Swedish steelmaker SSAB navigated a difficult year in 2020, taking down production and idling blast furnaces due to lower demand and COVID-19 restrictions. “Looking back at it, I think our flexibility in the system has served us well because when the market started to recover in Q4, we were quite fast to adapt to that […]
Nucor, the industry’s largest steelmaker, is expecting a significant increase in earnings in the first quarter of 2021 following a strong fourth quarter with net earnings of $398.8 million. Fourth-quarter earnings outpaced the third quarter at $193.4 million and Q4 2019 at $107.8 million due primarily to higher pricing at Nucor’s sheet and plate mills. […]
Cracks might be forming in the groundwork that has to date led U.S. flat-rolled steel prices to their highest point on record. Whether they are big enough to send towering prices tumbling down or merely a distraction remains to be seen, markets sources generally agreed. Prices have nowhere to go but up in the short […]
Evraz North America has followed Nucor and SSAB Americas in increasing plate prices by at least $80 per ton ($4/cwt). The steelmaker said that the increase was effective immediately and that it applied equally to all carbon, high-strength low-alloy, hot-rolled coil, normalized, and quenched-and-tempered products, according to a letter to customers Jan. 26. “We reserve the […]
Steel prices continue to trek upward. But the pace has slowed, and questions about whether the market is at or near a summit have re-emerged. “Talked to two large OEMs that are postponing buys for the next few weeks. They believe we are at peak right now,” one respondent to Steel Market Update’s check of […]
Nucor and SSAB Americas aim to increase plate prices by another $80 per ton ($4/cwt). Effective immediately, Nucor’s new ex-works base price for cut-to-length grade A36 plate is $1,020 per ton ($51/cwt), up from $940 per ton on Jan. 5, according to a letter sent to customers on Tuesday. The new base price for quenched-and-tempered A514 […]
As prices soar to historical high levels, we are constantly probing, looking for signs of a crack in flat rolled or plate steel prices. Nucor announced higher plate base prices today with discrete plate being referenced at $51.00/cwt ($1,020 per ton). Here are some of the “interesting” comments we received from steel buyers this week: […]
JSW Steel operations in the U.S. contributed little to company earnings results in the third quarter of FY 2021. JSW Steel Ohio sold 10,892 metric tons during the quarter. Revenue from operations was $5.48 million resulting in an operating EBITDA loss of $21.26 million. The mill was idled early in the second quarter and did […]
I received a call from Cleveland-Cliffs in response to an inquiry I had made a couple of weeks back regarding the #6 blast furnace at their Cleveland steel mill. Cliffs wanted to make sure I understand as the #6 blast furnace comes back online that it is not to increase production, only to replace the […]
I received a call from Cleveland-Cliffs in response to an inquiry I had made a couple of weeks back regarding the #6 blast furnace at their Cleveland steel mill. Cliffs wanted to make sure I understand as the #6 blast furnace comes back online that it is not to increase production, only to replace the […]
The average lead time on spot orders of hot rolled steel from the mill declined slightly for the second time in Steel Market Update’s biweekly survey and is now more than a half-week shorter than at this time last month. Lead times for other flat rolled products remained relatively unchanged, however, in SMU’s latest check […]
After registering a slight dip in Steel Market Update data two weeks ago, lead times for delivery of spot orders of hot rolled steel inched back out again this week to an average of nearly eight weeks. SMU and most in the market have been watching closely for signs that lead times are beginning to […]
There has been little to no price negotiations between spot buyers and the mills since September, and Steel Market Update data shows no sign that is changing. More than nine out of 10 buyers responding to SMU’s questionnaire this week (note the predominant blue bars) reported that the mills are almost always unwilling to negotiate […]
With one month of the new year in the record books, steel demand continues to outpace supplies, leaving the mills in a dominant negotiating position. Roughly nine out of 10 buyers responding to Steel Market Update’s questionnaire this week reported that their mill reps are unwilling to talk price on virtually all flat rolled and […]
It might be comforting to have 2020 in the rear-view mirror, but 2021 could have a few tricks up its sleeves, an ArcelorMittal USA analyst said. The good news: The U.S. should see apparent steel consumption increase 6% in 2021 after it fell 16% in 2020, according to Ping Liang, senior analyst-strategic marketing, at ArcelorMittal […]
