Despite the ongoing delay in Washington, six of 10 respondents to SMU’s latest flat roll market trends questionnaire believe the Trump administration will eventually put new restrictions on foreign steel imports based on Section 232 national security concerns. Even more, 74 percent, believe the slowdown in the Section 232 decision is opening the door to […]
SSAB Americas announced a $40 per ton price increase on non-contract plate orders, effective Oct. 1. The increase will apply to as-rolled mill plate, cut-to-length plate >72”, hot rolled >72”, as well as normalized and quenched & tempered plate. “SSAB continues to monitor market conditions in order to better realize the value our products bring […]
Service center shipments took the normal dip in July, but the decline was slightly more than the historical average. Months on hand at the end of July were up sharply, partly because of a decline in shipping days, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Metals Service Center Institute data. Daily shipments in July […]
Steel buyers and sellers reported mills slightly more open to steel price discussions, based on responses this week from Steel Market Update’s flat rolled market trends questionnaire, possibly reflecting the seasonal slowdown in sales activity. What makes the results collected on mills willingness to negotiate pricing especially interesting is the domestic steel mills began announcing […]
Flat rolled steel prices slipped over the past week just as the domestic steel mills began to announce new price increases. Were the increases in reaction to the slippage? Were they in response to new higher scrap costs for August delivery? Most likely, it was a combination of both. We found the spread widening on […]
Based on the Metals Service Center Institute’s (MSCI) July metals activity report, carbon flat rolled inventories rose in July while the daily shipment rate dropped resulting in an increase in the number of months’ supply being held at flat rolled steel service centers. Total Steel Shipments Total shipments of all steel products equaled 2,960,700 net […]
Nucor’s Plate Group announced a $30 price increase on Aug. 14, citing escalating raw material and input costs. Nucor will increase transaction prices on all new orders for carbon, alloy and heat-treated plate by $30 per ton, effective immediately. Plate distributors responding to SMU’s request for comment are generally supportive of Nucor’s move. “The plate […]
Steel shipments by Canadian service centers in July totaled 346,500 net tons, down 11.7 percent from the previous month, but up 8.7 percent from July 2016, reports the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI). On a daily basis, total shipments were 17,300 tons per day in July (a 20-day month), down from 17,800 tons per day […]
Nucor’s Plate Group announced a $30 price increase today due to escalating raw material and input costs. Nucor will increase transaction prices on all new orders for carbon, alloy and heat-treated plate by $30 per ton, effective immediately, the steelmaker said.
Based on the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update (SMU), there were some very minor changes to hot rolled and cold rolled prices this past week, while coated products were unchanged and plate products fell. Both Platts and SMU had hot rolled falling by $5 per ton with both indexes reporting the HRC average […]
U.S. steel exports in June totaled 910,988 net tons (826,435 metric tons), down 9.5 percent over May, but up 12.3 percent from June 2016. Although down over last month, total June exports are in line with the average monthly level over the last few months. Back in May, total exports had climbed to 1,006,087 tons, […]
Flat rolled steel prices remained range-bound on most items for yet another week. We picked up a couple of points of weakness in coated products, but they seem to be isolated in nature. Many of the steel buyers are reporting the mills (especially Nucor) are talking up the idea of a price increase on flat […]
China domestic demand is driving a tandem rise in iron ore and steel pricing. Iron ore prices are at their highest level since April as Chinese steel producers gobble ore to take advantage of high margins and surging summer steel prices. Although China is ahead of its target for reducing steel capacity this year, Chinese […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices were essentially flat this past week as both Steel Market Update and Platts saw hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steel prices remaining the same as the previous week. With Section 232 being put on the back burner, the flood of foreign steel imports (prompted by the original […]
Ryerson Holding Corp. turned in a strong performance in Q2 despite conflicting business and industry conditions, said President and CEO Eddie Lehner. Margins took a hit as steel import levels rose and nickel and carbon hot rolled prices moved lower. “Ryerson saw some mix-shift impact to margins,” said Lehner, “as sheet and stainless related demand […]
