By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Monitor, Dec. 15 Seasonal pressures are starting to temporarily slow demand for some steel products. For sheet, this weakness is adding to a monumental shift in supply fundamentals. For other products, an unseasonably warm start to December has allowed construction demand to remain stronger than normal. […]
We are quickly coming up to the Christmas and New Year’s Holidays. I hope everyone has been able to complete whatever shopping you need to do, sent out your cards and notes to your family and friends, and have ample snacks to get you through New Year’s Eve gatherings, football games, board or card games, […]
Flat-rolled steel inventories continue to rise at service centers, and steel buyers are not flocking to do their normal end-of-year deals with steel mills. Steel Market Update has not yet produced our final Service Center Inventories and Shipment report. But we have published our “Flash” report, which we provide to our data providers after collecting five […]
Flat-rolled steel inventories continue to rise at service centers, and steel buyers are not flocking to do their normal end-of-year deals with steel mills. Steel Market Update has not yet produced our final Service Center Inventories and Shipment report. But we have published our “Flash” report, which we provide to our data providers after collecting five […]
Spot prices might be wobbling. But mill balance sheets are as strong as they’ve ever been – and the cash will continue to pour in as 2022 contracts reset at substantially higher numbers. Here are two opposing trends I’m keeping an eye on: (1) whether mills will use their cash hoards to expand outside of steel […]
By CRU Senior Prices Analyst Estelle Tran, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service, Nov. 18 In the last several weeks, U.S. sheet prices have started to decline, though prices remain well above global prices. Under pressure from imports and service centers eager to sell high-cost inventory before the end of the year, prices for processed […]
Hot-rolled coil prices continue to slide. And galvanized base prices are holding more or less steady. What gives? Check out the slide below. The green line is galvanized base prices. The blue line is lead times. Prices are on the left-hand side of the slide. Lead times are on the right. Prices have been around […]
Steel buyers are “confused” as are some traders as to what deals are being offered into the hot rolled market right now. Steel Market Update has been advised by a couple of large HRC buyers of offers below $1,600 per ton ($80.00/cwt), while at the same time we have spoken to buyers who continue to […]
Steel buyers are “confused” as are some traders as to what deals are being offered into the hot rolled market right now. Steel Market Update has been advised by a couple of large HRC buyers of offers below $1,600 per ton ($80.00/cwt), while at the same time we have spoken to buyers who continue to […]
The House has finally passed a bipartisan infrastructure bill after months of wrangling not only among Republicans and Democrats but also among factions within the Democratic party. “American steel built this country, and the industry is now ready to get to work on rebuilding this country. Repairing and modernizing our national transportation system is essential […]
As expected, steel prices are volatile and unpredictable as the market approaches year-end. Hot rolled continued its slow, gradual descent averaging $1,875 per ton this week, down another $10, based on Steel Market Update’s survey data gathered on Monday and Tuesday. Cold rolled and coated products, on the other hand, saw small increases to around […]
I thought I’d be writing today that Steel Market Update had switched all its steel pricing momentum indicators to lower. But what you think should happen and what reality serves up are sometimes very different things. Hot-rolled coil prices continued to fall – they’re down $25 per ton compared to last week. That’s not a surprise. […]
Steel Market Update has adjusted our steel pricing momentum indicator for hot-rolled coil lower. That’s not something we’ve done since July 21, 2020 – and it’s not a decision we took lightly. But the evidence is hard to ignore. Our hot rolled coil price now stands at $1,910 per ton ($95.50 per cwt), down $10 per ton […]
As I bounce around the market this week talking to steel buyers, I am trying to get a better feel for potential changes, how contract negotiations are going, how receptive end-user customers are toward the higher prices being offered (compared to one year ago), and what kind of foreign steel offers are out there. The […]
Whether they believe steel prices are in for a sharp or a gradual correction, most of the service center and manufacturing executives responding to SMU’s latest survey agree the market is at a turning point. Here are a few of their recent observations: “Yes, I think we are at the inflection point. The market appears to be […]
Flat rolled steel prices are in transition, which tends to lead toward more volatility and wider price ranges in Steel Market Update data. One of the issues we face when we reach an inflection point in the spot market is the lack of daily transactions. With service center inventories nearing a state of balance, combined […]
First, I want to thank the SMU team for keeping the ship afloat and moving forward during my extended vacation. If you didn’t know, I took the month of September off, then the team did a great job during my absence. And of course the steel market kept churning while I was away from my […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active […]
At the top of the news this week, Steel Market Update sources reported that steel supplies are loosening as lead times from the domestic mills shorten and surging imports start to make it into service center inventories. It’s no surprise, then, that steel prices are beginning to moderate. Hot rolled steel prices rose virtually every […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Market fundamentals in the North American sheet market continue to evolve and clearly suggest that supply tightness is easing. From a broad point of view, these fundamentals include rising supply, service center inventories that are balanced with outbound shipments, and demand growth that […]
Earlier this month Steel Market Update celebrated our 13th anniversary of officially being in business. I say “officially” because I was publishing the newsletter for a few years prior to starting SMU as a legal entity. It has been a while since I last related the history of Steel Market Update. Where did the idea […]
It’s not wise to call an inflection point based on one week of data. But I’m going to do it anyway. Because while SMU might have just one week of somewhat bearish survey data, there are plenty of other data points out there to say with some confidence that we’re at or near a peak […]
On Friday, Steel Market Update sent data providers the final analysis for July of service center inventories, shipments, steel on-order, and percentage of inventories tied up for contract sales. Premium members will receive the report on Monday. As expected, after reviewing our Flash Report which is provided to data providers five days into the new […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Sheet prices in the U.S. Midwest market have continued to rise, though the rate of increase has slowed since the end of May. The price of HR coil has increased $21 /s.ton w/w and is now $126 /s.ton higher than our assessment on […]
The U.S. Senate passed the $1 trillion infrastructure bill. The bill includes $550 billion in new spending. The bill calls for $110 billion for roads, bridges and major infrastructure projects. It also includes $40 billion for bridge repair and replacement, $39 billion to modernize public transit, $66 billion for passenger and freight rail, $65 billion to […]
Just because all major U.S.-based steel mills have reported quarterly results doesn’t mean that earnings season is over. Results from mills based abroad are coming in. And those of you still paying attention to earnings might have noticed a change in tone between when Steel Dynamics kicked things off on July 19 and when Evraz […]
Steel prices can’t go up forever and could correct downward from their historic highs later this year, steelmaker Evraz said. “Steel prices look unsustainable at current levels and there is a possibility of a gradual price decline in the coming months,” the company said in outlook commentary released with earnings data on Thursday, Aug. 5. […]
Looking for Signs One year ago, benchmark hot rolled prices bottomed at $440 per ton ($22.00/cwt). Since then, steel prices have been on a tear with spot hot rolled more than four times higher at nearly $1,900 per ton ($95.00/cwt). The net result from this 52-week march higher is the way steel buyers view the […]
Looking for Signs One year ago, benchmark hot rolled prices bottomed at $440 per ton ($22.00/cwt). Since then, steel prices have been on a tear with spot hot rolled more than four times higher at nearly $1,900 per ton ($95.00/cwt). The net result from this 52-week march higher is the way steel buyers view the […]
One of the products developed by Steel Market Update over the past four years is our flat rolled and plate steel service center inventories and shipment analysis. I discussed it briefly in Thursday’s newsletter, but I want to go into more detail as I believe it is a report that many of you will want […]