Yesterday the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) released their inventory and shipment data. According to the latest data total steel inventories dropped by 0.40 percent from the previous month and stood at 9,312,500 tons as of the end of October. Although down from the prior month steel inventories were 15.5 percent higher than October 2013. […]
Late last week Steel Market Update (SMU) adjusted our galvanized range to take into consideration the growing number of base prices reaching down to the $35.00/cwt level. Our galvanized range is now $35.00/cwt-$38.00/cwt for new spot orders. Over the weekend we adjusted our hot rolled range to reflect the lower numbers we have been collecting […]
With crude oil prices breaking through $80 per barrel, all eyes are on the Baker Hughes rig count data. The question is will the lower oil prices affect the number of wells being drilled? Most assume there will be an impact however, it could have a lag effect and take time before there is a […]
Evraz Claymont Steel is slated for demolition by Commercial Development Company, Inc. (CDC). The Delaware mill, which has been idled since December 2013, will be sold by Evraz to CDC for an undisclosed figure by the end of the year. CDC plans to “take the site through a brownfield-cleanup process, which will include the demolition […]
Licensed data for October was updated on November 4th through the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Department of Commerce. The SMU publishes several import reports ranging from this very early look using licensed data to the very detailed analysis of final volumes by district of entry and source nation which is published in […]
We thought our readers might be interested in reading what the AISI reported regarding foreign steel imports for the month of October. Washington, D.C. – Based on the Commerce Department’s most recent Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that steel import permit applications for the […]
The World Steel Association published its 2014 statistical year book this week with data through 2013. Figure 1 shows total crude steel production in the U.S. since 1880 in short tons. The peak production was 150,483,000 tons in 1973. The final total for 2013 was 95,566,000 tons, down by 2.05 percent from 97,565,000 in 2012. […]
China has a number of taxes on steel, both domestically and for exports. This is one of the misunderstandings many countries have (including the United States). We have been speaking about the subject with one of our key Asian trading contacts over the past few days as we asked about possible suspension of Boron added […]
Prices dropped on all of the indexes and all of the products followed by Steel Market Update. The average for hot rolled, based on the four indexes, was $641 per ton. Steel Market Update saw the market as being down to an average of $630 per ton just prior to the AK Steel announcement. The […]
Esmark Inc has confirmed its interest in acquiring all the assets of Serbian government-owned steel facility Zelezara Smederevo, a producer of steel, hot-rolled and cold-rolled products, and tin plate-coated products serving customers in Central Europe. Esmark Inc. has formed Esmark Europe to lead mill operations, finance, and commercial sales if the bid is successful. During a […]
A.M. Castle & Co. reported net sales of $245.5 million for third quarter for a net loss of $7.3 million. Metals segment sales totaled $210.7 million, down 1.6 percent from the previous quarter and 4.2 percent lower year over year. Pricing dropped 2.5 percent and sales volumes declined 1.4 percent compared to Q3 2013. “While […]
SSAB Americas sales jumped 29 percent year over year to SEK 3,716 million ($507 million) for an operating profit of SEK 558 million ($76 million). Profit was attributed primarily to higher steel prices and improved productivity. Steel shipments increased 5 percent to 559,000 tonnes (616,191 tons) on a year over year basis and 7 percent […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued to erode this past week based on SMU analysis of the CRU, Platts and SteelBenchmarker steel indices for the week ending October 24, 2014. Hot rolled prices now average $645 per ton, down $3 per ton from the prior week. If you remove SteelBenchmarker from the average, since they did […]
On Thursday of this past week Nucor announced their earnings and conducted their quarterly earnings conference call with analysts. SMU has highlighted a number of subjects touched on during the conference call. The following information (minus the headers) was taken directly from The Street transcript of the call: Potential for Light Flat Rolled Trade Cases […]
Total September steel imports were just shy 3.9 million net tons according to the Preliminary Census numbers just released by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Total steel imports were up 5.2 percent over August data, and up 38.0 percent year over year. Semi-finished imports (mostly slabs) were up 6.3 percent month over month and 47.3 […]
