Flat rolled lead times remained essentially unchanged from what we reported during the middle of December. Steel mill order books appear to be “good” without creating excessive anxiety at their customers. At the moment, we will call lead times as being not too short and not too long but, just about right… Since early Tuesday […]
Steel mills continue to feel comfortable when negotiating with their customers. We found that only one quarter of the steel buyers responding to our survey for this week reported the mills as willing to discuss the possibility of adjusting (lowering) steel spot prices. We found this to be consistent across all flat rolled products: hot […]
Global manufacturing reached a three year high in December, finishing out the year with the JPMorgan Global Manufacturing PMI at 52.7, up from 52.1 in November. After a flat first half, the second half of 2016 showed steady growth in the manufacturing sector. The December survey by IHS Markit indicates global manufacturing is growing at […]
Precision Metalforming Association members are looking forward to a spike in economic activity in the first quarter of 2017. The December 2016 survey of 115 metalforming companies in the U.S. and Canada shows 43 percent are expecting improved activity in the next three months, up from 21 percent in November. New orders are expected to […]
The engines are warming up and the expectation is for a better 2017 than 2016. The data we collected today was not significantly different than what we were seeing one week ago. Many mills are telling their customers they are on an “inquire only” basis when it comes to new spot orders. We are also […]
The data collected late last week and through the day today was spotty at best. However, we feel confident from the numbers we were able to collect to make some minor adjustments in our hot rolled and cold rolled indices. With the Holiday Week upon us SMU does not anticipate another round of price increases […]
Based on the results of the Steel Market Update flat rolled steel market trends analysis performed prior to the Holiday weekend steel mill lead times continue to be extended. The respondents to our survey reported on the amount of time it takes to get hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume produced from the time […]
There was little movement in the positions of the domestic steel makers when it came to their willingness to negotiate spot flat rolled steel prices this past week. Respondents to our final flat rolled steel market trends survey reported the steel mills as taking strong stances when it came to negotiating spot pricing on hot […]
Manufacturing surveys by the Federal Reserve Banks of Dallas and Richmond indicated that manufacturers are expecting positive business conditions in the first half of 2017. Activity is expected to be stronger in the Fifth District area than Texas but both regions see improvement conditions in the New Year. Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Manufacturing activity […]
When it comes to coated steels (galvanized and Galvalume) the domestic steel mills are beginning to collect prices above the “minimum” guidance number of $820 per ton ($41.00/cwt). We are seeing some of the mills, including some of the smaller conversion mills, collecting as much as $840 per ton base pricing plus extras ($42.00/cwt). Hot […]
Late last week the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) released service center shipment and inventories data for the United States and Canada. We published both a general recap and a more complex analysis of the data in Thursday and Sunday issues of SMU. Steel Market Update has a proprietary model that we apply against the […]
A note about the MSCI data and carbon flat rolled inventories. The MSCI reported hot rolled supplies on the floor of the U.S. steel mills as being 2.21 months supply. Cold rolled and coated supplies were under 2.0 months based on MSCI statistics. Cold rolled was reported to be 1.90 months supply and coated at […]
Steel buyers and executives associated with the service center industry are reporting to Steel Market Update that end users are accepting that we are in a higher priced flat rolled steel environment and most have placed their first quarter 2017 tons. The expectation is for the market to “pause” here due to the holidays which […]
We have an unusual hot rolled futures market article tonight which will be dealt with in two segments: First, we will have an article written by Andre Marshall of Crunch Risk, LLC as he deals with the financial markets (S&P 500), oil and copper and then he has some comments about an errant trade which […]
There are a number of players in the market that are overly concerned (in my opinion) about the restart of the USS Granite City hot strip mill (they are not yet restarting the two idled blast furnaces so they are not adding any new raw steel production into the market) and Mingo Junction (reported to […]
Flat rolled prices rose again this week according to Steel Market Update sources. Our hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume indices increased by $10 to $20 per ton and are very close to maximizing the increase announcements made two weeks ago. At that time the target was clearly set for $600 per ton hot […]
Last week Steel Market Update conducted one of our flat rolled steel market trends analysis. We invited just under 600 people to participate in our early December survey and we had 100+ responses. Based on these responses we derive our lead times, negotiations, Sentiment and many other trends that impact the flat rolled steel industry. […]
To date the domestic steel mills have announced four flat rolled price increases totaling a minimum of $140 per ton ($7.00/cwt) going back to October 21, 2016. As of today the U.S. steel mills are looking for base price levels on new orders to be placed for the 1st Quarter 2017 to be a minimum […]
Over the past four days Steel Market Update has been conducting one of our market trends surveys. The respondents to our queries have provided data indicating slightly longer lead times on hot rolled, cold rolled and Galvalume while galvanized lead times remained steady at mid-November levels. The lead times reported in this article are the […]
According to those participating in this week’s flat rolled steel market trends survey the domestic steel mills are taking a firm stance to price negotiations. Since the first price increase announcements were made in late October the percentage of steel buyers reporting the mills as willing to negotiate prices has dropped from a high of […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued their march higher after the 4th price increase announcement set the bar at $600 per ton for hot rolled and $820 per ton on cold rolled and coated steels. The total of the four increases is a “minimum” of $140 per ton going back to the first announcement made on […]
Manufacturing conditions improved across the globe in November, according to the latest JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI. The composite index rose to a 27 month high of 52.1, inching up slightly from 52.0 in October. Expansion was noted in 22 of the 30 nations covered under the global survey. New order growth was the strongest […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) spend the last 24 hours researching the flat rolled steel markets in an effort to come to a resolution on what the price spread is on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. We found about 90-95 percent of the buyers reporting the domestic steel mills as “firm” in their […]
Steel Market Update went out to a couple of hundred steel buyers and executives today as we probe for information about flat rolled steel prices. At the same time we asked questions about price direction and demand. Tonight we will cover price direction (prior to AM increase announcement) and on Thursday we will cover their […]
Twice per month Steel Market Update (SMU) conducts a survey of the flat rolled steel markets. We invite close to 600 people representing approximately 550 companies spread out around the United States and Canada. We concentrate on two main steel buying groups: manufacturing companies and service centers/wholesalers. Our most recent market trends analysis was completed […]
Every two weeks Steel Market Update publishes an analysis of flat rolled steel mill lead times by product. In our last newsletter we told our readers that those responding to our questionnaire just before Thanksgiving said hot rolled lead times were averaging 4.18 weeks from the time a new order is placed until the steel […]
This evening’s issue is a bit different than most Sunday evenings. With the Thanksgiving Holiday and most steel-related businesses being closed on Friday the amount of direct news was limited. We do have a couple of articles about new home sales. oil rigs and durable goods but, I spent a good portion of my 5 […]
Flat rolled steel prices continue to move as the steel buyers absorb the three increases announced by the domestic steel mills going back to October 21st. Most buyers are telling Steel Market Update that this week is relatively quiet due to the Thanksgiving Holiday but the mill remain steadfast in their resolve to garnish higher […]
Flat rolled steel lead times continued to move out (extend) according to those taking our flat rolled steel market trends survey which we began on Friday and concluded earlier today. Lead times are now more than one week longer than year ago levels as steel buyers have entered the market in response to the three […]
We are being a bit facetious when we tell steel buyers to “forget about it” when asked if the steel mills are willing to negotiate flat rolled steel prices. According to those taking our mid-November flat rolled steel market trends survey, the percent of buyers reporting the mills as willing to negotiate has dwindled from […]