Chinese imports of iron ore in January were 86,830,000 metric tons (MT), an increase of 18.3 percent from the previous month and an increase of 32.5 percent from January 2012. Total iron ore imports for 2013 were adjusted to 819,410,000 MT. January imports of steel scrap were 160,000 MT, down 48.4 percent from December and […]
Iron ore inventories in China are bloated with 100.91 million metric tons of ore now sitting at the 40 major ports in China. This number has grown since the 86 million metric tons reported prior to the beginning of the Chinese New Year in January. This growth continues despite a slowdown in the Chinese steel […]
Latin America steel producer Ternium reports net sales of $2.1 billion on 2.23 million tons of steel shipments and 994,000 tons of iron ore shipments in the fourth quarter 2013. Steel shipments were down 3 percent from third quarter but up 3.0 percent from fourth quarter 2012. Net income was $171.1 million, up from $136 […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) received an email from one of our readers regarding his concerns as the iron ore spot prices drop in China and ore inventories rise. The writers belief is that United States flat rolled steel prices will be impacted eventually. This service center executive wondered what our Asian iron ore and steel […]
In the month since this analysis was last published, the US dollar has strengthened against 12 of the 16 nations that we consider to be major players in either the iron ore market or in steel product trade or both. Most notably, the Russian Rouble and the South African Rand have declined by 4.7 percent […]
Andre Marshall of Crunch Risk, LLC shared the following information about iron ore and busheling futures trading for the past week. Iron Ore: As always traders make a big deal about the Chinese post New Year’s holiday making a big buying push upon their return, but it appears whatever buying has been done hasn’t been […]
Lourenco Goncalves, former CEO of Metals USA, is being nominated by Casablanca Capital, an activist fund, to replace James Kirsch as CEO of Cliffs Natural Resources. Casablanca has called for Cliffs to spin off its international ore business to shareholders and convert its North American assets to a master limited partnership (MLP). Casablanca Capital announced […]
Essar Steel Algoma posted a net loss of 38.6 million for the third quarter FY 2014, ending December 31, 2013, compared to a net loss of $25.1 million for third quarter FY 2013. Severe winter weather slowed incoming raw material shipments affecting production for the quarter. Steel shipments were 590,837 tons, down from 642,000 tons […]
On Monday, Steel Market Update revised our SMU Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral to Lower. The adjustment means we anticipate flat rolled steel prices will move lower over the next 30 to 60 days. At the time of the change, SMU benchmark hot rolled coil was published at $660 per ton. The last adjustment to […]
Steel analyst Charles Bradford of Bradford Research spoke at the Port of Tampa Steel Conference this past week. He presented a relatively upbeat analysis of the domestic steel industry. He began by referring to a recent McKinsey and Company report which basically said, “The steel industry has had it, it’s over. The industry doesn’t make […]
During the month of January we saw scrap prices rise $5 to $16 per gross ton compared to December 2013 pricing. Iron ore prices dropped on both 62% Fe and 58% Fe (spot prices are based on Chinese spot sales). Zinc and aluminum prices used to coat galvanized, Galvalume, Galfan, aluminized, ZAM both dropped by […]
During the month of January Steel Market Update (SMU) adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Higher to Neutral. Benchmark hot rolled prices averaged $673 per ton ($33.65/cwt) according to the Steel Market Update index. CRU posted their monthly average at $676 per ton ($33.80/cwt). You can find the balance of our weekly and monthly averages […]
The following HRC futures article is written by Andre Marshall, CEO of Crunchrisk, LLC and the instructor of our new Managing Price Risk 2 – Strategies & Execution workshop. Well the S+P 500 took a turn down starting Thursday and Friday of last week, dropping from 1850 down to a 1770 low yesterday. We have […]
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 by Steel Market Update at present is thirty six. The present situation of twelve of the indicators based on historical standards was positive on January 28th […]
US Steel reported a net loss of $122 million for the fourth quarter of 2013, compared to a Q3 net loss of $1,791 million and $50 million net loss in Q4 2012. The fourth quarter loss was due mostly to $302 million of charges related to the shutdown of the Hamilton steel making facility. Adjusted […]
