The ocean bound freight market had a bit of good news last week—the Baltic Dry Index rose to 517 on April 7 and closed the week out on April 9 at 539, nearly an 86 percent increase from mid-February’s historic low of 290. MID-SHIP Report says a celebration is not yet warranted since the BDI […]
We have received a number of calls from sellers of steel asking for our help in trying to explain, from an independent source, why flat rolled steel prices are moving higher and why we expect this trend to continue. When looking at the history of Steel Market Update, our steel market intelligence publication was actually […]
German steel giant and elevator manufacturer Thyssenkrupp is back in steel industry news again. The company will take full ownership of Companhia Siderúrgica do Atlantico (CSA) from Brazilian mining company Vale SA. Vale owns 27 percent of CSA and plans to sell it to Thyssenkrupp AG for a “symbolic price” while remaining sole supplier of […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered in this analysis is currently 34. Please refer to Table 1 for the view of the present situation and the quantitative measure of trends. Readers should […]
Bank lenders to Essar Steel Group have approached Tata Steel and JSW Steel to buy out the company according to sources quoted by CNBC. Bankers took matters in their own hands after expressing concern that Essar Steel cannot pay back Rs 40,000 crore (about $6 billion) in loans to State Bank of India and other […]
In Sunday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update we published an article highlighting the Platts indices which are used by some mills and their customers to adjust flat rolled steel contract pricing. The other daily index out there is The Steel Index (TSI) which will be the index used for the NASDAQ Midwest Hot Rolled […]
Steel mills are still scrounging for ferrous scrap with little luck. We are hearing from our scrap sources that prices could be up as much as $30 per ton and we have even heard some numbers higher than $30. The net result will be more pressure on steel and steel prices as the mills scramble […]
The following article was written by SMU founder and publisher, John Packard with the assistance of Platts Content Director, Metals Americas, Joseph Innace. Shortly after Steel Market Update (SMU) became a real company I understood the need for the flat rolled steel industry to have an pricing index which was independent and not tied as […]
The following HRC and BUS futures market trading article was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk, LLC. Here is how Jack and Andre Marshall saw trading this week and what the forward curve looks like: HR futures continue to grind higher. While HR demand seems to be holding steady we are starting to see […]
The following article was originally produced by the Wall Street Journal on March 14, 2016. The U.S.’s biggest iron ore miner Monday said it would restart a key mine in Minnesota, a positive sign for the battered U.S. steel industry following a small uptick in prices and new import tariffs on foreign steel. Cleveland-based Cliffs […]
The Great Lakes 2016 shipping season commenced on March 2 with a load of iron ore for ArcelorMittal Cleveland. The tug/barge Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder loaded 14,600 tons of iron ore at the Cleveland Bulk Terminal to deliver to ArcelorMittal on the Cuyahoga River. The barge was about 4,600 tons shy of a full load due to […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), and financial futures markets was written by Dave Feldstein. As Flack Steel’s director of risk management, David Feldstein 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 […]
Ryerson CEO Eddie Lehner called 2015 “one of the harshest and most difficult metal environments we have seen in terms of magnitude and duration.” Ryerson Holding, a service center company, announced fourth quarter and full year results on Thursday. The company posted a net loss of $20.5 million for the quarter. Revenue was down 23 […]
The fundamentals of the Chinese steel markets do not support the recent surge in iron ore prices, according to Goldman Sachs and Li Xinchuang, deputy secretary of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA). Iron ore prices rose earlier this week on an expectation that new government measures to stimulate the economy would result in […]
In Sunday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update we warned our readers that something was happening in China that could impact US steel prices. We have been working on this project ever since and this is what we have learned from multiple sources around the world: Iron ore and steel prices are surging in China. […]
Steel prices have surged in the Chinese domestic market over the past few days. Steel Market Update reported in our Final Thoughts on Sunday evening that something was up and buyers needed to be aware of what is going on around them – both here in North America as well as around the world. Volatility […]
World Steel Exchange Marketing (WSEM) announced that the US Shredded Steel Scrap TSI Index will begin futures trading on the Nasdaq Commodities Exchange (Stockholm) as of March 29, 2016. The 20-gross-ton USA Midwest shredded steel contract will be listed, and quoted, for the current month and each of the next 11 months. The contract will […]
Steel Market Update received the following information about the ferrous scrap markets in Asia and Turkey from Damon Sun of Daido International: There has been aggressive movements in the ferrous scrap markets in Asia and Turkey in recent days. Off the East Coast, Turkish scrap prices are up $12-$15/mt and on the Asian region side, […]
Steel prices continued their three month hike higher as SMU benchmark hot rolled price index (average) for the month was $408 per ton. Even with some minor stumbles noted in hot rolled and cold rolled during the second half of the month, our Price Momentum Indicator is still pointing toward higher prices over the next […]
The US Department of Commerce provided the domestic steel industry a “win” according to early reaction to the just released preliminary determination of antidumping (AD) against China, Brazil, Japan, Russia, India, Korea and the United Kingdom. I have to imagine some will be surprised at the high penalties assigned to a number of countries (see […]
The following article is one of the key proprietary products produced for our Premium level members. We wanted to share it with all of our readers this evening to give everyone a feel for how we are seeing the steel economy based on “the numbers.” An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Steel (HRC) The CME HR spot month future settlement reflects minimal price movements in physical markets this month as the […]
Currency markets have been anything but stable since our last update on January 25th and this shows up clearly in our examination of the currencies of the steel trading nations. Expectations of four rate hikes by the FOMC seem to have flown out the window. On February 3rd Josh Brown wrote, “Perhaps the biggest headline […]
Seaborne shipping market rates continue to plummet with the Baltic Dry Index reaching another new low this past week. The Index stood at 290 on Wednesday, Feb. 10; a year ago on that date the BDI stood at 556. To get a better perspective on how bad things are, the highest level ever reached was […]
In the twelve eleven months of 2015 bulk scrap exports were 12,955,000 metric tonnes, down by 9.7 percent from 2014 (14,280,000 net tons). The tonnages shown in Figure 1 are based on three month moving averages (3MMA) for 2015 and on the annual monthly average for previous years. The graph shows that exports declined for three […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered in this analysis is currently 36. Please refer to Table 1 for the view of the present situation and the quantitative measure of trends. Readers should […]
USW members ratified a new three year contract with US Steel on Monday. The ratification passed by a 2-1 margin and will take effect immediately. “I am extremely proud of the solidarity and the commitment to fairness that the Steelworkers showed throughout this process,” said USW International Vice President Tom Conway, who led the union’s […]
The latest MID-SHIP Report reiterates the crisis in the shipping industry calling it “the most significant depression in dry bulk shipping since the mid-1980’s.” The Baltic Dry Index, which tracks shipping rates for dry bulk cargos like iron ore, coal and grain, peaked in May 2008 with an index reading of 11,793 and fell to […]
We ended the month of January on a positive note. SMU Price Momentum Indicator continues to point toward higher prices over the next 30 days. Our Sentiment Index broke through an extended downward (growing pessimism) trend and is now heading higher (more optimistic). We believe a portion of the improvement is due to flat rolled […]
Cliffs Natural Resources narrowed its net loss to $58 million in fourth quarter compared to $1.4 billion in Q4 2014. Full year net loss was $748 million compared to $8.3 billion in the prior year. “Despite the severely negative impacts of global iron ore and domestic steel prices, in 2015 we achieved substantial cost reductions […]