Steel prices are showing some strength in the fourth quarter as mill lead times remain extended, competition from imports is minimal, inventories are near record lows and demand is maintaining momentum as the economy slowly recovers from COVID. Supplies remain tight as a strike, unplanned outages and planned maintenance are keeping mill capacity below normal […]
Steel Dynamics’ CEO Mark Millett was upbeat on the prospects for steel demand in the fourth quarter and beyond. “You can clearly see what is happening in the marketplace through one’s order book—ours is in pretty good shape,” said Millett. Flat rolled demand and momentum remain strong, inventories are at historical lows, imports continue to […]
I made a boo-boo when disclosing the date for Dr. Schultz doing one of our SMU Community Chat Webinars. The webinar will be on OCTOBER 28TH, not this Wednesday as was originally advertised. My apologies to those who were looking forward to listening to Dr. Schultz this week. I have information about the webinar a […]
Lead times for hot rolled steel now average longer than six weeks, and coated steel orders longer than eight weeks, as the mills remain busy in a market adjusting to business in a pandemic. Lead times are an indicator of steel demand—longer lead times indicate the mills have more orders to process and are less […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. David has over 20 years of trading experience in financial markets and has been active in the ferrous futures space for over eight years. You can learn more at www.thefeldstein.com or add him on twitter @TheFeldstein and on Instragram at #thefeldstein. Q3 U.S. […]
By CRU Analyst Estelle Tran, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service The spike in sheet purchasing activity pushed prices up $200 /s.ton over the last two months and mill lead times for HR coil over six weeks. Steel Market Update, which is owned by CRU, also reported CR and HDG coil lead times in the […]
Flat Rolled = 45 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 51.3 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Service center flat roll inventories fell significantly month on month as shipments increased and mill lead times extended. The SMU service center inventories data for September shows that service centers carried 45 shipping days of supply of flat […]
The benchmark price for hot rolled remained unchanged at around $650 per ton, according to Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week, even as the mills worked to collect the price increases announced earlier in the month. Other flat rolled products saw a modest increase. Begging the question: Is the upward price momentum […]
Leading pipe and tube producers have announced another price increase of $50 per ton, as the cost of the flat rolled used to make tubular products continues to increase and market conditions continue to tighten. Nucor Tubular Products informed customers Tuesday, Oct. 13, that prices will increase on new orders of HSS, pipe, mechanical and […]
Nucor Tubular Products led the pipe and tube manufacturers announcing a $50 per ton price increase this morning on HSS, pipe, mechanical and piling products. EXLTUBE advised they were following the Nucor lead and announced their fourth price increase on HSS and A53B products matching the Nucor $50 per ton. New orders for foreign steel […]
This week’s foreign vs domestic hot rolled steel price comparison shows that U.S-producers are moving closer to losing their price advantage over foreign imports, according to SMU and CRU indices released this week. The price differentials between domestic HRC compared to foreign imports had widened through mid-August to reach record highs, but have since declined […]
Steel buyers have mixed views on the sustainability of steel demand and the likelihood the mills will continue to collect higher prices. In our latest check of the market, SMU asked: Do you think the mills will be able to collect the price increases they announced last week on flat rolled and plate products? Do […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Hot Rolled Hot rolled spot prices have risen sharply in the last month in step with mill lead times that have moved […]
I have been communicating with Mark Bush, CEO of JSW Steel USA, regarding their Mingo Junction steel plant. The plant has been down since late July as the company reacted to “unforeseeable business circumstances in connection with the current COVID-19 pandemic….” The plant has been rumored to begin operations in February 2021. SMU reached out […]
Flat rolled steel prices saw a big jump this week nearly equivalent to the $50 per ton increase announced by the mills last week. Steel Market Update’s latest check of the market puts the current benchmark price for hot rolled at $650 per ton. The mills also announced price increases on plate last week, with […]
The tightness of the flat rolled steel market, and when that tightness might dissipate, are topics being actively discussed within the industry. Lead times are already into January at some mills, slabs are limited to the converters who were buying from Brazil, maintenance schedules are pushing lead times, and demand is up whether from rising […]
On Thursday, Steel Market Update produced an article on lead times with the headline, “Steel Mill Lead Times: Mixed Messages.” The lead times being discussed in the article come from our proprietary survey, which is produced every other week. The lead times are based on the average from the manufacturing companies and steel service centers […]
On Thursday, Steel Market Update produced an article on lead times with the headline, “Steel Mill Lead Times: Mixed Messages.” The lead times being discussed in the article come from our proprietary survey, which is produced every other week. The lead times are based on the average from the manufacturing companies and steel service centers […]
Global manufacturing continued its road to recovery in September. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI rose to a 25-month high of 52.3 from 51.8 in August, for a third consecutive month of expansion. All of the index components were solidly above the 50 neutral point except for employment, which posted a PMI of 49.5. A […]
With steel mills currently having extended mill lead times, steel buyers need to be cognizant of their inventories. If one has two months of inventory and the mills are running seven-week lead times on your products, then you need to be concerned should lead times move out even further. If you are an active buyer […]
With steel mills currently having extended mill lead times, steel buyers need to be cognizant of their inventories. If one has two months of inventory and the mills are running seven-week lead times on your products, then you need to be concerned should lead times move out even further. If you are an active buyer […]
Lead times for spot orders of hot rolled and Galvalume steels continued to lengthen a bit over the past two weeks, while lead times for cold rolled, galvanized and plate products were flat to slightly lower. Lead times for hot rolled now average more than five and a half weeks, cold rolled more than seven […]
Recovery, fundamental, opportunity, strategic, exciting. These are the five words steel executives used during AIST’s Virtual Town Hall Forum Wednesday to describe the current state of steel. In the aftermath of an unprecedented upheaval for the economy and the industry caused by the COVID-19 crisis, executives from Big River Steel, Cleveland-Cliffs, Nucor, Steel Dynamics and […]
The manufacturing sector grew again in September, indicating a fifth month of expansion for the economy, according to the latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The September PMI registered 55.4 percent, down 0.6 percent from August. “Manufacturing performed well in the month with demand, consumption and inputs registering growth indicative of a normal expansion cycle,” […]
Mill lead times are extended, price increase announcements are being made (with ArcelorMittal USA putting a minimum base price on hot rolled out there of $650 per ton and cold rolled and coated at $850 per ton) and mills are holding the line on spot negotiations. Momentum is clearly on the side of the steel […]
Steel prices continue to see some upward momentum as flat rolled and plate prices rose by another $5-15 per ton, according to Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week. The mills announced further $40-50 price hikes on plate on Monday and Tuesday in hopes of sustaining that momentum. Here is how we see […]
The following comments were made by an importer of European steel as SMU was updated on their view of the industries they service in the United States. SMU thought the comments provide an interesting perspective for our readers: “Auto has been coming back strong. I don’t see the impact on the domestic mills, but I […]
From one of our SMU readers to John Packard, President & CEO of Steel Market Update, “Welcome back… Regarding steel, wow. What a difference a month (or, a month and half) makes!” A second reader told us, “Market pricing and lead-times have moved aggressively…and rapidly. Many are finding themselves too late to the party.” It […]
This week’s comparison of foreign and domestic hot rolled prices shows that the large price advantage held by U.S-producers over foreign imports is rapidly loosing steam, according to the latest SMU and CRU indices. The price differentials between domestic HRC compared to foreign imports had widened over the last few months to reach record highs […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary and found in CRU’s Zinc Monitor US steel mills have reportedly been taking more refined zinc over the past few weeks and the outlook for Q4 is looking slightly more positive according to market contacts. There have been suggestions that the uptick in spot demand from mills could be […]