Thursday is Thanksgiving here in the United States and Steel Market Update will not publish on Thursday. We will publish our normal Tuesday issue and then we will publish a limited edition on Sunday, Nov. 25. I know I am looking forward to having a couple days in a row “off” as I get ready […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce has released import license data for the months of October and November through the 13th of the month. October foreign steel imports are expected to reach 3 million net tons on the back of almost 900,000 net tons of semi-finished steels (mostly slabs going to the domestic steel mills). It […]
This report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products and 16 subcategories through September. Table 1 shows total supply to the market in three months through September and in 12 months through September for the four product groups and the 16 subcategories. Supply to the market is the total of domestic […]
Flat rolled steel prices dropped this week based on our analysis of the market. Benchmark hot rolled coil dropped $5 per ton and is now averaging $800 per ton ($40.00/cwt). We saw even larger negative price movements in cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. Plate prices, however, were flat and the expectation of plate steel […]
U.S. steel exports in September totaled 584,858 net tons (530,575 metric tons), down 9.6 percent from August and down 35.3 percent from September 2017. Surpassing August’s low, this is now the lowest total monthly export figure seen since December 2002 when 527,659 tons were shipped out of the country. Prior to the last three months, […]
This evening’s price and price momentum discussion comes after a number of conversations held with flat rolled steel service center CEO’s and a trading company executive on Thursday and Friday of last week. The words “mud” and “murky” were prominent as the steel distributors try to figure out where things are headed as we enter […]
This evening’s price and price momentum discussion comes after a number of conversations held with flat rolled steel service center CEO’s and a trading company executive on Thursday and Friday of last week. The words “mud” and “murky” were prominent as the steel distributors try to figure out where things are headed as we enter […]
Steel service centers are struggling to peg the spot end user markets and what price levels they need to be offering to their spot flat rolled customers, based on the results obtained from last week’s flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis performed by Steel Market Update. Steel Market Update follows the service center […]
Steel service centers are struggling to peg the spot end user markets and what price levels they need to be offering to their spot flat rolled customers, based on the results obtained from last week’s flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis performed by Steel Market Update. Steel Market Update follows the service center […]
Most buyers tell Steel Market Update that flat rolled mills are open to price negotiations on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steel products. The notable exception is plate. Two out of three respondents to SMU’s latest market trends questionnaire report that plate mills will not compromise on price, while one-third have found some wiggle […]
Lead times for Galvalume and plate products shortened up a bit in the past two weeks, but otherwise lead times for flat rolled products have seen little change in October or November, despite the price hike announcements by the major mills. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level—the […]
Total rolled product imports declined by 20.4 percent in October, versus the same month last year, measured as a three-month moving average, but the effects of Section 232 are still not clear. This early look at October’s import volume is based on Commerce Department license data (see explanation below). Figure 1 shows the tonnage of […]
Flat rolled steel prices continue to vacillate as we saw the low end of our range on benchmark hot rolled coil improve by $20 per ton. We are aware of a couple end-of-the-year deals that are below our range, but we feel at this point they are limited and not available to the greater market. […]
U.S. steel imports for October are likely to fall just below 3 million tons when the Census data is final, based on license data from the Department of Commerce. The total is roughly in line with the 12-month moving average for imports, but up more than 30 percent from September. Imports of semi-finished steel, mostly […]
Olympic Steel Inc. announced the promotion of Terry J. Rohde to Vice President – Operations and Matthew A. Grussing to General Manager of the company’s Minneapolis Plate Division. Rohde began his career at Olympic Steel in 2001 as Operations Manager at the company’s Minnesota Coil facility. In 2004, he transitioned to Sales Manager at the […]
Except for plate, which held its own at around $1,000 a ton, steel prices generally weakened further in October, continuing a decline that began this summer. Steel Market Update data in the table below shows that the benchmark hot rolled coil price dipped below $800 per ton after sliding by about $45 during the month. […]
Flat rolled steel prices have stalled, despite the increase announcements out of many of the domestic steel mills. Plate steel spot prices, on the other hand, continue to remain firm in December with an expectation of a $40 price increase being collected in January. Steel Market Update canvassed the flat rolled and plate steel buyers […]
Flat rolled steel prices have stalled, despite the increase announcements out of many of the domestic steel mills. Plate steel spot prices, on the other hand, continue to remain firm in December with an expectation of a $40 price increase being collected in January. Steel Market Update canvassed the flat rolled and plate steel buyers […]
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 […]