We are seeing the early signs of a market where flat rolled steel prices are either peaking or about to top out. Last week, I spoke about service center spot prices into their end customers. I mentioned that both the manufacturing companies, and the service centers themselves, were beginning to report spot prices as being […]
Just because all major U.S.-based steel mills have reported quarterly results doesn’t mean that earnings season is over. Results from mills based abroad are coming in. And those of you still paying attention to earnings might have noticed a change in tone between when Steel Dynamics kicked things off on July 19 and when Evraz […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Prices fell w/w in southern Europe and China but were stable in Asia and up somewhat in India. Prices in the U.S. again were the outlier this week, rising by three times as much as anywhere else. In fact, the differential between U.S. […]
Toronto-based Russel Metals, Canada’s second largest metals distributor, posted its best second-quarter earnings ever off strong market conditions, the company said. Driven by rising demand and constrained supply chains, pre-tax earnings totaled $178 million, up 38% from Q1 on sales of $1.07 billion. That compares to EBITDA of $32 million on sales of $588 million in […]
Olympic Steel reported record sales and the most profitable quarter in company history. The achievement in the service center’s second quarter was bolstered by exceptional market conditions and historically high metal prices, the company said. Driven by higher pricing, Olympic set a sales record for the second consecutive quarter, posting net sales of $556 million […]
Ryerson recorded its best quarterly profits since 2008 in the second quarter and expects the good times to continue into the third. “We’re not declaring an end to cyclicality in our industry, but noting strong secular growth underpinnings that have been supressed for a long time,” Ryerson President and CEO Eddie Lehner said during a […]
Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week shows no significant change in lead times for deliveries of spot orders from the mills. Average lead times for hot rolled orders remain above 10 weeks, while those for cold rolled and coated products are still above 12 weeks – at least twice as long as […]
Steel prices have moved steadily and predictably upward week after week for the past year. But Steel Market Update’s check of the market on Monday and Tuesday delivered some mixed signals for the first time since August of 2020. Hot rolled coil prices moved up again by another $30 per ton, falling just short of […]
Steel prices have moved steadily and predictably upward week after week for the past year. But Steel Market Update’s check of the market on Monday and Tuesday delivered some mixed signals for the first time since August of 2020. Hot rolled coil prices moved up again by another $30 per ton, falling just short of […]
New orders, production and employment grew in July despite a deceleration is supplier deliveries and growing backlogs, said the Institute for Supply Management in the July 2021 Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The Manufacturing PMI fell 1.1 percentage points in July to 59.5%, still above 50% and indicating expansion in the overall economy for the […]
Steel prices continued to climb through the month of July, now the 11th consecutive month prices have increased. Hot-rolled steel prices increased an average of $30 per ton ($1.50 per cwt) each week, with the SMU index averaging $1,860 per ton ($93 per cwt) as of last Tuesday. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator has remained unchanged since the […]
Some experts believe short supplies and record-high steel prices are nearing a tipping point with new steelmaking capacity soon to come online and loads of imports on the water headed this way. But that’s not the prevailing sentiment among the service center and manufacturing executives who responded to SMU’s questionnaire this week. While it may […]
The incentive to purchase hot rolled steel imports over steel produced domestically continues to grow, according to Steel Market Update’s latest foreign versus domestic hot rolled steel price comparison. As domestic prices soar higher, foreign prices are flat or declining, holding potential discounts of 11% to 27% after taking freight costs, trader margins and tariffs […]
Spot tons of flat rolled steel are still in short supply, report respondents to Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week. Any tons that are available command a rising premium. Flat rolled prices increased by another $10-40 per ton, with some reporting hot rolled offers as high as $1,900, though HRC saw a […]
Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week shows that lead times for deliveries of spot orders from the mills have shortened slightly on all flat rolled products. The dip of a half-week or less is not highly significant, however, as average lead times for hot rolled orders remain above 10 weeks, while those […]
