“Sanity is back in the seabourne iron ore market,” said Cliffs Natural Resources CEO Lourenco Goncalves in comments during the Cliffs earnings call on Thursday. After the departure of three key executives in the Australian ore market, iron ore prices doubled and Rio Tinto, Vale and BHP are exhibiting disciplined behavior which will support strong […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. This will explain the difference between our view of the present situation which is subjective and our analysis of trends which is based on the latest facts available. Looking back from the […]
Today is the last day in the month of January 2017. The following is our monthly review of key data collected by Steel Market Update during the month including a number of our own proprietary indices and indicators. SMU Price Momentum is ending the month pointing toward higher prices ahead. We do admit that there […]
Please see the end of this report for an explanation of data sources. The Broad Index value of the US $ is reported several days in arrears by the Federal Reserve, the latest value published was dated January 20th (Figure 1). The dollar had a recent peak of 128.9627 on January 3rd which was the […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) received the following question from one of our readers: “We are a galvanized sheet metal fabricator. We purchase around 5 million pounds a year (mostly 26ga-14ga). I was hoping you could help us out. We have not had to raise prices in years but galvanized pricing has steady risen over the […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures markets was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals director of risk management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market and we believe he will provide insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing Futures […]
The following article has been revised as of 1-25-2017. Net income/loss was incorrectly reported. SMU apologizes for the confusion. AK Steel reported a net loss of $62.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2016 compared to net loss of 145.4 million in Q4 2015. Sales totaled $1.42 billion with an average selling price of $998 […]
The Chinese government is attempting to make a stand against the extreme pollution plaguing the country. One of the largest polluting industries is the steel industry through its use of coal. The march against pollution is expected to have mixed results when it comes to iron ore and steel prices. Iron ore prices were reported […]
Our next Steel 101 workshop will be held in Toledo, Ohio on April 11-12th. Included will be a tour of the North Star Bluescope steel mill. We should have details and registration available on our website by the end of the week. Late today I received a note from one of my pig iron sources. […]
Chinese finished steel exports are beginning to drop month over month. In December, finished steel exports were down about 4 percent from November to 7.8 million tonnes. In comparison to a year ago, December exports had fallen approximately 27 percent from a record 112.4 million tonnes. Looking at the data by quarter finished steel exports […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures markets was written by David Feldstein. As Flack Steel’s director of risk management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market and we believe he will provide insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing Futures articles for […]
In the first eleven months of 2016, total ferrous steel scrap exports were 11,428,000 tonnes, down by 11.8 percent from the first 11 months of 2015. The tonnages shown in Figure 1 are based on three month moving averages for 2016 and on the annual monthly average for previous years. The graph shows that exports […]
Essar Steel Minnesota is suing Essar Global Group for $1 billion in damages for financial misconduct related to its uncompleted iron ore-facility. Essar Minnesota alleges that parent company Essar Global Fund failed to provide necessary operating funds and make investments needed to complete the iron ore pellet plant under construction at ESML. The motion also […]
I got a note from one of my Asian trading sources yesterday explaining the reason for some of the price volatility seen in the Chinese markets earlier this week. He told us, “We see Ore at below USD50/mt in 2017. Reasons being that China is shutting down capacity big time, probably about 150 million MTS […]
OK, don’t get freaked out (yet) as the new flat rolled steel base price increases aren’t really impacting the numbers for this week. However, there were a couple of steel mills already seeking higher hot rolled, cold rolled and coated prices prior to the announcement. We did collect some of that data in tonight’s steel […]
Shipping wound down for 2016 with mixed reports. Seaborne rates hit bottom and began an upward climb. U.S. river traffic was sluggish due to holidays and weather. U.S. rail volume, down overall for 2016, picked up in the final week of December. U.S. truck rates increased and shipping volume surged due to holiday delivery and […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures markets was written by David Feldstein. As Flack Steel’s director of risk management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market and we believe he will provide insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing Futures articles for […]
Earlier this week we reported on the status of the Chinese steel markets and steel export price offers as of the end of this past week. Both trading company sources used by SMU reported that prices were artificially high and the expectation was that they would fall if not soon by no later than the […]
The last month of the year was a strong one based on the data we just reviewed and have shared with you in the table at the end of this article. SMU Price Momentum Index finished both the month and the year pointing toward higher prices in the coming 30 to 60 days. Our Sentiment […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. This will explain the difference between our view of the present situation which is subjective and our analysis of trends which is based on the latest facts available. Looking back from the […]
US Steel announced today that it plans to restart its Keetac iron ore plant in Keewatin, Minn. In a press release on Thursday, US Steel said new iron ore pellet agreements with third party customers prompted an adjustment of its iron ore pellet production to take advantage of the new opportunities. One of those opportunities […]
Please see the end of this report for an explanation of data sources. The Broad Index value of the US $ is reported several days in arrears by the Federal Reserve, the latest value published was dated December 16th, Figure 1. The dollar as of that date was stronger than at any time since April […]
The following analysis of the steel markets in China is from Beijing Metal Import & Export Co.,Ltd and is being reproduced by Steel Market Update with permission: Please allow us to update China steel market (Dec 19 – Dec 25, 2016) as usual as following: In the past week, China steel market had a heavily […]
This is our first ever write up of global scrap trade. We believe that to understand the gyrations of the domestic scrap market we should study where the US stands as a global player. This data is not very current because some nations are slow to report but we still believe it gives a valuable […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures markets was written by David Feldstein. As Flack Steel’s director of risk management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market and we believe he will provide insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing Futures articles for […]
United Steelworkers Local 2251 wants clarification from the Ontario court on whether it has permission to talk with Essar Global backed Ontario Steelworks about its bid for Essar Steel Algoma. Local 2251 favors a bid by Ontario Steelworks saying it would preserve the pension plan and union rights under the collective agreement. In July, the […]
The following analysis of the steel markets in China is from Beijing Metal Import & Export Co.,Ltd and is being reproduced by Steel Market Update with permission: Please allow us to update China steel market ( Dec 12 – Dec 18, 2016) as usual as following: In the past week, China steel still stood at […]
We have an unusual hot rolled futures market article tonight which will be dealt with in two segments: First, we will have an article written by Andre Marshall of Crunch Risk, LLC as he deals with the financial markets (S&P 500), oil and copper and then he has some comments about an errant trade which […]
The following report on the Chinese steel markets comes to SMU from Beijing Metal Import & Export Company,Ltd.: Please allow us to update China steel market (Dec 05 – Dec 11, 2016) as usual as following: In past week, China market still very firm! Iron ore, coke and Billets all touched the highest level in […]
Steel Market Update received the following information about the Chinese steel market through one of our trading sources located in Taiwan. Our source is a very active trader in China trading iron ore, steel and equipment with the Chinese steel mills. Here is some new information about the Chinese steel mills: Things are more complicated […]