Tag: prices

There seems to be a consensus that US sheet prices have nowhere to go but up in the short term, in part because offshore material ordered now won’t arrive until late March or even April.

US steel imports continue to arrive at a steady pace, as total import licenses in October were about even with September’s import levels.

The percentage of steel buyers saying mills were willing to negotiate spot pricing fell for hot rolled this week, while plate's negotiation rate shot up, according to SMU's most recent survey data.

Lead times for most sheet products were pushed out even further this week as domestic prices continue to rise. Plate lead times, meanwhile, contracted on falling prices and waning demand.

Several past columns in SMU have included comments about the futures forward curve, using terms like contango and backwardation

U.S. Steel’s Mon Valley Works in western Pennsylvania has not resumed full production of cold-rolled coil (CRC) following an outage last month, a company spokeswoman confirmed.

Hot-rolled coil (HRC) tags continue to rally in the US, broadening the price disparity between domestic and imported offshore product.

Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Stelco recorded a drop in third quarter profits on lower steel prices and sales volumes. The Hamilton, Ontario-based company predicted that volumes would be lower still in the fourth quarter. But it also said that financial results would improve next year on higher prices and longer lead times.

Spot prices for steel sheet continued to shoot upward this week, which brought yet another round of price hikes.

Declining demand and a challenging economic environment impacted Gerdau’s shipments in North America during the third quarter.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. said on Tuesday that it had raised minimum base prices for hot-rolled coil (HRC) to $1,000 per ton ($50 per cwt).

SMU gives an overview of the steel market and economic indicators for October.

Algoma Steel said its quarterly earnings were impacted by falling steel prices and lower buying associated with the United Auto Workers (UAW) strikes in the US. But with the strikes wrapping up, it expects a recovery in both pricing and demand moving forward.

A large Detroit-area scrap buyer has settled scrap prices for November, with busheling, shredded, and plate and structurals (P&S) all notching gains vs. October, a scrap source told SMU.

There was consensus that steel prices would crash on the UAW strike and then rebound just as sharply once the union and the “Big Three” automakers reached tentative deals.

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) tags moved higher again this week, widening the gap in pricing between imported offshore product.

Nucor’s plate price cut notice caught many off guard this week, especially after the company had maintained its pricing position in late September.

Latin American flat-rolled steelmaker Ternium is seeing strong demand in Mexico, its main market. With its new mill in Pesquería, Mexico, up and running, more lines there set to come online, and the company now holding an increased stake in Brazilian mining and steel company Usiminas, Luxembourg-based Ternium is optimistic about the future direction of the company.

ArcelorMittal joins U.S. Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs, pushing sheet prices higher, according to an internal commercial memo on Oct. 31.  

Sheet prices are getting back into very lofty territory. That’s assuming you can find spot tons available for the balance of 2023 – and some of you say you can’t.

Sheet prices surged this week on limited spot tonnage and on the heels of steep price increases announced by domestic mills.

Ryerson saw lower sales and shipments in the third quarter and is anticipating further declines in the last quarter of the year.

Cleveland-Cliffs said Tuesday that it would increase spot market base prices for carbon hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and coated steel sheet.

SSAB reported lower earnings in the third quarter on weaker demand in Europe that was only partially offset by solid demand for plate in North America.

The ferrous export market in the US has experienced several geopolitical events and natural disasters during 2023.

SMU’s Current and Future Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices both increased this week, based on our most recent survey data. Every other week we poll steel buyers about sentiment. The Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices measure how steel buyers feel about their company’s chances of success in the current market, as well as three to six months down the road. We have historical data going back to 2008. Check our interactive graphing tool here.

With the aluminum industry assembled in Nashville, Tenn., for the Aluminum USA 2023 conference, word was breaking of a tentative deal between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Ford.

U.S. Steel’s third-quarter earnings call with analysts on Friday, Oct. 27, was packed full of insight into the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker’s current state of affairs.

I wrote on Sunday that it could be a busy week for steel. It has been.

U.S Steel posted sharply lower earnings as a result of a drop in steel prices and only modest gains in shipments. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said little about the sales process it launched in August.