Tag: Scrap

After a considerable wait, the market for ferrous scrap for May shipment has started to form.

Turkish scrap import prices were stable last week. CRU’s assessment for HMS1/2 80:20 and shredded was unchanged at $384 per metric ton (mt) CFR and $408/mt, respectively.

When we were asked to provide some additional commentary to SMU about the futures markets for flat rolled, our only reluctance to contribute was rooted merely in the fact that SMU (1) already offers an excellent array of authors on this topic and (2) a concern regarding what new ground could be covered that hasn’t already been discussed to death on this issue. Thankfully, however, Nucor has offered up something we can describe, without hyperbole, as simply revolutionary for spot pricing in flat rolled - a development that we simply could not resist commenting on with respect to its probable impacts on the futures market.

As we approach “buy week,” a term industry veterans use to refer to steel mill scrap buying time and an excuse to remain in the office, we have seen a variety of slants on the May market.

Hybar has big plans for entering the American steel market. Although it is the newest player in the US rebar market, the startup is led by an experienced, nimble, and ambitious team, and backed by investors with deep pockets. Industry titan and Hybar CEO David Stickler joined SMU Managing Editor Michael Cowden on Wednesday’s Community Chat to update the SMU community on the company’s first mill, and its grand plans for the future.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market chatter.

What a difference a month makes. In late March, it seemed like the US hot-rolled (HR) coil market was poised to cycle upward. Large buyers had re-entered the market and placed big orders earlier in the month. Several outages were underway or upcoming. And expectations were that lead times would continue to extend. Cliffs said […]

Steelmaking currently accounts for approximately 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The only way to achieve net zero goals is to significantly reduce steel emissions worldwide. And there is no way to do that without recycling.

Week-over-week trading activity in US steel derivatives markets was relatively muted, with prices maintaining their downward direction since the beginning of the month. Bids have materialized at the lower end of this range in the May, as the nearby backwardation continues to roll on - just as we saw with April being a premium over May.

Hybar CEO David Stickler will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, May 1, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available to SMU members. You can register here.

We've used the word "unprecedented" a lot over the last four years to describe steel price volatility. Over the last two months – despite earlier predictions of a price surge - we've seen unprecedented stability.

Steel Dynamics Inc.'s (SDI's) earnings fell in the first quarter of 2024 as the company cited steel order volatility early in the quarter and lower scrap prices.

Nucor’s earnings slipped in the first quarter of this year, but the company said it launched key growth initiatives during this time period.

I was in Las Vegas last week for ISRI’s annual convention. I like Vegas. I’ve had some fun there over the years. (I was married there nearly 20 years ago. We're still together.) And last week was no exception. So let’s start with the big news from Sin City. When the recycled materials industry meets for the big event next year, it will be under the banner of "ReMA" – not "ISRI".

Prices of steelmaking raw materials have moved in different directions over the last 30 days, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis.

The steel market appears to be finding a new, higher normal with the shocks of the pandemic and the Ukraine in the rearview mirror. The good news: a more profitable and consolidated post-Covid US steel industry has been able to invest in operations. That includes efforts to decarbonize. The bad news: That “new normal” could be tested. Because it’s not just domestic sheet prices that have been volatile. Geopolitics are too.

I’m writing these Final thoughts from the 2024 ISRI Convention and Exposition in Las Vegas. I wasn’t the only one with the good idea to attend. Approximately 6,625 others did – a new record for the event. So, a big congratulations to ISRI.

Does the price of ferrous scrap depend on the price of finished steel product? And how much of an influence do billet and slab prices have on scrap prices?

As the ISRI 2024 conference unfolds in Las Vegas, attendees are diving into crucial discussions shaping the future of the recycling industry. Here are the main topics being discussed: New steelmaking capacity coming online this year Export demand during this period Infrastructure spending Supply of pig iron and HBI Current logistics challenges May scrap prices […]

Last week was a newsy one for the US sheet market. Nucor’s announcement that it would publish a weekly HR spot price was the talk of the town – whether that was in chatter among colleagues, at the Boy Scouts of America Metals Industry dinner, or in SMU’s latest market survey. Some think that it could Nucor's spot HR price could bring stability to notoriously volatile US sheet prices, according to SMU's latest steel market survey. Others think it’s too early to gauge its impact. And still others said they were leery of any attempt by producers to control prices.

Total domestic aluminum mill products orders in March were up 0.2% compared to March 2023, according to the latest “Index of Net New Orders of Aluminum Mill Products” released by the US Aluminum Association (AA). This is much lower than the growth of 9.3% year over year (y/y) reported in February.

Steel prices continued to ease lower in early March – a trend seen since mid-January –  before showing signs of bottoming and inflecting up. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator for sheet products shifted from lower to neutral mid-way through the month after Nucor, Cleveland-Cliffs, and ArcelorMittal all targeted new base minimums between $825-840 per short […]

For those of you old enough to remember The King and I, the April scrap market seems to be a puzzlement. While it is now clear that everything went sideways, one could clearly make an argument for prices to have been down.

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices has widened this month after narrowing for three months, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.

Over the last several years, I have noticed widening spreads between #1 Heavy Melting Steel (ISRI 201) and Shredded (ISRI 210,211), as well as Plate & Structural (ISRI 232).

Nucor made waves in the sheet market when it announced on Friday that it would begin publishing a weekly hot-rolled (HR) coil price. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker arguably made even bigger waves on Monday when it posted its first weekly HR number: $830 per short ton. That’s $70/st lower than the $900/st HR price Cliffs announced in late March. It’s also lower than prices in the mid-$800s that other mills were (less publicly) seeking.

April scrap prices came in sideways in the US, sources told SMU.

Mercury Resources CEO Anton Posner will be the featured speaker on SMU’s next Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, April 10, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. You can register here. A recording of the webinar and the slide deck will be available only for SMU members.

Directors of Swedish steelmaker SSAB have decided to replace blast furnace-based steelmaking at Lulea with a ‘green steel’ mini-mill process.

Sheet prices continue to inch higher. That’s a welcome development for many. But it’s also a far cry from the price surge many predicted about a month ago. Remember the theory that supported a spring surge: Sheet prices would soar on a combination of mill outages, stable-to-strong demand, restocking, mill price increases, and (potentially) trade action against Mexico as well.