The price increase on flat rolled seems to have “fizzled out,” according to many of the steel buyers Steel Market Update spoke with over the past two days. A number of mills have sweetened their end-of-the-year deals in order to finish out their 2018 order book. This is not unusual during a normal fourth quarter, […]
There is one issue I have found when relying on collection of pricing data just through our flat rolled and plate steel market analysis (survey). What I am finding is the survey data is difficult to trace back to the individual who is reporting and, therefore, is difficult to address anomalies in the numbers. I […]
Finally, I am back in my office after what seems like one long continuous trip over the last six weeks. I expect to be in my office over the next few weeks until I head to Pittsburgh in mid-November to visit the CRU offices here in the United States. We have a couple of new […]
As expected in a market where foreign suppliers must pay a 25 percent tariff (50 percent for those in Turkey), steel imports into the United States are down 11 percent for the year to date. Unexpected were the increases in imports of hot rolled sheet and plate. Steel Market Update’s analysis of Commerce Department data […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released updated foreign steel import data for September and October yesterday, with the September figure down to 2.2 million tons and the October trend remaining over 3 million tons. Prior to this week, the September total was hovering around 2.7 million to 2.9 million net tons. Our October trend is […]
Flat rolled steel buyers are advising Steel Market Update that lead times have extended about one week since the recent price announcements. The mills continue to ask about their competition and to negotiate, which is not a sure-fire sign of strength or conviction in the new increases. Plate is a different animal and continues to […]
SSAB Americas and Nucor both announced a $40 per ton increase in the price of plate products this week. SSAB Americas informed customers on Monday, Oct. 22, that it is increasing transaction prices on plate products by a minimum of $40 per ton, effective immediately for all non-contract orders acknowledged for shipment the week of […]
The Nucor Plate Group announced today, Oct. 23, that it is raising transaction prices on carbon and alloy plate and heat-treated plate by $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt). The increase takes effect immediately on all new orders promised on or after Jan. 1, 2019. All published extras will be applied. Nucor’s last price hike on plate […]
For the past two weeks, Steel Market Update has been collecting data from the flat rolled and plate steel service centers in the United States who participate in our Service Center Inventories Index. The number of months of supply of flat rolled steel being held on the distributors’ floors increased to 2.8 months. Plate inventories […]
I am keeping the SMU Flat Rolled Price Momentum Indicator at “Neutral” as I do not yet see any clear-cut signs of a solid push higher on pricing. What I have seen is a possible short-term bottom to the lower end of our range. This helped take our hot rolled index average from $805 to […]
Premium subscribers to Steel Market Update have access to reports on our website that break out the import tonnage into district of entry and source nation for six sheet and plate categories. SMU has now developed reports that drill down the HRC and CRC into product detail both nationally and for each district. We report […]
JSW Steel USA broke ground Friday in Baytown, Texas, on what it claims will be the most technologically advanced electric arc furnace, slab caster and plate mill in the world. It will be the only melt and manufacture plate mill with a contiguous pipe mill in North America, the company said. Thanks to policies from […]
Twice per month, Steel Market Update conducts a detailed analysis of the flat rolled and plate steel markets through an online questionnaire. We invite 640 individuals to provide their opinions about the flat rolled and plate markets, what are the driving factors behind pricing, lead times, and mill negotiations, as well as how they feel […]
Twice per month, Steel Market Update conducts a detailed analysis of the flat rolled and plate steel markets through an online questionnaire. We invite 640 individuals to provide their opinions about the flat rolled and plate markets, what are the driving factors behind pricing, lead times, and mill negotiations, as well as how they feel […]
Lead times for most flat rolled steel products ticked up slightly this month, according to returns from Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire. Could this signal the end of the downtrend? This is an important question considering the domestic steel mills announced price increases just last week. Lead times for steel delivery are a […]
A strong economy and equally strong steel demand propelled Nucor Corp. earnings growth in the third quarter. Nucor reported earnings of $676.7 million in the third quarter, which included a non-cash impairment charge of $110.0 million related to its natural gas well assets. In comparison, second quarter net earnings were $683.2 and third quarter 2017 […]
They may be off the table as of today, but late last week (and some buyers reported some still existing early this week) there were special deals – many tied to large tonnage – as the domestic mills attempted to fill their hot rolled order books. We did have a number of buyers and a […]
The flat rolled mills announced a price hike last week. This was at the same time Steel Market Update sources were advising of $38.00/cwt ($760 per ton) out of more than one domestic steel mill. The increase, announced initially by Nucor, was seen as an attempt to dry up the sub-$800 offers and put a […]
Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest foreign steel import license data for September and October. Based on our analysis, the import trend for October continues to be much higher than we would have anticipated. We are looking at the month trending over 3 million net tons. The biggest reason for the […]
It is always a struggle to find the proper footing after the domestic mills make a price announcement that, on its face, appears to be a way of stopping the sub-$800 offers and put a floor (however temporary) to the market. To me, it is quite telling when one or two mills that normally follow […]
Canada will implement provisional safeguard measures on steel imports effective Oct. 25. Tariffs of 25 percent will be applied when products exceed the current average import level. The action is in response to Section 232 tariffs and quotas imposed by the United States on steel and aluminum. Canada hopes to avoid becoming a dumping ground […]
Imports of other metallic coated sheet have declined in all regions in 2018. Each month, Steel Market Update produces an import analysis by region for two of the six flat rolled product groups (HRC, CRC, HDG, OMC, CTL plate and coiled plate). This month, the focus is on coated products. The intent of these regional […]
The Great Lakes region has received the greatest volume of hot-dipped galvanized sheet imports so far in 2018. Each month, Steel Market Update produces an import analysis by region for two of the six flat rolled product groups (HRC, CRC, HDG, OMC, CTL plate and coiled plate). This month, the focus is on coated products. […]
U.S. steel exports in August totaled 646,692 net tons (586,670 metric tons), down 1.4 percent over July and down 29.5 percent from August 2017. Surpassing July’s low, this is now the lowest total export figure seen since May 2009 when 627,968 tons were shipped out of the country. Prior to July and August levels, total […]
We saw mixed results in the flat rolled markets this week. Benchmark hot rolled dropped $5 per ton compared to one week ago. Cold rolled was modestly higher ($5/ton), while galvanized and Galvalume were down $15 per ton. Plate prices remained intact with no change compared to one week ago. Here is how we see […]
Spot plate prices have not budged this week, according to the numerous data points received from both large and small plate buyers today. Our range is $980 to $1,030 per ton delivered with an average of $1,005 per ton. The domestic plate mills continue to be on “controlled order entry” (they don’t like the word […]
California Steel Industries, NLMK and Evraz have filed rebuttals to objections made by U.S. Steel, Nucor and AK Steel to their petitions requesting exclusions for steel slab imports necessary for production. The slab converters charge that domestic mills have misled Commerce in their objections, overstating the current availability of domestic slab and the capacity to […]
Demand for steel products has been strong and improving for much of the year, but the findings of Steel Market Update’s latest flat rolled and plate steels market trends questionnaire show that more companies see demand for their products declining than increasing under the current market conditions. However, when you view the graph below, you […]
Rolled product imports into the United States were down by 21.6 percent in September on a three-month moving average basis compared with the prior year, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of import license data. Figure 1 shows the tonnage of total rolled steel and semi-finished imports through September on a 3MMA basis. The […]
In an article last week, I overstated the amount of quota Brazil had for Galvalume. One of the other traders/mills was nice enough to provide me the accurate data. The yearly quota on AZ is 49,974.44 metric tons. The other flat rolled and plate product quotas out of Brazil are as follows: Hot rolled = […]