Lead times have shortened noticeably based on Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week. But don’t read too much into that one data point. Other factors point to more of the same for steel prices, at least for a while. As reported elsewhere in this issue, lead times appear to have shortened by a […]
The 2021 SMU Steel Summit started with a bang on Monday morning. Turns out it was a transformer that blew. Just as the opening video and music was revving up and host John Packard was getting into his opening remarks, the Georgia International Convention Center was plunged into darkness save for some emergency lighting. Thinking […]
Settling on the direction of SMU’s Price Momentum Indicators has been an easy task for the past year. Prices on all products were clearly moving upward week after week as demand continued to outstrip supplies. Today, the market is changing, and the trend is less clear. Determining price momentum is considerably trickier. SMU does not […]
Flat Rolled = 51.3 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 49.6 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled U.S. service center flat rolled inventories spiked in July with better on-time delivery from domestic mills, the arrival of imports and a slowdown in shipments. At the end of July, service centers carried 51.3 shipping days of supply, […]
Over the last week or so, statistics have emerged about the surge in capacity utilization of the steel industry in the United States. Since Jan. 1, the American Iron and Steel Industry reports, domestic steelmakers have operated at a capacity utilization rate of 80.1%. In the most recent week reported, ending Aug. 7, capacity utilization was 84.8%, […]
Mill shipments of steel products rose in June by 1.7%, following an increase of 1.9% the month prior. Apparent supply jumped 6.0% in June after a 1.3% increase in May. June’s gains were the fourth in as many months after February’s double-digit contraction. This analysis is based on steel mill shipment data from the American […]
Steel demand remains strong, outpacing supplies in the U.S. and causing prices to continue escalating. The trend is attracting more imports as customers look overseas for price and supply relief. June data shows imports of most steel products have risen over the past two months as imports’ share of total sheet product shipments rose to 16.2%, […]
Do you have a sense that conditions in the steel market are changing? If so, you are not alone. The majority of steel buyers polled by SMU over the last two weeks feel it won’t be until the fourth quarter, if not well into next year, before there will be any significant changes in steel […]
As domestic hot rolled steel prices climb upwards of $1,900 per ton, foreign steel imports continue to tempt U.S. buyers, according to Steel Market Update’s latest foreign versus domestic hot rolled steel price comparison. While domestic prices have risen week after week, foreign prices have remained steady to down, holding potential discounts of 13% to 40% after taking […]
June apparent steel supply rose 270,000 tons over May to 9.38 million net tons, according to the latest U.S. Department of Commerce and American Iron and Steel Institute data. This is the highest suppy level seen since January 2020, surpassing the May 2021 recent-high of 9.11 million tons. June supply is up by 2.47 million […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Sheet prices in the U.S. Midwest market have continued to rise, though the rate of increase has slowed since the end of May. The price of HR coil has increased $21 /s.ton w/w and is now $126 /s.ton higher than our assessment on […]
The U.S. Senate passed the $1 trillion infrastructure bill. The bill includes $550 billion in new spending. The bill calls for $110 billion for roads, bridges and major infrastructure projects. It also includes $40 billion for bridge repair and replacement, $39 billion to modernize public transit, $66 billion for passenger and freight rail, $65 billion to […]
Just because all major U.S.-based steel mills have reported quarterly results doesn’t mean that earnings season is over. Results from mills based abroad are coming in. And those of you still paying attention to earnings might have noticed a change in tone between when Steel Dynamics kicked things off on July 19 and when Evraz […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Analysis Over the past few months, we have seen a number of short-term strike actions around North America: a Montreal four-day strike in May and the Charleston International Longshoremen Association (ILA) filing strike notices at the same time. While both industrial actions have not resulted in extended work stoppages, they […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Prices fell w/w in southern Europe and China but were stable in Asia and up somewhat in India. Prices in the U.S. again were the outlier this week, rising by three times as much as anywhere else. In fact, the differential between U.S. […]
