The latest steel import census data has preliminary imports at 4,016,437 net tons in May, the highest tonnage levels seen since 2006. May represents a 7.4 percent increase over the previous month and an increase of 1,178,145 tons or 41.5 percent compared to May 2013. Foreign steel now represents 28 percent of the steel market. […]
“Following the doubling of steel production from 849 million tonnes in 2000 to 1.6 million tonnes in 2014, we are likely entering a period of consolidation, or at the very least, much reduced growth.” That is the opinion of Becky Hites, analyst and president of Steel-Insights, LLC in a June 7, 2014 report, Fixed Asset […]
Hot rolled prices eroded during the month of June with the month ending at $660 per ton ($33.00/cwt) and our June monthly average $666 per ton. At the end of May our average was $680 per ton so we are down $14 per ton based on the monthly averages. The CRU hot rolled coil futures […]
U.S. light vehicle sales increased in May to nearly 16.8 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, (SAAR) up from an average of 15.8 million units in the first five months of 2014 and the strongest rate since February 2007. Light vehicles are autos and light trucks (GVW Classes 1-3, under 14,001 lbs.). Automotive […]
Steel Market Update participates in a number of social forums including one of our own which is hosted on LinkedIn. Our LinkedIn group name is: Steel Market Update and if you are a LinkedIn member you are invited to join. We received the following questions after posting one of our articles about May imports on […]
This month will be focused on foreign steel imports. The month will kick off on Thursday evening or Friday morning (July 10th or 11th) when the US Department of Commerce is slated to report their final determination regarding the oil country tubular goods (OCTG) dumping suits. This determination is critical to those mills who support […]
On Monday, United States Steel (USS) announced a base price increase on all new flat–rolled steel orders. The $25 per ton increase ($1.25/cwt) was to be “…applicable to all open quotations and/or negotiations where an agreement is not yet concluded….” As with most price announcements all published pricing extras were to be applied to any […]
Hot rolled prices eroded during the month of June with the month ending at $660 per ton ($33.00/cwt) and our June monthly average $666 per ton. At the end of May our average was $680 per ton so we are down $14 per ton based on the monthly averages. The CRU hot rolled coil futures […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. We have made two changes this month to try to make this even more representative of the market. Both the long and flat products shipment rows have been changed from “shipments” to […]
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) estimate of US GDP growth was a shocker at negative 2.9 percent, this came after the first estimate which was positive 0.1 percent and the second estimate at negative 1.0 percent. This raises the question of whether early estimates are worth considering. The first estimate for the second quarter […]
“When the rules are ignored, circumvented or broken, all Americans lose,” said US Steel President and CEO Mario Longhi to the United States Senate Committee on Finance. Mr. Longhi’s testimony on trade enforcement regarding foreign steel imports is reprinted below for our readers. United States Senate Committee on Finance Testimony of Mario Longhi President and […]
“USW members and non-union workers alike know firsthand the pain inflicted by foreign predatory, protectionist and unfair trade practices,” said Leo W. Gerard, International President, United Steelworkers (USW) before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance on June 25. Gerard told Senate members that the only way the USW wins at its efforts to counter unfair […]
Steel imports in May increased 7.4 percent from April to 4 million net tons, a 41.5 percent increase over May imports in 2013. The year-to-date total is now 17.5 million net tons, 31.7 percent higher than the same period last year. Steel imports have been a headline issue for the steel industry in the last […]
Last week, while we were in New York City for various steel conferences, the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) published steel inventory and steel shipment data for the month of May. Based on this information and a special analysis of the data by Steel Market Update we produce our SMU Apparent Excess or Deficit of […]
Steel Market Update participates in a number of social forums including one of our own which is hosted on LinkedIn. Our LinkedIn group name is: Steel Market Update and if you are a LinkedIn member you are invited to join. We received the following questions after posting one of our articles about May imports on […]