This evening we published our SMU Mill Lead Times by Product analysis. I recently received a few questions on the subject: How do we gather our lead time data? Do we take into consideration the lead times being published by the individual domestic steel mills? How do we feel the information we report is indicative […]
Flat-rolled steel prices continue to shoot upward – with no signs of the summer doldrums, the chip shortage or fears of a correction blunting their momentum. U.S hot-rolled rolled coil prices now stand at $1,850 per ton ($92.50 per cwt), up $30 per ton from a week ago. Cold-rolled coil and galvanized base prices notched similar […]
Flat-rolled steel prices continue to shoot upward – with no signs of the summer doldrums, the chip shortage or fears of a correction blunting their momentum. U.S hot-rolled rolled coil prices now stand at $1,850 per ton ($92.50 per cwt), up $30 per ton from a week ago. Cold-rolled coil and galvanized base prices notched similar […]
Lobbying groups for steel consumers blasted a federal appeals court’s decision to uphold former President Donald Trump’s abrupt doubling of Section 232 tariffs on Turkey to 50%. The tariffs have already led to high prices, long lead times and shortages that have hurt downstream manufacturers, and the decision regarding Turkey could set a dangerous precedent by […]
Flat Rolled = 47.6 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 44 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled U.S. service center flat rolled inventories increased again in June, though service centers continue to report that they are unable to meet customer demand. At the end of June, service centers carried 47.6 shipping days of supply, up from the […]
Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of foreign and domestic steel prices shows a growing attraction for foreign imports across the board. After taking freight costs, trader margins and tariffs into consideration, foreign prices now hold potential discounts of 8% to 38%. The spread between domestic HRC and foreign imports has surged since late-May, reaching record highs in favor of foreign HRC producers in Far […]
Steel prices rose another $35-50 per ton this week with hot rolled and coated products surpassing notable new benchmarks of $1,800/$2,000. Steel Market Update’s canvass of the market this week puts the average HRC price at $1,820 per ton ($91/cwt) and galvanized at $2,030 ($101.5/cwt). Buyers continued to voice concerns about late mill shipments and […]
Big River Steel plans to take a week-long plant-wide maintenance outage in October at its mill in Osceola, Ark., a company spokeswoman confirmed. The planned outage, for normal preventative maintenance and mill reliability, is scheduled to start on Oct. 10, she said. The scheduled maintenance includes both electric-arc furnaces (EAFs)—with annual production capacity of 3.3 […]
So much for the summer doldrums. After a brief pause following Independence Day (and Canada Day), sheet prices have resumed their sharp upward trajectory. Hot-rolled coil prices are now over $1,800 per ton ($90 per cwt) while cold-rolled and galvanized base prices are above $2,000 per ton ($100 per cwt). If this pace of gains […]
You may be tired of reading about it, but there is no ignoring the question: When will hot rolled coil prices finally peak? So many livelihoods depend on the answer. Unfortunately, Steel Market Update survey data clearly shows that no one knows. Roughly one-third of those polled this week believe steel prices will have peaked […]
You may be tired of reading about it, but there is no ignoring the question: When will hot rolled coil prices finally peak? So many livelihoods depend on the answer. Unfortunately, Steel Market Update steel survey data clearly shows that no one knows. Roughly one-third of those polled this week believe hot rolled steel prices […]
U.S. industrial production, manufacturing and durable goods orders continue to show improvement from the coronavirus pandemic downturn, indicating a strengthening manufacturing sector. The health of the manufacturing economy has a direct bearing on the health of the steel industry. Note that some of the historical data below has been adjusted by the U.S. Census Bureau […]
SMU found no evidence of a summer lull in our latest check of the market. Sheet prices were flat or up in a post-holiday period that in prior years has seen them slip. Hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil prices were unchanged. Galvanized and Galvalume prices were up $25 per ton and $50 per ton, respectively. […]
SMU found no evidence of a summer lull in our latest check of the market. Sheet prices were flat or up in a post-holiday period that in prior years has seen them slip. Hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled coil prices were unchanged. Galvanized and Galvalume prices were up $25 per ton and $50 per ton, respectively. […]
U.S. steel product shipments rebounded in May, up 3.1% following a 7.1% decrease the month prior. Steel product shipments have been irregular from month to month since bottoming out in May 2020. The seesaw pattern over the past year is attributable to several factors including mill outages, factory curtailments and seasonal disruptions as the marketplace […]