Flat rolled prices were mixed this week as the domestic steel mills announced their $30 per ton price increase and steel buyers placed whatever orders they were allowed to under the existing pricing agreements. We saw a tightening of the range on hot rolled while cold rolled was unchanged, galvanized was down $5 per ton, […]
Over the course of the day today (Tuesday, June 6, 2017) Steel Market Update (SMU) spent time communicating with top executives at some of the largest flat rolled steel service centers in the United States about the steel price increase announcements and about the market as it exists right now. Four service center presidents responded […]
On Friday of this past week flat rolled steel buyers were lighting up the Steel Market Update inbox with questions or comments about a potential flat rolled steel price increase to be announced as early as Monday of this week. Steel buyers and executives associated with the service centers were telling SMU that Nucor is […]
Global manufacturing was at a six month low in May according the latest JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI. The composite index inched down to 52.6 from 52.7 in April. Developed nations showed solid steady expansion in manufacturing while growth in emerging nations was nearly flat. The PMI for the U.S. was at an 8 month […]
Flat rolled prices continued their skid despite the Memorial Day Holiday. Prices were lower by $5 to $15 per ton depending on product. Steel buyers continue to be concerned about the direction of prices and how long this downward spiral will last. We have more on the comments received today as we canvassed both end […]
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: Steel Flattening of HR futures curve due to decline in nearby futures prices generates heavy trading. It has been an active week […]
“There’s been further erosion with EAF’s dropping spot to $570-$580, not necessarily tied to volume,” is what one large service center told us this afternoon. “[I am] afraid this market at risk of bigger drops than was anticipated.” Flat rolled price averages were lower across all products followed by Steel Market Update with the exception […]
Flat rolled steel distributors are reporting to Steel Market Update (SMU) that their inventories are balanced to slightly over-stocked and there is minimal need to build carbon sheet inventories from here. At the end of March the MSCI reported flat rolled steel inventories at 1.82 month’s supply. Last week the MSCI reported end of April […]
The Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity showed shipments and new orders fell significantly in May pulling the composite index down to 1 from 20 in April. The index for backlogs decreased to -15 from 4 in April and vendor lead times increased to an index reading of 6 from 2. The finished goods inventory […]
Flat rolled lead times have been shrinking over the past eight weeks according to the results of this week’s SMU Flat Rolled Steel Market Trends questionnaire. Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel are reporting shorter lead times than what we measured at the beginning of May and lead times on all products are much […]
Since early Monday morning of this week, Steel Market Update (SMU) has been conducting an inquiry into the flat rolled steel markets. We discovered lead times have shrunk which usually relates to lower steel prices and more willingness by the domestic steel mills to negotiate spot prices being offered into the market. SMU inquired on […]
Earlier today, Steel Market Update (SMU) adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral to Lower. Flat rolled prices have been slowly dropping for more than a month and it does not appear there is anything that is going to stop the leak from continuing, at least not over the next 30 days. Flat rolled steel […]
In a move that has been building over the past few weeks, today Steel Market Update (SMU) is moving our Price Momentum Indicator to Lower from Neutral. Our belief at this point is flat rolled steel prices will continue their drift lower over the next 30-60 days as we approach what many in the steel […]
HVAC wholesalers reported despite “good” demand they are seeing ultra-competitive conditions on the sales of galvanized steel they are attempting to sell into the HVAC (heating, ventilation, air-conditioning) markets. Steel Market Update participates in a monthly steel conference call hosted by HARDI (Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International) for their member companies. The HARDI conference […]
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: Steel We have seen some evidence late this week of participants “buying the dips” in what has been a rather thin and […]
We saw mixed results this week with two products moving lower (hot rolled and galvanized), two remained the same (cold rolled and Galvalume), and plate prices rose a modest $5 per ton. Here is how we see prices this week: Hot Rolled Coil: SMU price range is $580-$640 per ton ($29.00/cwt-$32.00/cwt) with an average of […]
Lately, Steel Market Update (SMU) has been hearing the word “risk” bantered about by many within the steel industry. In Steel Market Update’s opinion, how one perceives the risks associated with buy and sell decisions is one of the factors determining the direction of flat rolled steel prices. which at this time are moving lower. […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has been struggling to make sense of the most recent carbon flat rolled inventory numbers for service centers. What we learned from the MSCI did not match the conversations we were having with service center steel buyers across the country. SMU has been working on ways to provide a separate and […]
Flat rolled steel lead times are running essentially flat (same as what we have been reporting over the past few weeks) based on the responses we received from manufacturing companies and service centers this week. Lead time is the amount of time it takes a domestic steel mill to produce a new order if placed […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has been conducting one of our flat rolled steel market trends surveys this week. According to those responding to our questionnaire, steel mill resistance to holding firm on flat rolled steel spot prices is in free fall. A very large portion of our respondents reported mills as willing to negotiate on […]
Ryerson Holding Corporation, a distributor and value-added processor of industrial metals, reported net income of $14.8 million in first quarter 2017 on revenue of $814.5 million. Increased shipment volume combined with higher selling prices led to strong results for the quarter. Total tons shipped were 497,000 compared to 440,000 tons in first quarter and 478,000 […]
From Steel Market Update perspective the past week was fairly quiet and we did not find any huge changes in prices from what we had reported one week ago. We have a flat rolled steel market trends survey in process right now and a portion of our indices are based on the approximately 100 companies […]
For a number of weeks now (?) Steel Market Update has had our Price Momentum Indicator pointing toward Neutral as opposed to Higher or Lower. Over the past couple of weeks flat rolled prices have been coming off their highs and yet SMU continues to keep our Price Momentum Indicator at Neutral. What gives? Why […]
US Steel stunned analysts and the financial community on Tuesday/Wednesday when the company announced a large loss when the street was expecting the company to make money. During the conference call the mill advised that they essentially need to upgrade their facilities in order for the company to remain competitive. The stock price dropped 25 […]
We have an unusual market. What Steel Market Update is seeing is confidence by most of the steel mills. They feel there may be some minor adjustments in spot pricing as a few mills jockey to maintain their order books. At the same time, most steel buyers are being supportive of the price levels we […]
Over the course of the last four days Steel Market Update (SMU) has been conducting our mid-April flat rolled steel market trends analysis. We finished earlier this afternoon and we are providing the results of some of our findings to our readers this evening. Lead times, which is the length of time it takes to […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel associated with manufacturing companies and service centers are reporting the steel mills as being more willing to negotiate flat rolled steel spot prices. Based on the responses from those taking our survey, 59 percent reported the domestic steel mills as willing to negotiate hot rolled prices, 76 percent […]
The debate these days seems to be centered around how much inventory is really out there, how much is incoming (especially from foreign sources) and how much flat rolled will buyers need to buy come this summer? Earlier today I asked a small steel mill if they believed the low coated inventories (1.65 months) according […]
Steel Market Update is asked many times where we think flat rolled steel prices are heading. Our current SMU Price Momentum Indicator is at “Neutral” which means we believe the market to be in transition and, prices could move in either direction from this point. We adjusted our indicator just recently from Higher to Neutral […]
Flat rolled prices were essentially unchanged this week with the exception of hot rolled coil which seems to have a few more “legs” in the product due to an improving energy market and limited foreign steel imports. The pressure on HRC right now is coming from the two new players: Big River Steel and Acero […]