislav Zinchenko and the GMK Center for taking time to join us for what I thought was one of our better Community […]
What a whirlwind last week was. I want to thank Wolfe Research and Bank of America for inviting me to speak, the former virtually, the latter in person. I also want to thank Stanislav Zinchenko and the GMK Center for taking time to join us for what I thought was one of our better Community […]
The temptation to purchase foreign hot rolled over domestic steel remains high, according to SMU’s latest foreign versus domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) price comparison. Select foreign HRC prices range from $164-364 per ton cheaper than domestic prices, after taking freight costs, trader margins and tariffs into consideration. The price differentials between domestic HRC and foreign import […]
Sheet prices slipped again this week on what some sources described as a summertime market that has arrived a few weeks earlier than usual. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price was down $15 per ton week-over-week (WoW) to an average of $1,350 per ton ($67.50 per cwt). Other sheet products also fell, with cold-rolled down $30 per […]
Foreign steel imports continue to hold a competitive price advantage over domestic steel, albeit at a slightly lesser potential discount this week compared to last. According to SMU’s latest foreign versus domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) price comparison, select foreign HRC prices range from $92-345 per ton ($4.6-$17.25 per cwt) cheaper than domestic prices, after taking […]
Imports of less expensive sheet and plate products continue to arrive at US ports, and at a faster pace in March. Following lighter volumes in February, overall flat product imports accelerated in March and took a larger share of the domestic steel market, according to Commerce Department data. Imports’ share of US sheet and plate markets […]
Total mill shipments of steel products recovered in March following repeated declines at the start the year. March’s mill shipments totaled 8.342 million tons, a 9% increase from February’s 7.655 million tons. Apparent supply also surged in March, up 12.9% versus the prior month, and expanding for the first time in three months. This analysis is based […]
Sheet prices fell hard this week after bouncing around between about $1,440-1,480 per ton ($72-74 per cwt) for much of April. Our average hot-rolled coil price dropped to $1,365 per ton this week, down $75 per ton (5.2%) from $1,440 per ton a week ago and down $115 per ton (7.8%) from $1,480 per ton […]
Sheet prices have fallen sharply following weeks of more modest declines. The big drops this week prompted SMU to shift all its sheet price momentum indicators from neutral to lower. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price plunged $75 per ton ($3.75 per cwt) week-over-week, falling well below the $1,400-per-ton threshold. Cold rolled fell $55 per ton, galvanized […]
Nucor has been granted final approval for a construction permit, clearing the way for the building of its $2.7 billion, three million tons per year sheet mill in Mason County, W.Va. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Air Quality issued the air permit to Nucor on May 5, noting that “all available […]
Olympic Steel Inc. posted strong first quarter earnings despite falling carbon steel prices earlier in the year. And the Cleveland-based service center expects the good times to carry into the second quarter even if steel prices slip. “We’ve worked hard to diversify our business, reduce our exposure to cyclical risk, and drive operational efficiencies,” Olympic […]
Stelco Holdings Inc. heralded record first quarter net income, but the result nonetheless marked a nearly 50% decline from fourth quarter profit levels. The Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker chalked up lower quarter-over-quarter earnings to a drop in both shipment volumes and prices. “While in the early part of the first quarter we saw deterioration in both […]
The US steel market continues to revert to where it was before the outbreak of war in Ukraine. SMU’s prices for sheet products are lower. Prices abroad are too. The latest bit of evidence: Published mill lead times. Case in point: Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) published updated lead times on Tuesday, May 3. They indicated […]