Steel service centers in the United States shipped a total of 3,378,700 tons of steel (all products) during the month of August, according to data just released by the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI). The daily shipment rate improved by 1,000 tons per day during August compared to July as the distributors shipped 146,900 tons […]
Canadian steel service centers shipped a total of 364,800 tons of steel products during the month of August. Compared to the previous year shipments were 6.1 percent lower and the 364,800 ton level was the second lowest shipping month this calendar year (July was the lowest at 318,700 tons). Year to date the Canadian distributors […]
Nucor Corporation announced today that it has agreed to acquire Independence Tube Corporation (ITC), a leading independent manufacturer of hollow structural section (HSS) steel tubing, for $435 million, or approximately 6x average EBITDA over the 2013-2015 period. “Independence Tube is a natural fit with Nucor. Their business model is similar to ours with extremely efficient […]
The following analysis of the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) shipping and inventories data is what is normally shared with our Premium level members. Carbon steel shipments increased by 436,300 tons in August and almost reversed the decline of 443,300 in July. These gyrations are mostly driven by the number of shipping days in the […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued to fall by double digits this past week on all of the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. As the pace of the slide has accelerated the spread between the indexes have increased. We have seen this same phenomena in the past which is caused by the differences in […]
Friday, the Department of Commerce announced its affirmative preliminary determinations in the antidumping investigations of imports of certain carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate (CTL plate) from Brazil, South Africa, and Turkey. CTL plate is a flat-rolled carbon and alloy steel product that is 4.75 mm or more in thickness and that has a defined […]
Nucor expects higher earnings in third quarter compared to second quarter due to improved performance at its raw materials division and steel mills. In its third quarter guidance, Nucor said higher average selling prices that have benefited in part from contract sales priced on a lagging quarterly basis would improve profitability of the company’s sheet […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued their move lower with Platts taking their hot rolled and cold rolled averages down by $10 and $25 per ton, respectively. Steel Market Update (SMU) did not move our hot rolled and cold rolled prices on Tuesday of last week but we did make minor adjustments to galvanized and Galvalume […]
Essar Steel Algoma will lay off 300-330 personnel during a maintenance shutdown of the plate and strip complex this week, said Brenda Stenta, manager of corporate relations for Algoma. The layoffs are only temporary and employees should return to work after about a week. The maintenance shutdown coincides with a weakness in the plate market […]
Licensed data for August was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on September 6th. An explanation of the methodology that we at SMU use to analyze the trade data is given at the end of this piece. Total rolled product licensed imports in the single month of August were […]
The Department of Commerce announced an affirmative preliminary determination in the countervailing duty investigation of cut-to-length steel plate from China but a negative determination in the CVD investigation of imports of CTL plate from Korea. Exporter and producers in the China investigation received subsidy rates of 210.5 percent based on available adverse facts (they did […]
July steel exports totaled 738,096 net tons (669,590 metric tons), down 9.0 percent over June and down 9.2 percent from July 2015. Total July figures are below the thee month moving average (average of May, June, and July 2016 figures) ans below the twelve month moving average (average of August 2015 through July 2016 data). […]
Flat rolled steel prices moved lower last week according to the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Our own index saw hot rolled down $30 per ton, cold rolled as being down $10 per ton, galvanized down $20 per ton and Galvalume down $20 per ton. Platts saw their hot rolled average as being […]
Essar Steel Algoma issued layoff notices to approximately 70-85 employees just before the Labor Day weekend citing low demand and pricing for steel plate. Plate demand is down in the energy, rail and agricultural markets and is coupled with prices below hot-rolled coil due to low priced and dumped imports. Said Brenda Stenta, spokesperson for […]
Flat rolled prices dropped for yet another week with benchmark hot rolled coil moving below the $600 per ton mark. The three indexes SMU follows had hot rolled coil averaging $590 to $598 per ton. SMU understands there are offers for HRC out there at the $570 level and potentially less than that for large […]