Toronto-based Russel Metals, Canada’s second largest metals distributor, posted its best second-quarter earnings ever off strong market conditions, the company said. Driven by rising demand and constrained supply chains, pre-tax earnings totaled $178 million, up 38% from Q1 on sales of $1.07 billion. That compares to EBITDA of $32 million on sales of $588 million in […]
Olympic Steel reported record sales and the most profitable quarter in company history. The achievement in the service center’s second quarter was bolstered by exceptional market conditions and historically high metal prices, the company said. Driven by higher pricing, Olympic set a sales record for the second consecutive quarter, posting net sales of $556 million […]
Ryerson recorded its best quarterly profits since 2008 in the second quarter and expects the good times to continue into the third. “We’re not declaring an end to cyclicality in our industry, but noting strong secular growth underpinnings that have been supressed for a long time,” Ryerson President and CEO Eddie Lehner said during a […]
Final Census data shows that total foreign steel imports increased 16% from May to June, reaching 2.93 million tons. As stated in our preliminary import analysis, this is now the highest monthly import level of 2021, surpassing the April high. The last time monthly import levels exceeded this rate was January 2020 when 3.16 million tons […]
Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week shows no significant change in lead times for deliveries of spot orders from the mills. Average lead times for hot rolled orders remain above 10 weeks, while those for cold rolled and coated products are still above 12 weeks – at least twice as long as […]
New orders, production and employment grew in July despite a deceleration is supplier deliveries and growing backlogs, said the Institute for Supply Management in the July 2021 Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The Manufacturing PMI fell 1.1 percentage points in July to 59.5%, still above 50% and indicating expansion in the overall economy for the […]
The Biden administration has resolved, at least in part, a potentially serious conflict over currency exchange rates with Vietnam. This could be a signal that other trade problems might also be resolved. Exchange rates matter to economists and businesses, and therefore to the rest of us, because a “weak” currency abroad will facilitate exports to countries […]
Steel prices continued to climb through the month of July, now the 11th consecutive month prices have increased. Hot-rolled steel prices increased an average of $30 per ton ($1.50 per cwt) each week, with the SMU index averaging $1,860 per ton ($93 per cwt) as of last Tuesday. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator has remained unchanged since the […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. David has over 20 years of trading experience in financial markets and has been active in the ferrous futures space for over eight years. You can learn more at www.thefeldstein.com or add him on twitter @TheFeldstein and on Instragram at #thefeldstein. Following Memorial […]
Some experts believe short supplies and record-high steel prices are nearing a tipping point with new steelmaking capacity soon to come online and loads of imports on the water headed this way. But that’s not the prevailing sentiment among the service center and manufacturing executives who responded to SMU’s questionnaire this week. While it may […]
In a trading update for Q2 2021, Evraz reported favorable market conditions and a 6.1% increase in sales over the first quarter. Although demand remained high in North America throughout the quarter amid a rapid economic recovery from the pandemic, fewer imports and relatively low levels of distributor inventory impacted overall sales in the region. […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary U.S. refined demand continues to impress through the traditionally slower summer months, with market contacts reporting still-strong off-take under long-term contracts into August. We hear that many consumers continue to take the higher end of their contracted metal tonnage, with some still buying additional spot quantities. A further increase […]
ArcelorMittal continues to forge ahead with major expansions at its North American operations on the heels of its best second-quarter profits since 2008. The multinational steelmaker recorded net income of $4 billion in the second quarter of 2021 after losing $559 million in the same quarter last year on sales that increased 76.2% to $19.3 […]
U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 6.5% in the second quarter of 2021 on an annualized basis, according to the advanced estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). While the gain was the second-fastest pace of growth in 38 years, it was a disappointing mark, falling short of forecasts for 8% GDP. The second […]
The incentive to purchase hot rolled steel imports over steel produced domestically continues to grow, according to Steel Market Update’s latest foreign versus domestic hot rolled steel price comparison. As domestic prices soar higher, foreign prices are flat or declining, holding potential discounts of 11% to 27% after taking freight costs, trader margins and tariffs […]