This morning Steel Market Update (SMU) participated in the monthly galvanized steel conference call hosted by HARDI. The conference call is for those HARDI wholesalers who sell galvanized sheet and coil to the HVAC mechanical contractors around the United States and Canada. Since the last conference call held during the later days in February, galvanized […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released Preliminary Census data for February 2015 foreign steel imports into the United States. Based on the latest release imports for the month of February, 3,583,566 net tons were imported (note: the US DOC releases the data in metric tons and SMU converts to net tons for our readers). Foreign […]
March imports are trending toward another very large month. We expect that when the final numbers are released, the month will come in about 3.6 to 3.8 million net tons which would be in line with our 12 month moving average of 3.7 million net tons. Last March imports were 3.2 million net tons. Note […]
This month we will start with words from Armada Executive intelligence which sum up the present situation nicely: “Last week it was made abundantly clear just how sensitive the markets are to the discussions at the Fed. There was a perception that Janet Yelled was pushing an interest rate increase off to at least September. […]
Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The IP index was reported as 105.8 for February a slight increase of 0.08 from January. The three month moving average (3MMA) was 105.87, down by 0.17 from January which was the highest value ever and the ninth straight month where the […]
The following is the Chicago Federal Reserve statement followed by our own graphical analysis. The CFNAI is an excellent reality check for much of the economic analysis that we routinely provide at Steel Market Update. An explanation of the index is provided at the end of this piece. This is normally an article reserved for […]
Unfairly traded imports are negatively impacting AK Steel earnings in the first quarter of 2015. AK Steel expects a net loss of $0.23 to $0.28 per diluted share in the first quarter due to low carbon steel shipment and spot prices as a result of “unexpectedly” high levels of imports. Shipments are expected to decrease […]
As we ended the last article about the possibility of Anti-Dumping (AD) or Countervailing Duty (CVD) trade cases against flat rolled steel (cold rolled, galvanized and possibly Galvalume) in Tuesday evening’s issue we presented a number of questions posed by one of our readers. He wanted to know: I have a timeline question for you […]
Nucor Corporation expects first quarter results to “decrease significantly” compared to fourth quarter and exceed first quarter 2014 levels only slightly. High levels of imports have lowered selling prices and squeezed margins. Nucor notes that total steel imports rose 38 percent in 2014 and account for 34 percent of the total domestic shipments last year. […]
Nucor Corporation expects first quarter results to “decrease significantly” compared to fourth quarter and exceed first quarter 2014 levels only slightly. High levels of imports have lowered selling prices and squeezed margins. Nucor notes that total steel imports rose 38 percent in 2014 and account for 34 percent of the total domestic shipments last year. […]
Not to toot our own horn too loudly, we came within a whisker of nailing both shipments and inventories in our last Service Center Inventory Apparent Excess/Deficit forecast. In our last forecast we indicated flat rolled shipments would be 2,253,000 tons and based on the MSCI data released earlier this week the actual number was […]
Steel Dynamics expects that a decline in steel shipments caused by inventory overhang, hesitant demand and margin compression will lower first quarter profitability. In the company’s first quarter guidance, SDI noted: “During the first quarter of 2015, two important industry developments occurred: – “Domestic steel product pricing declined to levels that are now globally competitive, […]
Any of you out there feeling like the beat of the anti-import drums are once again beating harder and harder. So, what happens if the Chinese steel mills decide to “voluntarily” reduce or allocate their export tonnage to the United States? First, would they try to allocate at existing tonnage levels (which are quite high) […]
Chinese steel exports to the U.S. in January 2015 were 40 percent higher than in January 2014, according to World Steel Association data. As Chinese domestic demand weakens, exports have flooded not only the U.S. but nations across the globe. The resulting depressed prices and undercutting of domestic steel production has led to increased government […]
Every week the US Department of Commerce (US DOC) releases steel import license data for those months that have not had Preliminary Census or Final Census data announced. The latest license data was released this afternoon (Tuesday) covering the month of March through today (March 17, 2015). Steel Market Update (SMU) takes the license data […]