Flat rolled lead times have seen little change in the past month. Twice per month, Steel Market Update conducts an analysis of the flat rolled sheet and plate markets based on responses to a comprehensive questionnaire. When looking at lead times, the analysis is restricted to responses from manufacturers and distributors, who accounted for 84 […]
Total imports of rolled steel increased by 16.9 percent, and sheet products by 18.4 percent, in the three months through July, compared with the prior three months, according to final license data for July released by the U.S. Commerce Department on Aug. 1. The three-month moving average (3MMA) of the total volume of rolled product […]
Steel Market Update has seen a bit of a yo-yo effect to flat rolled and plate steel prices over the past few weeks. Since the word got out that the Section 232 decision would not be announced any time soon, the market has taken a step back to evaluate where prices will go from here. […]
Written by: John Packard, Founder, Steel Market Update Steel Market Update was incorporated and began selling subscriptions (memberships) of just our steel newsletter during August 2008. Today, we are celebrating our ninth birthday. I want to take a moment to thank our members and those who participate in our conference and workshops. I want to […]
Written by: John Packard, Founder, Steel Market Update Steel Market Update was incorporated and began selling subscriptions (memberships) of just our steel newsletter during August 2008. Today, we are celebrating our ninth birthday. I want to take a moment to thank our members and those who participate in our conference and workshops. I want to […]
Flat rolled steel price averages rose on all three indexes followed by Steel Market Update (SMU) this past week. Hot rolled has become the “hottest” product recently, according to steel buyers contacted by SMU during the week. Benchmark HRC rose to $625 per ton on Platts, as well as our own index. SteelBenchmarker, which only […]
Foreign steel imports continue to trend well over the 3.0 million net tons mark as steel buyers placed heavy tonnage once the Section 232 investigation was announced in March (March orders = June/July delivery). The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) released preliminary census for June and license data for July earlier this evening. According to […]
We asked trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz what impact there would be on the Section 232 investigation and timing for decisions based on the comments made by President Trump of a delay in the process. Here is what Leibowitz told us earlier today: On Tuesday, July 25, President Trump revealed that he will indefinitely postpone a […]
Steel buyers reported the domestic steel mills as being somewhat more receptive to moving prices early this week compared to where they were at the end of this past week. The result being we did see prices rising on all sheet products. One mill told us earlier today about their coated products order book, “Hanging […]
Last week, the MSCI reported carbon flat rolled inventories as being 1.9 months of supply as of the end of June 2017. Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted a detailed analysis of steel service center inventories last week via our survey and our results had flat rolled inventories as averaging 2.3 months. The data provided in […]
After the market closed on Friday, July 21, 2017, AK Steel became the fourth eastern flat rolled steel mill to raise prices on hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steels. In a very short statement, which can be found in the “news” section of the mill’s website, AK told customers, “AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) said […]
The week ending July 21 was another mixed week for flat rolled steel and plate prices. Steel Market Update (SMU) steel price indices saw two products as being higher, two lower and one unchanged. Platts had two higher and one lower. SteelBenchmarker did not report prices this week as they only report twice per month. […]
Twice per month, Steel Market Update (SMU) conducts a detailed analysis of the flat rolled steel market. We invite 650 individuals representing approximately 625 different companies to participate by taking an online questionnaire. The questions cover a wide variety of topics that are germane to their unique industry segment. The two main groups asked to […]
Flat rolled lead times remain flat compared to what we reported for early July, as well as one month ago. Twice per month, Steel Market Update conducts an analysis of the flat rolled sheet and plate markets. This is done through the use of a comprehensive questionnaire focused on manufacturing companies and service centers, which […]
Nucor CEO John Ferriola said that in the current challenging environment, he is encouraged by second-quarter results, but not satisfied. Illegally traded imports continue to be a problem in the United States for Nucor and the domestic steel industry, Ferriola said during the company’s second-quarter conference call. He cited a 15 percent year-over-year increase in […]