Weather events significantly disrupted commodity markets in 2022, fueling already significant price volatility. La Niña has ended in Australia, but other weather events and permanent climate change continue to impact global commodity supply chains. Weather – A Significant Disruptor in 2022 Heightened seasonal weather and extreme weather events disrupted multiple commodity markets in 2022. Heavy […]
Cleveland-Cliffs has progressed in its attempt to secure iron ore mineral leases at its land near Nashwauk, Minn. An agreement has been reached with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and is up for review by the Minnesota Executive Council on May 25, Lourenco Goncalves, Cliffs’ chairman, president, and CEO, said in a statement […]
The prime scrap and metallic shortage in the US will continue over the next few years, according to Cleveland-Cliffs’ top executive. “Our conviction that this country’s prime scrap and metallic shortage will continue to tighten over the coming years is at the core of our strategy,” Cliffs’ chairman, president, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said during […]
Russian mining and steel company Metalloinvest has been added to the US sanctions list. On April 12, the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed the sanctions targeting the vast holdings of one of Russia’s wealthiest billionaires, Alisher Usmanov, including Moscow-based Metalloinvest and its parent company USM Holdings. The measures are meant […]
Some people like to talk scrap, but not many talk as much scrap as CRU’s Senior Analyst, Alexandra (Alex) Anderson. We sat down with Alex ahead of the ISRI conference to discuss the role scrap plays in the steel industry. A lightly edited version of the interview is below. Steel Market Update: How long have […]
Some people like to talk scrap, but not many talk as much scrap as CRU’s Senior Analyst, Alexandra (Alex) Anderson. We sat down with Alex ahead of the ISRI conference to discuss the role scrap plays in the steel industry. A lightly edited version of the interview is below. Steel Market Update: How long have […]
Finding your passion in life can take time, sacrifice, and dedication. For Jeremy Flack, founder and CEO of Flack Global Metals, it’s been a lifelong journey. On the heels of the inaugural Risk Initiatives Summit for Executives (RISE) Summit, Steel Market Update sat down with Jeremy for an exclusive interview. A lightly edited transcript of […]
Minnesota officials have granted Cleveland-Cliffs new mineral leases for its Hibbing Taconite Co. iron ore mining and pellet processing operations on the state’s Mesabi Iron Range. Cliffs chairman, president, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said the approvals from the Minnesota Executive Council would keep Hibbing Taconite running through at least 2026. If approved, additional leases in […]
Cleveland-Cliffs has called back workers to its idled Northshore Mining operations in Minnesota, a company spokeswoman confirmed. She declined to say how many workers were being called back or why. “We will provide more details when we decide when and at what capacity this operation will be brought back online,” the spokeswoman said in an […]
Cleveland-Cliffs swung to a loss in the fourth quarter of 2022 but predicted better times ahead in 2023. Cliffs chairman, president, and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said that optimism comes because the economy in general is on a much better footing in 2023 than had been feared in late 2022, when hot-rolled coil prices fell into […]
SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects on Monday and Tuesday of this week, including current and future steel prices, inventory strategies, supply, demand, and new mill capacity. Rather than summarizing the comments we received, we are sharing some of them in each buyer’s own words. We want to hear your thoughts, too! […]
The outbreak of war in Ukraine triggered an energy crisis in Europe. Gas and consequently electricity prices soared and remain high. European production of commodities such as ammonia, aluminum, and zinc which require significant energy and/or natural gas were and remain disrupted to differing degrees. Natural gas is supposed to be a ‘transition fuel’ in […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active […]
Strong plate prices and a stronger US dollar helped SSAB Americas record higher earnings in the fourth quarter vs. the same quarter in 2021. But Swedish parent company SSAB said plate prices have decreased from previous high levels. “We saw that prices decreased somewhat in Q4 from very high levels, but all in all, a […]
SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects on Monday and Tuesday of this week, including current and future steel prices, inventory strategies, supply, demand, and new mill capacity. Rather than summarizing the comments we received, we are sharing them in each buyer’s own words. We want to hear your thoughts, too! Contact becca@steelmarketupdate.com to […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active […]
By now, anyone who works in the steel industry understands how important sustainability is. Steel is the most recycled material in the world, and recycled steel is a prominent ingredient in electric-arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking. Steel Market Update’s final Spotlight of 2022 gets into sustainability with Philip Bell, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), […]
At the start of each year, CRU continues to feature top expectations and outliers for the year ahead. This annual list of expectations is a thought piece, meant to stimulate internal discussions, scenario analysis, and strategic planning around potential risks to the markets we cover. This 2023 edition covers six expectations and three potential outliers. […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active […]
US Steel Corp. and the United Steelworkers (USW) union announced on Tuesday they have agreed to a new labor pact after USW members ratified the terms of a new, four-year collective agreement. The USW-represented employees — roughly 11,0000 across 13 US Steel flat-rolled, iron ore mining, and tubular operations — voted “overwhelmingly” in favor of […]
The trend is your friend these days in US HRC futures. They posted another strong week of gains on the back of a massive upswing in the index last week. While widely expected to be higher—we supposed a $40-per-ton increase was being priced into the cards in our last comment on Dec. 9—this still managed […]
Nucor Corp. has partnered with Boulder, Colo.-based startup Electra to develop “carbon-free” iron. The goal is to further reduce greenhouse gas emission in Nucor’s steelmaking operations. “Just as Nucor changed the face of the steel industry 53 years ago with our first electric arc furnace, successfully developing and scaling up a zero-carbon iron product is the […]
Prices of steelmaking raw materials moved in differing directions over the last 30 days, as they did the month prior, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis. Through the latest data available as of Nov. 16, pig iron and aluminum increased 7% in the last month, coking coal prices rose 6%, and zinc prices increased 4%. […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active […]
Prices of steelmaking raw material moved in differing directions over the last 30 days, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis. Through the latest data available as of Oct. 27, coking coal prices increased 15% over the last month, aluminum prices rose 8%, and zinc prices increased 2%. Pig iron prices remained stable. Busheling scrap […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active […]
Galvanized prices continue to drop, as discussed during this month’s call of the Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council of the Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI). Prices have been steadily dropping for the past six months despite stable demand. A few highlights from the call include the differential between hot-rollled and cold-rolled coil being in […]
By CRU Senior Analyst, Puneet Paliwal, from CRU’s Scrap, DRI/HBI & Pig Iron Monitor Global scrap prices stay subdued while those of ore-based metallics have found some support. Overall metallics demand continues to be hampered by the steel market weakness, a trend which may sustain through the short term, particularly in Europe. The CRU metallics price […]
Green iron startup company Electra has raised $85 million to support its production of low-temperature iron (LTI). The process will utilize commercial and low-grade ores and zero-carbon electricity. The Boulder, Colo.- based company focuses on iron refining without a green premium and is backed by various organizations, including the Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Amazon, […]
US Steel Corp. began construction on its $150 million direct-reduced-grade iron pellet plant in Keewatin, Minn., on Thursday, Oct. 5. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz joined US Steel’s President and CEO David Burritt, and other leadership members to celebrate the company’s project and tout its “commitment to produce products that are mined, melted and made in […]