Countervailing duties have been imposed on welded line pipe from Turkey but not South Korea, according to a preliminary determination by the Department of Commerce. On March 17, the Department of Commerce affirmed subsidization in a countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of imports of welded line pipe from Turkey. A negative preliminary determination was returned on […]
Ryerson Holding Company, a leading distributor and processor of metals, announced a net loss of $25.7 million for 2014. Revenues increased 4.7 percent last year to $3.6 billion, but $32.7 million in IPO-related expenses and costs associated with partial redemption of Senior Notes negatively impacted earnings. “We showed year-over-year improvement in our key metrics for […]
The United Steel Workers will be negotiating new contracts with U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal later this year. The current three-year contracts expire August 31, 2015. Discussions start a few months before and serious bargaining begins about a month before contract expiration, said USW Communications Director Wayne Ranick. Contract negotiations are frequently contentious battles as evidenced […]
US Steel has cut 83 more workers at Gary Works as it adjusts production to respond to market fluctuations. The latest cuts are probationary employees at the Gary Works steel complex who have worked for the company six months or less. US Steel spokesperson Sarah Casella said the layoffs are permanent. “The company routinely adjusts […]
The Baltic Dry Index hit a thirty-year low on February 23 registering a reading of 512. As of March 11 the index increased to a still dismal 565. The Index tracks shipping rates for dry bulk cargoes like iron ore, coal and grain and is considered a barometer for global steel trade. The MID-SHIP Group […]
US Steel operations at Minnesota Ore Operations-Keetac will be temporarily idled as of May 13. The company said the idling is due to “current inventory levels and adjustment of its steelmaking operations throughout North America to match customer demand.” US Steel cited global influences in the market, including unfairly traded imports, as contributors to a […]
The spread between world hot rolled export pricing and that of the domestic average here in the United States continues to be lower than what we were measuring a couple of months ago. This analysis is based on our review of world export prices and that of hot rolled index from this week. As the […]
Net imports equals imports minus exports. We regard this as an important look at the overall trade picture and its effect on demand at the mill level. Figure 1 shows that net sheet product imports on a three month moving average (3MMA) basis in January were almost double that which existed before the recession. The […]
In the twelve months of 2014, scrap exports totaled 15,308,000 tonnes, down by 17.1 percent from the same period in 2013. In the single month of January 2015 exports were 1,148,422 which is an annual rate of 13,781,062 tons. Figure 1 shows that the monthly average declined for three consecutive years, 2012 through 2014 and […]
Apparent steel supply for the month of January 2015 was 10,378,392 net tons (9,415,130 metric tons). Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished US steel imports and subtracting total US steel exports. January supply represents a 992,133 ton or 10.6 percent increase compared to the same month one year ago. […]
Steel Market Update has received a number of inquiries recently asking questions about the potential for a trade case or anti-dumping filing by the domestic mills against foreign steel imports. In particular, the imports in question are cold rolled and coated steels and, the country mentioned the most is China, although if there is a […]
The following article is usually available to our Premium level members only. This report compares domestic mill shipments and total supply to the market in one single report to enable a side by side comparison and the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Department […]
Over the past month we have begun to ask a new question of those responding to our flat rolled steel questionnaire. With the excessive inventories at service centers, and potentially some end users, created (in part) by high levels of imports, SMU wanted to know when we might see imports start to taper off. This […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce (US DOC) released final foreign steel import census data late last week, showing final January tonnage at 4.39 million net tons (3.99 million metric tons). This is a 20.8 percent increase over December 2014 imports and 37.1 percent higher than January 2014 levels. Total January imports were the highest seen […]
SMU had the opportunity to attend the Association of Steel Distributors (ASD) meeting in Pittsburgh on March 5. The meeting was held at the delightfully decorated Hotel Monaco in downtown Pittsburgh. ASD president Brian Robbins welcomed the younger than usual attendees to the ASD meeting and invited them to become part of the Future Leaders […]