SMU has developed a series of reports that cover hot rolled, cold rolled, HDG, other metallic coated, coiled plate and semi-finished slabs. These reports are a detailed drill down into tons by source country and port of entry which will enable you to determine exactly what is going on in your area for whichever product […]
Steel Market Update received the following press release from the US Department of Commerce International Trade Administration regarding the release of the preliminary determination for the hot rolled countervailing duty portion of the hot rolled trade case: On January 11, 2016, the Department of Commerce is scheduled to announce its preliminary determinations in the CVD […]
Licensed data for December was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on January 5th. At SMU we perform a detailed analysis of this data, an explanation of our methodology is given at the end of this write up. Total rolled product licensed imports in the single month of December […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered in this analysis is currently 36. We have made a change to our analysis this month by removing the capacity utilization of both the flat rolled […]
USW and Allegheny Technologies Inc. resumed talks on Dec. 30 with a federal mediator in Pittsburgh. The meeting follows an announcement that the National Labor Relations Board would file unfair labor practice charges against ATI. USW officials said the parties discussed the NLRB decision, the US Steel tentative settlement, idling of operations, and the four-month […]
USW and Allegheny Technologies Inc. resumed talks on Dec. 30 with a federal mediator in Pittsburgh. The meeting follows an announcement that the National Labor Relations Board would file unfair labor practice charges against ATI. USW officials said the parties discussed the NLRB decision, the US Steel tentative settlement, idling of operations, and the four-month […]
Spot lead times have begun to move out according to the lead time sheets shared with customers this week by their domestic mill suppliers. The most strength was seen in cold rolled and coated steels while hot rolled lead times remained stuck at 3-4 weeks in most cases. Steel buyers continue to prognosticate that there […]
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) puts out its series of producer price indexes, for thousands of goods and materials. For an explanation of this program see the end of this piece. The latest release last week reported results through November. We run this analysis every three or four months to give readers […]
Scrap dealers are optimistic that ferrous scrap prices have bottomed in all regions of the country and will rise as we move into negotiations for the month of January. A rising scrap market is a harbinger of good things for the steel mills as they attempt to collect the increases already announced and perhaps add […]
Nucor is expecting weaker financial results in fourth quarter. Operating performance in the steel mill segment was down from third quarter, especially at sheet and bar mills, as lower selling prices outpaced the decline in raw materials pricing. “This performance is due to continued deterioration in global steel markets amplified by global excess capacity and […]
The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) released shipment and inventory data for U.S. steel distributors. The headline for total steel products is shipments fell during the month of November both on a month over month basis (143,100 tons per day in November vs. 152,900 tons during October) as well as on a year-over-year basis (-8.1%). […]
The following article is one that is produced for our Premium level members once we release the latest Imports by Product, Port & Country data into our website. In this article we want to give you a little feel for the data. Once you start reviewing imports by port you can begin to ask questions […]
Allegheny Technologies announced it will take rightsizing actions to align its Flat Rolled Products operations to challenging market conditions. The standard stainless melt shop and sheet finishing operations at the Midland, Pa., facility will be idled in January 2016. The grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) operations in Bagdad, Pa., will be idled by April 2016. Restart […]
This report is a detailed drill down into imports of hot band through October, beginning with the big picture and ending with exactly what came into a region of significance to your business and where it came from. SMU has developed a series of reports that cover hot rolled, cold rolled, HDG, other metallic coated […]
This report compares domestic mill shipments and total supply to the market. It quantifies market direction by product and enables a side by side comparison showing the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Department of Commerce with analysis by SMU. Table 1 shows both […]
Based on Steel Market Update (SMU) analysis of the recently released MSCI service center inventory and shipment data, total service center carbon steel shipments decreased by 482,000 tons in November to 2.728 million tons. Shipping days at 20, were down by two from October. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments decreased from 145,900 […]
Earlier this week Steel Market Update (SMU) attended the annual HARDI conference in Orlando, Florida. The well attended conference focused on a number of areas affecting the HVAC Wholesalers including presentations on the economy by Alan Beaulieu of the Institute for Trend Research (ITR) and Steel Market Update regarding the status of the galvanized sheet […]
Licensed data for November was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on December 4th. At SMU we perform a detailed analysis of this data, an explanation of our methodology is given at the end of this write up. Total rolled product licensed imports in the single month of November […]
The following article was written by Mario Briccetti of Briccetti & Associates, a Supply Chain consulting firm, and is also one of our instructors for Steel 101 as well as our Sales Training Workshop. Recently, in my series of articles, I have written about the coating cost of galvanized and Galvalume on flat rolled steel. […]
The following article was written by Xavier Boucherat and appeared in the Q4 2015 issue of Automotive Megatrends Magazine and is being reprinted by Steel Market Update with permission. It may be lighter, but aluminium is fundamentally a quick fix, and OEMs currently using aluminium will convert those parts back to steel to reduce mass […]
Mexican steelmaker, TYASA will begin construction of a Castrip facility at its Ixtaczoquitlan site near Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico. The excess melt capacity of TYASA’s Quantum Furnace will supply the Castrip thin-strip casting process. TYASA expects the new facility to have a production capacity of 500,000 tons of thin-gauge, high-strength, sheet steel that will supply local […]
I am in Orlando attending the HARDI annual conference. I will be addressing their sheet metal committee a little later in the week. Also here is Alan Beaulieu of the Institute for Trend Research (ITR). I look forward to hearing Alan speak both here and at the end of August 2016 when he will once […]
In early November, nine steel associations released a statement expressing their opposition to China’s bid to become a market economy by December 2016. In a November 25 rebuttal, the Chinese Iron and Steel Association (CISA) said it is “astonished” by the group’s claims that China is primary global contributor to steel overcapacity. CISA called the […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered in this analysis is currently 36. Please refer to Table 1 for the view of the present situation and the quantitative measure of trends. Readers should […]
Twice per month, Steel Market Update (SMU) conducts an analysis of the flat rolled steel market from the perspective of active buyers and sellers of sheet and coil products. We invite approximately 560 companies to participate through the use of a questionnaire that we have been using since 2008. One of the areas probed is […]
Brazil is studying a proposal to raise import tariffs on steel goods said Brazilian Finance Minister Joaquim Levy following a hearing of the Economic Affairs Committee of the Senate. The measures would protect the local steel industry which has been vocal in its demand for a rate hike. No details on specific products or rates […]
New Star Metals is changing its name to Material Sciences Corporation. New Star acquired MSC in March 2014 which remained in operation under the MSC brand. “We have an aggressive growth plan and believe we should go to market as one team – Material Sciences Corporation,” said CEO Patrick Murley, CEO of New Star Metals […]
The HARDI wholesalers held their monthly galvanized steel conference call earlier today. During the call the wholesalers provided insights into business conditions affecting the companies and discussed the status of the flat rolled steel markets. HARDI wholesalers supply galvanized sheet and coil steels to the mechanical contractors associated with residential and commercial construction in North […]
Based on Steel Market Update (SMU) analysis of the recently released MSCI service center inventory and shipment data, total service center carbon steel shipments increased by 104,700 tons in October to 3.201 million tons. Shipping days at 22, were up by one from September. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments decreased from 147,900 […]
For those of you who have been steady readers and members of Steel Market Update you know that the purpose of my Final Thoughts is for me to voice some of my thoughts and opinions on a wide range of topics. I am going to use this forum today to speak about what I am […]