Nucor Corp. announced that its plate mill group would cut prices for as-rolled, discrete, and normalized plate with the opening of its March order book. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said in a letter to customers on Tuesday, Jan. 30, that tags would be lowered by $50 per short ton (st) to $1,380/st.
Sheet prices were mixed this week, with hot-rolled (HR) coil unchanged but cold-rolled and coated prices down.
Nucor is optimistic about long-term activity from bridges and highways, semiconductor chip plants and renewable energy, but still sees some short-term challenges. The North Carolina-headquartered steelmaker expects the federal programs that support these megatrends “to add somewhere between 5 million to 8 million tons of incremental annual demand for steel over the next several years,” […]
Algoma Steel is currently navigating a challenge as it deals with an unplanned outage at its blast furnace, but the company’s CEO is still bullish on its future as an EAF steelmaker.
Nucor Corp. reported a decline in profits during the fourth quarter due to lower pricing and volumes.
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What's being talked about in the US steel market this week?
Domestic sheet prices slipped again this week, marking the first week of consecutive declines for hot-rolled (HR) coil since September. SMU’s HR price now stands at $1,000 per short ton (st) on average, down $25/st from last week and down $45/st from the start of the year.
Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Algoma Steel said its blast furnace could be down for approximately two weeks following an incident at its coke batteries over the weekend. “We expect some impact on shipments, the extent of which will depend on the timeline to resume blast furnace operations,” the Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based company said
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The premium plate has held over hot-rolled coil (HRC) has been narrowing but remains elevated compared to historical levels.
The slipping lead times for flat-rolled steel were not just due to the holiday slowdown, it seems, as production times for four out of five products contracted again this week.
Domestic buyers of steel sheet said mills were much more willing to negotiate spot pricing this week, according to our most recent survey data.
US steel exports were flat from October to November, but November took the prize for the fewest monthly exports year to date in 2023.
US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices fell noticeably this week for the first time since late September. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price now stands at $1,025 per ton on average, down $25 per ton from last week. Cold-rolled (CR) coil was unchanged at $1,325 per ton.
US service center flat-rolled steel inventories surged in December with the seasonal slowdown in shipments. At the end of December, service centers carried 64.8 shipping days of supply, according to adjusted SMU data, up from 54 days in November.
The LME three-month price was moving down again on the morning of Jan. 12 and was last seen trading at $2,215 per metric ton (mt). We expect a test of the $2,200/mt support to be imminent. A break would be bearish as it could mean a complete reversal of the gains seen in December, although we still estimate that as being unlikely.
For two consecutive months, the initial scrap prices didn’t attract the amount of scrap that mills needed. A Detroit area mill came in at $460 per gross ton (gt) for busheling, which was down $50 from last month and down $20 on shredded and plate and structurals (P&S). But I guess they did not know at the time another mill in the district bought scrap sideways. Needless to say, that order filled right away. SMU could not find any supplier who sold at down $50.
SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects this past week, including inventory, demand, steel sheet prices, imports, and what people are talking about in today’s marketplace. Rather than summarizing the comments we received, we are sharing some of them in each buyer’s own words. We’d like to hear your thoughts, too! Contact david@steelmarketupdate.com to be […]
I expected that we’d start off January with prime scrap prices modestly up if for no other reason than industrial activity typically slows down over the holidays. And mills’ appetite for scrap typically increases in anticipation of stronger Q1 order activity.
Hot-rolled (HR) coil prices remain in the holding pattern they've been in since mid-December, according to SMU pricing archives.
Steel prices continued to move higher last month on the back of repeated mill price increases after tags reached a 2023 low of $645 per ton in late September. Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices ended December at an average of $1,035 per ton ($51.75 per cwt), rising by $112 per ton during the month.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) held a hearing on Thursday, Jan. 4, to consider arguments for and against the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVDs) on tin mill products from a handful of countries. Both sides made compelling arguments.
The LME aluminum 3-month price was moving further down on the morning of Jan. 5 and was last seen trading at $2,287 per metric ton (mt) as of this article’s writing, already down 6% from its recent peak. SHFE cash also concluded the first week of the year on a weaker foot. The cash contract […]
Steel mill lead times pulled back across the board this week but are still said to be at healthy levels, according to SMU's market survey this week.
The percentage of steel buyers saying mills were willing to negotiate spot pricing on the products SMU surveys was mixed this week.
Sheet prices were mixed in SMU’s first assessment of the market in the New Year.
Nucor Corp. announced in a letter to customers on Friday, Dec. 29, that its plate mill group would hold prices unchanged for as-rolled discrete plate, normalized, and quenched-and-tempered plate with the opening of its plate mill order book for February.
November’s preliminary count shows US imports falling, but to a lesser degree than an earlier license count had suggested, according to the latest government figures.
All of the products SMU surveys notched an increase in the percentage of buyers saying mills were willing to negotiate spot pricing, with the exception of cold rolled, according to our most recent survey data.