By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg Iron ore prices have lifted since last week, primarily due to concerns over BHP suspending operations on its Pilbara network. [Editor’s note: BHP suspended rail operations in Western Australia after it was forced to deliberately derail a runaway ore train on Nov. 5.] This caused iron ore prices to […]
The first major winter storm of the 2018-2019 season is currently making its way up the East Coast, which means it is time to start thinking about the navigation on the Great Lakes. Right now, iron ore and coal ships are busy supplying steel mills in the Great Lakes region with enough inventory for the […]
AK Steel reported its best third quarter in 10 years with net income of $67.2 million and a 39 percent year-over-year jump in adjusted EBITDA to $160.8 million. Steady shipment levels and higher steel selling prices and shipments more than offset higher costs for certain raw materials, transportation and supplies, including graphite electrodes, said the […]
Joint partners ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. have been approved by creditors to acquire Essar Steel India Limited (ESIL) for an upfront payment of 42,000 crore rupees and investment of 8,000 crore rupees to improve operations (about $5.7 billion and $1.1 billion in U.S. dollars). ESIL, an integrated flat steel producer, is […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Chief Market Risk Officer, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Chief Market Risk Officer, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
In the last month, the U.S. dollar has weakened against seven of the 16 currencies that Steel Market Update tracks. This was close to the performance we reported last month, but a dramatic change from the period May through August when only a few of the 16 appreciated against the dollar (just one in May, […]
The U.S. dollar has on average been relatively stable in the last three months against the currencies of the other steel trading nations. In the last month, the dollar weakened against six of the 16 currencies that Steel Market Update tracks. This was close to the performance we reported in each of the previous two […]
Table 1 summarizes the October prices of the five materials considered in this report and the month/month, three months/three months and year/year change. Price changes have been mixed. In the last three months, coking coal and iron ore have trended up as pig iron, scrap and zinc have trended down. This was the same pattern […]
In the last 12 months, the price of coking coal and scrap have continuously trended up, zinc has continuously trended down, and iron ore and pig iron have been erratic. Table 1 summarizes the price changes through November of the five materials considered in this Steel Market Update report. It includes the month/month, 3 months/3 […]
Cleveland Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves is looking forward to the completion of the company’s HBI pellet plant in Toledo, Ohio. The project is on time and under budget and construction has begun on the 400-foot tower that will be completed by the end of 2019. Startup of HBI production is anticipated in mid-2020. The company […]
United Steelworkers at U.S. Steel have reached a tentative agreement on a four-year labor contract with the mill, avoiding a potential strike. USW officials said the contract will allow workers and management to move forward in a way “that allows us to share in the company’s success.” “The company came to the bargaining table this […]
With the market sending mixed signals, distributors of HVAC products are keeping inventories lean as they wait to see if the price increase just announced by the steel mills gains any traction. “You can make a case for prices to go either way,” said one member of the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) […]
United Steelworkers at U.S. Steel have reached a tentative agreement on a four-year labor contract with the mill, avoiding a potential strike. USW officials said the contract will allow workers and management to move forward in a way “that allows us to share in the company’s success.” “The company came to the bargaining table this […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Chief Market Risk Officer, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
Cleveland Cliffs and the United Steelworkers have reached a tentative agreement on a new four-year labor contract that is effective as of Oct. 1, 2018. Lourenco Goncalves, Chairman, President and CEO, stated, “We are pleased to reach a new labor contract that is fair and equitable to both parties and provides Cliffs a competitive cost […]
In the last month, eight of the 16 currencies that Steel Market Update tracks were down against the dollar and eight were up. This was a dramatic change from the May-August period when few of the 16 appreciated against the dollar (just one in May, two in June, three in July and two in August). […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Director of Risk Management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
Cleveland Cliffs has filed a lawsuit over mineral rights in Nashwauk, Minnesota. The iron ore company has filed suit against the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, MDNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr and Mesabi Metallics, to prohibit Mesabi Metallics from mining iron ore on properties owned or controlled by Cleveland Cliffs. Cliffs purchased surface and mineral rights […]
Our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop will be held in Toledo, Ohio on December 11 & 12, 2018. We will be touring the North Star BlueScope steel mill. The NSB mill produces steel from scrap, pig iron and other iron units in their EAF (electric arc furnace). SMU would […]
Steel Market Update’s next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop will be held in Starkville, Miss., on Jan. 29-30, 2019. We will be touring the Steel Dynamics Columbus steel mill. The SDI mill produces steel from scrap, pig iron and other iron units in their EAF (electric arc furnace). SMU would […]
Table 1 summarizes the August prices of the five materials considered in this report and the month/month, three months/three months and year/year change. In the last month, coking coal FOB Australia’s East Coast eked out a small gain as the other four experienced price declines. At the Jackson Hole meeting of the Fed on Friday, […]
Recent price changes have been mixed for steelmaking commodities. In the last three months, coking coal and iron ore have trended up as pig iron, scrap and zinc have trended down. Table 1 summarizes the September prices of the five materials considered in this report and the month/month, three months/three months and year/year change. Iron […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Director of Risk Management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
Chinese steel trade data was recently released for the month of July 2018, providing updated data on iron ore imports, scrap imports and flat rolled imports and exports. Chinese imports of iron ore in July totaled 89,960,000 metric tons, an increase of 8.1 percent from the previous month, and an increase of 4.3 percent from […]
Editor’s note: The following report on China was contributed by the CRU Group. A power shortage is causing steel production reduction in China’s Hebei province, while in Shandong provincial authorities have ordered a new round of capacity cutbacks across the steel, aluminum and coal sectors. To ensure power for residential use, leading electricity supplier, the […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Director of Risk Management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
Iron ore prices have jumped from about $62 to $66 per ton in the past month, but the change is only temporary, said CRU senior analyst Erik Hedborg. “Ore prices are slightly higher in July, but we expect them to continue to fall for the rest of the year.” Hedborg attributes the July bump to […]
Some quick comments I received as I moved around the market today talking about steel prices: JSW Ohio (Acero Junction mill) just got in 50,000 tons of slabs and is in the market. Credit issues are becoming an issue for companies as their customers are reaching their limits sooner due to the high cost of […]
Gaurav Chhibbar is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this new role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategy for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Gaurav’s previous role, he was a Trader at Cargill spending time in Metal […]