Steel market chatter this week
Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market chatter.
Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market chatter.
The steel market appears to be finding a new, higher normal with the shocks of the pandemic and the Ukraine in the rearview mirror. The good news: a more profitable and consolidated post-Covid US steel industry has been able to invest in operations. That includes efforts to decarbonize. The bad news: That “new normal” could be tested. Because it’s not just domestic sheet prices that have been volatile. Geopolitics are too.
Sheet prices varied this week. While hot-rolled (HR) coil pricing was largely flat, cold-rolled (CR) coil and tandem product pricing eased slightly reflecting the momentum shift seen last week for HR coil. SMU’s average HR coil price was flat from last week at $835 per short ton (st) – potentially emphasizing the tension between competing […]
Nucor said its spot hot-rolled (HR) coil price for the week of April 15 will be $835 per short ton (st), up $5/st from last week. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said the new price would be effective immediately in a letter to customers on Monday morning. The exception again is California Steel Industries (CSI), Nucor’s […]
Last week was a newsy one for the US sheet market. Nucor’s announcement that it would publish a weekly HR spot price was the talk of the town – whether that was in chatter among colleagues, at the Boy Scouts of America Metals Industry dinner, or in SMU’s latest market survey. Some think that it could Nucor's spot HR price could bring stability to notoriously volatile US sheet prices, according to SMU's latest steel market survey. Others think it’s too early to gauge its impact. And still others said they were leery of any attempt by producers to control prices.
Steel prices continued to ease lower in early March – a trend seen since mid-January – before showing signs of bottoming and inflecting up. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator for sheet products shifted from lower to neutral mid-way through the month after Nucor, Cleveland-Cliffs, and ArcelorMittal all targeted new base minimums between $825-840 per short […]
US hot-rolled (HR) coil has become increasingly more expensive than offshore hot band as stateside prices have moved higher at a sharper pace vs. imports.
Nucor made waves in the sheet market when it announced on Friday that it would begin publishing a weekly hot-rolled (HR) coil price. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker arguably made even bigger waves on Monday when it posted its first weekly HR number: $830 per short ton. That’s $70/st lower than the $900/st HR price Cliffs announced in late March. It’s also lower than prices in the mid-$800s that other mills were (less publicly) seeking.
Sheet prices saw a slight momentum shift this week after consecutive gains in the prior two weeks. Plate edged lower on greater competition off easing demand, according to our latest check of the steel market.
Cleveland-Cliffs and the Global Steel Climate Council (GSCC) are two of the newest members to join the World Steel Association (worldsteel).
Nucor said its new weekly hot-rolled coil spot price is not meant as a substitute for any current price indices.
Nucor said its spot hot-rolled (HR) coil price this week will be $830 per short ton (st).
Sheet prices continue to inch higher. That’s a welcome development for many. But it’s also a far cry from the price surge many predicted about a month ago. Remember the theory that supported a spring surge: Sheet prices would soar on a combination of mill outages, stable-to-strong demand, restocking, mill price increases, and (potentially) trade action against Mexico as well.
Nucor plans to publish a weekly spot price for hot-rolled (HR) coil beginning on Monday, April 8, according to a press release and letters to customers. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said its published HR price would be derived from “both quantitative and qualitative data” in the letter to customers on Thursday, April 4.
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market chatter.
Electra has commissioned a clean ironmaking pilot plant in Boulder, Colo.
Nucor has acquired Southwest Data Products (SWDP), a manufacturer and installer of data center infrastructure, for $115 million.
Nucor intends to keep plate prices unchanged with the open of its May order book, according to a letter to customers dated Thursday, March 28. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said the announcement would be effective with new orders received on Friday, March 29.
Cleveland-Cliffs aims to increase sheet prices by $60 per short ton (st) and is seeking a new target base for hot-rolled coil (HRC) of $900/st. That's according to a press release circulated on Wednesday morning, March 27.
Sheet prices reversed course and moved higher this week, while plate priced remained flat, according to our latest canvas of the market.
2024 started with a $200 per short ton (st), one-week demon drop in the CME Midwest hot-rolled (HR) coil futures. Then, HR futures consolidated in the low $800s/st with the April future trading to as low as $770/st as the curve shifted into contango or upward sloping. A big move was expected, and a big […]
US hot-rolled coil (HRC) remains more expensive than offshore hot band but continues to move closer to parity as prices decline further. The premium domestic product had over imports for roughly five months now remains near parity as tags abroad and stateside inch down.
Nucor has signed an agreement with Mercedes-Benz to supply the low-carbon steel Econiq-RE at the automaker’s Tuscaloosa, Ala., plant.
Sheet and plate prices mostly moved lower this week after little change was noted the week prior. Despite edging down, sentiment is mixed, and many suggest a bottom may be near.
Across industries and nations, it’s clear sustainability is the path towards the future. Moving ahead means creating dialogue and building bridges. For Nucor, building bridges means reaching out to new audiences. Actually, it also literally means soon building bridges from the plate made at its Brandenburg mill in Kentucky.
Flat Rolled = 56.6 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 58.8 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled After weaker-than-expected shipments in January, US service center shipments of flat-rolled steel picked up in February, which caused supply to decrease. At the end of February, service centers carried 56.6 shipping days of flat-rolled steel supply on an […]
Nucor said on Thursday afternoon it expects higher profits in the first quarter vs. the previous quarter but lower than a year earlier.
Sheet and plate prices were mostly flat this week – largely in response to the mill price blitz from last week – pausing the downtrend they’d been on for the better part of 2024.
What does it mean to be a domestic steelmaker in the 21st century? Of course, that idea is open to interpretation. The vibrancy of the US industry is a testament to that. Between integrateds, EAFs, how to approach decarbonization, downstream ventures, American innovation goes in many directions.
The US plate market has been largely quiet over the past week since Nucor’s $90-per-ton price cut at the close of February.