Steel prices surging to their highest levels ever has masked another potentially key market trend–a narrower spread between hot-rolled coil and galvanized base prices, according to Steel Market Update (SMU) data. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price averages $1,130 per ton ($56.50/cwt), $60 per ton above 2008’s peak of $1,070 per ton. The base price for galvanized […]
Earlier this week I received a note from one of our readers regarding the plate price index and the changes we recently made to the index (FOB Mill vs. Delivered pricing). We were asked how we are accomplishing this, and how do our members reconcile the historical data that was based on delivered pricing versus […]
Earlier this week I received a note from one of our readers regarding the plate price index and the changes we recently made to the index (FOB Mill vs. Delivered pricing). We were asked how we are accomplishing this, and how do our members reconcile the historical data that was based on delivered pricing versus […]
Steel prices seem to be changing by the minute, and so far always in an upward direction. What’s the going price for hot rolled? “Who knows? Ask me again after lunch,” quipped one respondent to Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week. SMU estimates the current average price for HRC is at a […]
Flat Rolled = 51.3 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 50.8 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Service center flat rolled steel inventories found their low point in November and bounced back up in December. Service centers carried 51.3 shipping days of supply at the end of December, up from 40 in November. The data […]
This report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products. As of November 2020, imports’ share of total sheet products was 11.4 percent, down from 11.8 percent in October. Imports’ share has been on a steady decline since its most recent peak of 16.6 percent this past May. The import share of […]
The upward trend in mill shipments and supply of sheet products continues, although the pace fell off as the fourth quarter carried on. After reaching bottom in June, as a result of the global pandemic, mill shipments and supply maintained a slow but steady upward trajectory through November 2020. This analysis is based on steel […]
“It’s not how much it cost, it’s do I have steel to make my parts…?” That was one of the comments discussed this morning during our HARDI galvanized steel conference call. Some of the mechanical contractors have jobs to complete, and they need steel to finish. However, others are trying to hold back on buying […]
On Wednesday at noon the Biden administration will take over the Executive Branch of the U.S. government. President Biden is planning on hitting the ground running as he works to control the pandemic, put the U.S. back in the Paris Climate Accord, and (unfortunately) deal with a country fractured by Trump insurrectionists. Biden has made […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Analysis U.S. Midwest primary aluminum expressed over LME cash is 26-27 cents per pound, touted at “record levels.” In October 2014, Midwest traded premiums reached 23 cents per pound, so on paper we have set a new high….or have we? 2014: the Era of the LME Warehouse Queues We don’t […]
By CRU Analyst Kevin Bai from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor China has announced that it will remove the value-added tax (VAT) rebate it has historically applied to steel exports, alongside changes in import and export tariffs. This will increase the cost of exporting and discourage export volumes, which will help loosen a tight domestic […]
Plate prices usually carry a premium to hot-rolled coil tags – but that typical relationship has been turned upside down since early October. The question now: Could price hikes of at least $140 per ton announced by some North American plate mills last week help narrow the gap? The Numbers SMU’s hot-rolled coil price currently […]
U.S. steel exports slipped 8 percent in November to 668,000 tons, according to recent U.S. Department of Commerce data. Although down over the prior month, November shows improvement compared to earlier this year; exports are up 79 percent compared to May, when we saw the lowest level in SMU’s 24-year data history. Total November exports […]
The U.S. steel industry has enough capacity to meet demand even if the Biden administration passes a big infrastructure bill, said the top executive of the nation’s biggest steelmaker. The United States “desperately needs” an infrastructure package worth “more than $1 trillion,” and Nucor hopes such a bill will be passed in the early days […]
I anticipate next week’s spot hot rolled and other flat rolled steel prices will be higher than what we reported on Tuesday evening (HRC = $1,080 per ton average). We received information from an end user today of hot rolled purchases of $1,140 per ton for end of March/early April production. An order for HR […]