HSBC Holdings and Markit released the preliminary (flash) Purchasing Managers’ Index this morning. The reading of 49.6 disappointed the financial markets as any reading below 50.0 indicates the Chinese manufacturing economy is contracting. Meanwhile, world benchmark iron ore spot prices have been falling over the past few weeks with The Steel Index (TSI) reporting 62% […]
HSBC Holdings and Markit released the preliminary (flash) Purchasing Managers’ Index this morning. The reading of 49.6 disappointed the financial markets as any reading below 50.0 indicates the Chinese manufacturing economy is contracting. Meanwhile, world benchmark iron ore spot prices have been falling over the past few weeks with The Steel Index (TSI) reporting 62% […]
Flat rolled steel prices (hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized & Galvalume steels) were mixed this week according to our ongoing flat rolled market survey as well as direct contacts with steel buyers. Prices were mixed as we saw slight improvement in hot rolled prices with an extension of the range. However, most of the price […]
Essar officials are working to find additional financing for the $1.7 billion Essar Steel Minnesota taconite plant under construction in Nashwauk, Minn. Construction of the plant has slowed with workers on the job reduced by more than half, down from an average of 150-200 to 74, according to reports by the Duluth News Tribune. The […]
The Chinese economy grew by 7.7 percent year-over-year (y/y) in the fourth quarter and by 7.7 percent in 2013 as a whole (Figure 1). The GDP growth rate has been in the range 7.4 percent to 7.9 percent for the last seven quarters. The Chinese economy is performing in line with the government’s goals at […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and The Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a forecast to the HARDI members located in the United […]
Financial Markets: The equities markets have stabilized after their reaction to the poor jobs number in December last week. The S+P closed at 1836 today, exactly 3 points higher than where I reported it last week. We are likely headed higher as it will take a lot more than a poor jobs report to scare […]
The Federal Reserve publishes a trade weighted index of the value of the US$ against a basket of the currencies of our major trading partners weekly and monthly. The H.10 weekly release contains daily rates of exchange of major foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar. The data are noon buying rates in New York for […]
Andre Marshall, CEO of Crunchrisk, LLC has the duties of outlining the hot rolled futures and busheling scrap futures markets for our readers (as well as taking a look at the financial markets, iron ore and commodities in general): On the March S+P future we closed at 1833, this is up from the 1806 level […]
Market sentiment in Asia is contrary to the United States. Finished steel sales have been very lackluster and slow. Main causes: • Exchange rates: US$ has been stronger recently, approximately 1.3-1.5% against most Asian currencies. This affect on exchange rates also is affecting Turkish buyers. On a currency exchange difference from 3 weeks ago, it […]
In the United States approximately 60 percent of the steel produced is through electric arc furnaces (EAF) used by so-called “mini-mills.” Electric arc furnaces use primarily scrap along with pig iron or DRI (direct reduced iron) to charge the furnaces. All of the long products (rebar, bar, angles, beams) are produced through EAF technology and […]
Chinese iron ore imports rose to 77,840,000 metric tons (MT) in November, a 14.8 percent increase over October tonnage. Compared to the same month one year ago, November imports were up 18.3 percent. Year-to-date (YTD) iron ore imports stood at 746,100,000 MT for the first 11 months of 2013. Steel scrap imports to China were […]
In the first half of 2013 the profit on one ton of steel sold in China was only 0.43 Yuan. At that rate, it took the sale of two tons to earn just enough money to buy an ice cream bar or Popsicle. A far cry from peak profits of 1000 Yuan per ton. The […]
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 at present is thirty six. The present situation of eleven of the indicators based on historical standards was positive on December 28, the same as on November […]
Australian ports Port Hedland, Dampier and Cape Lambert resumed operations on Wednesday after Cyclone Christine tore through the area. The cyclone shut down operations and shipments but caused only minor infrastructure damage. BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group and Rio Tinto reported all mines back in operation with no injuries to personnel. Only minor damage has […]