The latest steel import census data has preliminary imports at 4,016,437 net tons in May, the highest tonnage levels seen since 2006. May represents a 7.4 percent increase over the previous month and an increase of 1,178,145 tons or 41.5 percent compared to May 2013. Foreign steel now represents 28 percent of the steel market. […]
U.S. light vehicle sales increased in May to nearly 16.8 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, (SAAR) up from an average of 15.8 million units in the first five months of 2014 and the strongest rate since February 2007. Light vehicles are autos and light trucks (GVW Classes 1-3, under 14,001 lbs.). Automotive […]
Figure 1 shows historical gas and oil prices since January 2000. West Texas Intermediate closed at $107.08 and Brent at $115.19 on June 19th. In 10 days prior to the 19th WTI increased by $1.99 and Brent by $4.64 as the ISIS situation in Iraq increased market uncertainty. Oil and gas prices have both been […]
We have two markets developing for flat rolled steel imports: hot rolled imports are expected to actually begin to shrink from here as the offers out of Russia and Turkey for hot rolled pricing are approximately $600 per ton or higher. Since most foreign steel buyers tend to be buyers of large tonnage and thus […]
Based on the most recent import license data produced by the U.S. Department of Commerce, imports continue to be on pace to meet, or exceed, 3.5 million net tons. This would be the 3rd month in a row where foreign steel imports were at 3.5 million tons or above. Since the beginning of the year […]
The US steel industry is contemplating challenging a trade agreement with Russia that governs imports of hot rolled steel from Russia. A suspension agreement currently exempts Russian steelmakers from antidumping duties by setting a cap and minimum price on HRC imports. According to a Reuters article on Tuesday, US steel companies say the HRC pricing […]
The US steel industry is contemplating challenging a trade agreement with Russia that governs imports of hot rolled steel from Russia. A suspension agreement currently exempts Russian steelmakers from antidumping duties by setting a cap and minimum price on HRC imports. According to a Reuters article on Tuesday, US steel companies say the hot rolled […]
I am going to start off today’s final thoughts with a shout out to one of our own, John Temples, who recently was interviewed by a Michigan Business Network radio station about Steel Market Update. You can listen to a replay of the interview by clicking on this link. For our Premium Level members, be […]
Industry and economic data is always subject to inaccuracies so we at SMU try to compare different data sources to get the best handle on a situation. Housing and non-residential construction starts are examples that come to mind. In the case of steel imports we have three reports produced by the US Department of Commerce: […]
“Following the doubling of steel production from 849 million tonnes in 2000 to 1.6 million tonnes in 2014, we are likely entering a period of consolidation, or at the very least, much reduced growth.” That is the opinion of Becky Hites, analyst and president of Steel-Insights, LLC in a June 7, 2014 report, Fixed Asset […]
The Broad Index value of the US $ has been gradually strengthening for 18 months, (Figure 1) which favors imports to the US and depresses exports. See explanation at the end of this piece. The currencies of the steel trading nations have been fairly stable over the last month. Table 1 shows the number of […]
As you could probably sense from our last issue of Steel Market Update, we are concerned about the amount of foreign steel imports related to the strength of the overall economy. It is one thing to see imports surging when the economy is hot and steel usage is high like we saw in 2004, 2006 […]
The following article was written by Peter Brebach, CEO of Iron Angels of Colorado. Peter is a trader who imports pipe and tube products into the United States and is well versed on the current oil country tubular goods (OCTG) issues facing the domestic steel mills. Here is his article on the subject: Import licenses […]
A federal crackdown is needed on the import and dumping of cheap products in the U.S. said US Steel Corp CEO Mario Longhi to attendees at the West Virginia Manufacturers Association Leadership Summit on Monday. Longhi, known for his strong stance on foreign import trade regulations, told manufacturers at the meeting that stronger trade laws […]
We are now one-third of the way through the month of June, far enough along to begin doing our analysis of the US Department of Commerce license data on imports. The data is showing us that the surge of imports grew during the month of May and will continue into the month of June. We […]