Tag: prices

Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.

US sheet prices continue to fall, with SMU’s average hot-rolled (HR) coil price now at $670 per short ton (st). Prices for cold-rolled and coated products are now in the mid/high $900s/st. As I noted in my last Final thoughts, the consensus among our readers is that prices will bottom out in July. And that makes intuitive sense. Lead times in mid/late July should be stretching into the typically busier fall months. The question then is where prices bottom.

US sheet prices continued to drift lower this week on lackluster demand, short lead times, and ample supply. SMU’s hot-rolled (HR) coil price now stands at $670 per short ton (st) on average, down $15/st from last week. Hot band is down $175/st from a recent high of $845/st in early April. It is also […]

Cleveland-Cliffs on Tuesday announced its monthly hot-rolled (HR) coil price of $720 per short ton (st) with the official opening of its August order book. The rate is down from last month’s price of $800/st.

Nucor's weekly hot-rolled (HR) coil price registered a notable decline this week.

Many of our contacts remain bearish about the very short-term direction of steel prices. But a consensus seems to be forming, according to our latest survey results, that a bottom will occur in July. Consensus is also that hot-rolled (HR) coil prices won't fall below $600 per short ton (st).

Offshore cold-rolled (CR) coil prices are cheaper than domestic product despite US CR coil prices ticking lower. Domestic CR coil tags stand at $995 per short ton (st) on average, down $25/st vs. our prior check of the market on Tuesday, June 18. (We will update prices again on Tuesday, June 25.) All told, US […]

Summer has officially begun, and the countdown to SMU Steel Summit is on. More than 800 steel industry professionals from nearly 350 companies have already registered to attend the Summit on Aug. 26-28 at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in Atlanta. Are you one of them? If so, we’re looking forward to seeing you […]

Steel Market Update’s Steel Demand Index ticked down 2.5 points last week, slipping further into contraction territory, according to our latest survey data. SMU’s Steel Demand Index now stands at 38.5, down from 41 at the beginning of June. The decrease puts the index at its lowest measure since November 2022. The reading – down […]

Steelmaking raw material prices have generally declined over the past month according to SMU’s latest analysis.

SMU’s Current Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Index tumbled this week, while Future Sentiment ticked up slightly, according to our most recent survey data.

Demand has remained persistently weak across the globe for sheet steel, weighing on prices. US HR coil prices fell the furthest this week as high-volume, low-priced deals were transacted as mills looked to fill order books and competed with one another amid relative demand weakness. Meanwhile, European prices were also down due to low demand […]

Please enjoy this roundup of recent news from the aluminum industry from our colleagues at CRU. EU to hit Chinese electric cars with tariffs up to 48% The European Commission notified carmakers on June 12 that it would provisionally apply additional duties of 17-38% on imported Chinese EVs from next month. The duties will be […]

The US scrap market is quiet as we pass through June. Speculation about the direction of July is mixed, with most sentiment neutral or bearish. The concerns are about demand during the summer months. There are still several planned outages and other cutbacks at various mills that could limit overall demand for recycled steel scrap.

The summer doldrums are here. That means lazy days at the office, or behind the computer. Perhaps heading over to the water cooler to chat, maybe stare at a fly buzzing on a windowsill. There is work to be done, product to be made or shipped, but there’s no hurry. And around lunchtime, you hang that classic sign on the front door: Gone fishin’.

US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices fell further this past week, pushing them below offshore hot band prices on a landed basis.

Steel buyers of hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized products found mills more willing to negotiate spot pricing this week, according to our most recent survey data. However, buyers of Galvalume and plate products said mills were less willing to talk price.

US sheet prices edged lower this week as discounting continues. Major factors remain ample supply, shorter lead times, and lower input costs. Meanwhile, demand had remained steady to soft, depending on the end market. SMU’s hot-rolled (HR) coil price now stands at $685 per short ton (st) on average, down $25/st from last week. Hot […]

Galvanized prices have tumbled from a month ago, and many market participants expect that trend to continue in July.

ArcelorMittal Mexico is suffering a significant production loss as the labor strike at its mill in Lazaro Cardenas is now in its fourth week.

Flat Rolled = 60.6 Shipping days of supply Plate = 61.1 Shipping days of supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel supply rose in May with a drop-off in shipments. At the end of May, service centers carried 60.6 shipping days of supply on an adjusted basis, up from 57.8 shipping days of supply […]

Steel Dynamics Inc. guided to significantly reduced second-quarter earnings as its steel operations have taken a hit from lower prices.

U.S. Steel has guided to lower second-quarter earnings both sequentially and on-year in "dynamic" spot price market.

Nucor priced its weekly hot-rolled (HR) coil consumer spot price (CSP) at $715 per short ton (st) this week, down $5/st from last week.

The conventional wisdom is that sheet prices will trend down for the next few weeks (maybe the next two months) before rising again in August – around when lead times stretch into the busier fall months. We see that reflected in our survey results and in market chatter. And there are plenty of data points to choose from if you want to support of that position.

Offshore cold-rolled (CR) coil prices have changed little, but they are still notably cheaper than domestic product. That remains the case even as US CR coil prices ticked lower this week.

As the scrap market for June settles at lowered levels, let’s look at the situation for exports of ferrous scrap from the US East and Gulf coasts. Despite declines in the North American ferrous markets over the last two months, export prices have remained range-bound within a tight trading window. After a brief decline last […]

Pig iron prices have been trending higher in all key markets besides Europe. Limited exports from Brazil and Ukraine are contributing to higher prices in the USA, though soft demand cushioned a sharp price upswing. In the US, pig iron prices increased by $15 per metric ton (mt) m/m to $485/mt CFR NOLA. Buying activity […]

Nucor Corp. has guided to much lower second-quarter earnings, as profitability in its steel mills segment suffers due to lower prices and volumes.

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices has narrowed for the second consecutive month, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.