Last week the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) reported shipments and inventories for the month of July. We produced an article that normally goes to our Premium level members only last week but, one of our clients requested that we produce the report in the format we normally use for our Executive level members. Here […]
Olympic Steel, a leading national metals service center, announced the promotion of Andrew Greiff to Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Office, as of August 19, 2016. Greiff joined Olympic Steel in 2009 and was promoted to President, Specialty Metals in 2011. In that role he managed sales and distribution of stainless steel and aluminum […]
The pace of the slippage in flat rolled prices accelerated this past week with many products being reported down $10 per ton or more by the indexes followed by SMU. Benchmark hot rolled was reported to be $15 per ton lower by Platts at $590 per ton while SMU had it down $5 to $595 […]
Canadian shipments for all steel products in the month of July were 318,700 net tons, a decrease of 14.8 percent from the month before and a decrease of 14.9 percent from July 2015. Inventories at the end of the month stood at 1,100,800 tons, down 1.8 percent from last month and down 25.6 percent from […]
We normally reserve our expanded service center data analysis for our Premium members but felt this would be a good piece to share with all of our members. Based on Steel Market Update (SMU) analysis of the recently released MSCI service center inventory and shipment data, total service center carbon steel shipments declined by 443,300 […]
China has issued a new policy that outlines steps it will take to address overcapacity in major industrial areas. The report focuses on adherence to market rules and environmental and energy guidelines with punishment for those who fail to meet governmental standards. China has pledged to reduce overcapacity by 2020 in the iron and steel, […]
Flat rolled steel prices slipped across the board this past week as the domestic steel mills became more aggressive in order to finish filling their August order books (hot rolled) as well as September (cold rolled and coated). For the first time in many months, Steel Market Update adjusted our hot rolled and cold rolled […]
Another round of antidumping duties was imposed on hot rolled steel products on Tuesday, August 9, but this time from the Commerce Ministry of India. India slapped duties of hot rolled flat products of alloy or non-alloy steel from China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia. The duties range between $474-557 per tonne. Duties of […]
We thought now would be a good time to revisit each of the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty trade suits associated with flat rolled steel or plate to report exactly where each one stands at this time. We are reaching the point where most will be through the entire process with the last step being […]
We saw minor erosion in hot rolled prices this past week according to the steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. Both our own index as well as Platts dropped their HRC average by $5 per ton. As of the end of last week Steel Market Update was showing hot rolled as averaging $610 per […]
SMU Sources are advising us that obsolete grades of ferrous scrap are trading sideways (prices remaining the same as last month) while prime grades move lower by $10 to $15 per gross ton in the Chicago, Ohio Valley, Detroit and Indiana markets. Prior to negotiations beginning, the expectation was for obsolete grades to remain intact […]
NLMK USA flat steel product sales grew by 11 percent in second quarter 2016. Sales for the first half of 2016 were up 9 percent to 1 million tonnes (1.2 million net tons). One hundred percent of NLMK USA products are sold domestically to the processing, pipe, and automotive industries. North American sales for second […]
Olympic Steel announced net income of $3.6 million in the second quarter 2016, up substantially from the $22.3 million loss in Q2 2015. Consolidated net sales for the quarter were $273.6 million. Second quarter shipments of carbon flat products totaled 272,000 tons, up 2 percent from first quarter, and 2 percent below Q2 2015. Net […]
Flat rolled steel prices are relatively stable for yet another week according to the various steel indexes followed by Steel Market Update. SMU took two items slightly lower: cold rolled ($815/ton) and Galvanized .060” G90 ($880/ton). SteelBenchmarker, who only reports prices twice per month, saw hot rolled down $4/ton ($624/ton) and cold rolled was off […]
SSAB Americas results in improve in second quarter due to higher volumes and prices. Sales were SEK 2.8 billion ($323 million) compared to SEK 2.4 billion ($277 million) in first quarter. Shipments improved 11 percent to 526,000 tonnes from 475,000 tonnes in Q1. The company reports good demand from steel service centers and the wind […]