Steel buyers and sellers continue to be optimistic about their company’s ability to be successful in the current market conditions. However, there are some signs of strain growing, either due to seasonal pressures or margin squeezes, that may be giving pause to some within the industry. Even so, the results from the mid-October flat rolled […]
Nucor beat guidance forecasts with earnings of $245 million for the third quarter of 2014, up from $147 million in both Q2 2013 and Q3 2013. Consolidated net sales increased 8 percent to $5.70 billion. Strong third quarter earnings were attributed to improved performance in sheet steel, structural, bar, and plate steel that was partially […]
On Friday, October 16, 2014, the U.S. Department of Commerce terminated the Russian Hot Rolled Suspension Agreement. The agreement, which goes back to 1990 with numerous revisions over the years, covers all carbon flat rolled shipments out of Russia on the following ASTM numbers: A36 (plate), A568, A569, A572, A607 and A715. A few of […]
Total service center carbon steel shipments in September increased by 21,100 to 3.498 million tons. Shipping days were unchanged at 21. On a tons per day basis, (t/d) shipments increased from 165,600 tons in August to 166,600 in September. In each of the last four months t/d shipments for each particular month was the best […]
The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) reported steel shipment and inventory data for U.S. and Canadian service centers earlier this week. The headline you will read in most periodicals is inventories rose even with steel shipments rising by 8.3 percent over last year and 1 percent over the prior month. However, the headlines are speaking […]
Canadian shipments for all steel products in the month of September were 494,400 net tons, an increase of 8.3 percent from the month before and an increase of 4.1 percent from September 2013. Inventories at the end of the month stood at 1,511,400 tons, up 0.8 percent from last month and up 16.5 percent from […]
Steel Market Update provides a comparison of a handful of flat rolled steel indices to not only check prices but also look for changes in price momentum. The four indexes reviewed are: CRU, Platts, SteelBenchmarker and our own SMU index. Hot rolled prices dropped again this past week as all of the reporting indexes were […]
Licensed data for September was updated on October 3rd through the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department. The SMU publishes several import reports ranging from this very early look using licensed data to the very detailed analysis of final volumes by district of entry and source nation which is published in our […]
In mid-August, SMU reported on the high influx of steel at the Port of Houston and logistic problems with storage and transportation. According to Port of Houston data, steel imports continue to be dramatically higher than comparable levels in 2013. Year to date import of steel in August was 4,133,698 tons, 40.3 percent higher than […]
Final steel imports totaled 3,698,435 net tons (3,355,168 metric tons) for the month of August, down 4.2 percent from 3,858,692 tons in July but up 28.5 percent from 2,878,367 tons August of last year. On a 12 month moving average (12MMA) basis, total steel imports through August are at the highest level recorded in our […]
As of Friday of this past week, SMU, CRU and Platts had hot rolled price averages as $655, $656 and $655 per ton. SteelBenchmarker did not report prices last week and remains stuck at $668 per ton. Our average dropped to $659 per ton as all three of the reporting indexes saw HRC down $5 […]
Our Price Momentum Indicator has been stuck in “Neutral” since the last day of June 2014. We are now entering our 4th month and hot rolled steel prices have barely budged from the center line (OK, there have been some mild gyrations but no clear cut path up or down during the past three months). […]
SSAB, following its successful merger with Finnish steelmaker Rautaruukki, expects to reduce its annual cost base by SEK 1.4 billion ($194.7 million) over a three year period. In addition to cost synergies, SSAB expects to free up cash flow in the amount of SEK 500 million ($69.5 million)—half of it during 2015. The savings may […]
Steel Market Update spent the last two days canvassing end users and service centers to see where flat rolled steel prices are at the moment and where they might be heading from here. We heard from many service centers and end users that business conditions and demand for their products are doing quite well. We […]
Raw steel production is reported on a weekly basis and then on a monthly basis by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). The weekly report, like the one we have published in today’s newsletter, is based on a response rate of approximately 50 percent of the producing steel mills. The weekly report is then […]