Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments for the month of November: Flat Rolled = 51.1 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 56 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Sheet steel inventories increased in November, and the SMU Service Center Inventories Report shows that service centers have an abundance of […]
On Friday, SSAB announced another plate price increase. Plate buyers were putting the new “aim to” base price around $700 per ton. Plate prices have been stubborn to move higher. SMU will watch momentum carefully this week to see if prices have finally turned the corner. This weekend I am in New Orleans attending HARDI’s […]
Today I was on a conference call with steel buyers associated with HARDI, the trade organization whose members sell galvanized steel and other products to mechanical contractors. We have an article about the call in this evening’s issue, but there was one fact that was brought up by multiple executives: the price increases “have not […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments for the month of October: Flat Rolled = 53 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 57 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Sheet steel prices declined rapidly throughout October, and the SMU Service Center Inventories Report shows that service centers pared down inventories […]
Earlier this week Steel Market Update went out to a group of steel buyers to gather pricing information and market intelligence regarding how they were reacting to the recent price announcements, and if they thought this round of increases would result in yet another dead cat bounce. (A dead cat bounce is one where prices […]
As part of our process of strengthening Steel Market Update’s services, we have made some additions and improvements. After reviewing our subscription models and receiving feedback from our valued customers, we have streamlined our membership options. We believe these changes will be beneficial for our members and allow for greater access to the service. The […]
AK Steel eked out a net income of $2.8 million in the third quarter, down from $66.8 million in Q2 and $67.2 million in Q3 2018. Included in net income was a $15.3 million mark-to-market loss from iron ore derivatives. Net sales of $1.5 billion fell 12 percent year-over-year and 9 percent from the second […]
By John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update On Monday, I spoke to the North American Steel Alliance (NASA) in Chicago. My comments centered on a wide variety of proprietary indices Steel Market Update produces–our flat rolled and plate indices, SMU Sentiment Index, SMU Service Center Inventories and Shipments data, Mill Lead Times and […]
There was much discussion at the NASA conference and in the wake of the conference regarding scrap pricing and where prices are headed for the month of November. The discussion on scrap has been a moving target over the past week or two. We checked with some of our sources earlier this month and we […]
Another hectic week for me as I travel to Chicago on Monday and Tuesday. I will be in the office on Wednesday, Thursday and part of the day on Friday before flying to London where I will be visiting CRU offices on Oct. 28, participating in the CRU Breakfast at the British Museum on the […]
By John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update The Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index has been a mirror of the comments made by buyers of flat rolled and plate steel over the past few days. Our Sentiment Index, which measures how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments for the month of September: Flat Rolled = 49.9 Shipping Days of Supply Plate Steels = 52.1 Shipping Days of Supply (48.2 adjusted) Flat Rolled Service center inventories of flat-rolled steel dropped significantly in September, which the decrease in on-order volumes in August […]
I will be out of the office this entire week traveling first to Cincinnati as we conduct our sold-out Steel 101 workshop on Tuesday and Wednesday. Later in the week I will be traveling to Minnesota (where I see temperatures are supposed to be in the 30’s for highs) for a Board of Trustees meeting […]
As was mentioned earlier in this issue, the SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index has dropped to the least optimistic level seen since 2013. When I started Steel Market Update, one of the first items on my agenda was to develop the Steel Buyers Sentiment Index. I wanted to understand how buyers and sellers of flat […]
There have been some discussions recently with articles written about the global scrap trade and China. China is the world’s largest steel producing nation with 50 percent (or greater) of the world’s steel production. A couple of years ago, I received information from one of my Chinese trading contacts about scrap steel being exported out […]
Domestic steelmakers managed to reverse the year’s long downtrend in steel prices for a few weeks in July and August, but the turnaround was short-lived. As of mid-September, Steel Market Update’s Price Momentum Indicator is pointing firmly lower for hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steel prices, as well as for steel plate, as the […]
Editor’s note: This article was originally shared on Tuesday, Sept. 17. The September Service Center Inventories Report will be sent to data providers on Monday, Oct. 14, and shared with Premium subscribers shortly after. Flat Rolled = 55.8 Shipping Days of Supply Plate Steels = 52.1 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Service center flat […]
Service centers and manufacturing companies are telling Steel Market Update of softening demand, shortening lead times (may not be in the published numbers, but orders are coming out early), and negotiable pricing. Many buyers are sitting on their hands and only buying what they need. On top of this, SMU Service Center inventories appear to […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments, reported earlier this week to data providers and Premium subscribers, shows flat rolled inventories of 55.8 days of supply, and plate inventories of 52.1 days, as of the end of August. Service center flat rolled inventories remained elevated, while plate saw a reduction […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments, reported earlier this week to data providers and Premium subscribers, shows flat rolled inventories of 55.8 days of supply, and plate inventories of 52.1 days, as of the end of August. Service center flat rolled inventories remained elevated, while plate saw a reduction […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments shows flat rolled inventories of 55.8 days of supply, and plate inventories of 52.1 days, as of the end of August. Service center flat rolled inventories remained elevated, while plate saw a reduction in supply last month to the lowest level seen all […]
Steel Market Update will produce our Service Center Inventories and Shipments “Flash Report” on flat rolled and plate steels for data providers on Monday, Sept. 9. Also on Monday, we will begin our early September flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis. On Friday, we will provide data providers with a link to a […]
Steel Market Update is making adjustments to our Price Momentum Indicators on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. The pressure behind rising steel prices seems to be subsiding as lead times at most mills are reasonable (especially considering the maintenance schedules in place for September and October). Steel buyers are beginning to tell […]
For the 1,078 individuals who attended our conference on Monday through Wednesday of this week—first, we thank you for your business, your support, your kind words and for carrying the message back to your respective companies. We had a great conference. There can always be improvements. We constantly strive for perfection, so look for an […]
I have been traveling all day, so I have had limited exposure to the market today. For that matter, as I have mentioned on a couple of recent occasions, I have been almost entirely focused on the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. So, here are a few comments about the conference for those of you […]
Written by: John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update Seven days to go… Seven days before the beginning of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. I have spoken to almost every single speaker, interfaced with the CRU Events team in London as well as our SMU team. All is going as planned. […]
As mentioned above, it is crunch time for me and my team as we prepare for the conference, now one week away. I want to emphasize SMU will have a major announcement at the conference on Monday as we roll out our Service Center Inventories on Hand, on Order, Shipments and an analysis of what […]
For the past three days, I have been studying the nominations of 21 young individuals who were nominated by their companies for the 2019 SMU NexGen Leadership Award, which this year is being sponsored by the Steel Manufacturers Association. The process has been exhilarating to say the least. I decided many years ago that as […]
I got a note from one of our readers today about the removal of the U.S. Steel blast furnace(s) and why the capacity utilization rates don’t reflect the change. The answer to that question is that as long as the furnace is still capable of producing (i.e. hot idle vs. being totally shut down cold) […]
I was pleased that we got 21 quality nominations for our first SMU NexGen Leadership Award, sponsored by the Steel Manufacturers Association. I mention each of the canidates in an article earlier in tonight’s newsletter. I hope we are able to double the canidates next year as we strive as an industry to bring new […]