Construction firms are finding it increasingly difficult to find qualified craft workers, according to a new report by the Associated General Contractors of America. More than 2 million construction workers were laid off in the 2008 recession with many of those never returning to the industry. In a survey of 1,358 construction firms, 86 percent […]
This data is normally reserved for our Premium members, but we wanted to give our Executive readers a view of what a Premium subscription includes. This is one of many additional data points available to our Premium level members. Licensed data for August was updated on September 4th through the Steel Import Monitoring System of […]
For those interested in more information on the HRC trade case, the following is a reprint of the International Trade Administration Fact Sheet on the AD/CVD investigation into imports of hot rolled steel flat products from seven countries. The US DOC did decide earlier this week to allow the HRC case to move forward. ITA […]
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 […]
Recently Steel Market Update produced information related to the changes in the LME spot price for zinc and the costs associated with applying the Zinc to steel substrate in order to make galvanized product. It has been normal for the domestic steel mills to react to significant adjustments in the cost of zinc by adjusting […]
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 116,500 tons in July to 3.287 million tons. Shipping days at 22, were the same as June. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments decreased from 154,700 in […]
Steel Market Update publisher, John Packard, participated in the monthly galvanized steel conference call held by HARDI for their wholesalers and other HARDI member companies. The wholesalers supply galvanized steel sheet and coil to the mechanical contractors who are involved in the residential and commercial HVAC markets. The group discussed a number of key market […]
Net imports equals imports minus exports. We regard this as an important look at the overall trade picture and its effect on demand at the mill level. Figure 1 shows that net sheet product imports on a three month moving average (3MMA) basis in June continue to be more than double that which existed before […]
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 […]
On Tuesday six steel mills located east of the Rocky Mountains filed an antidumping and countervailing duty petition against seven countries: Australia, Brazil, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey and the United Kingdom. What makes this suit of particular interest to those on the West Coast USA is the source supply for two […]
Six domestic steel mills joined together to file a hot rolled trade suit today. This is now the third such suit since the filing against corrosion resistant (galvanized & zinc-aluminum or Galvalume) on June 3rd and the cold rolled petition of a couple of weeks ago. With the HR case the mills have hit the […]
The following article is written by Spencer Johnson of FC Stone LLC. With six years of experience, Spencer provides his customers strategic and tactical advice on protecting themselves against commodity price volatility in the steel markets. Spencer will rotate weekly futures articles with Andre Marshall of Crunch Risk, LLC. Spencer can be reached at spencer.johnson@intlfcstone.com. […]
Licensed data for July was updated on August 4th through the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department. Steel Market Update publishes several import reports ranging from this very early look using licensed data to the very detailed analysis of final volumes by district of entry and source nation which is available to […]
As expected, five U.S. steel mills banded together and filed an antidumping petition against cold rolled steel from: China, Russia, India, South Korea, Netherlands, Japan, United Kingdom and Brazil. Reaction from steel buyers about the scope of the cold rolled suit ranged from relatively muted to surprised. Those who had a muted response expected that […]
Essar Steel Algoma is investing CDN $240 million to modernize and expand its facilities to meet the global demand for advanced grades of steel. The investment includes $60 million in financial support from the governments of Ontario and Canada. Essar Steel Algoma received a $30 million grant from Ontario’s Ministry of Northern Development and Mines […]
ArcelorMittal submitted its first proposal to the USW negotiating committee on Monday. According to USW, the three-year keeps wages as is, cuts benefits, raises health premiums and makes changes to retirement contributions. The USW posted the following changes proposed by the Company in an update to members: The company has proposed a three-year contract with […]
This morning, Steel Market Update participated in the monthly HARDI galvanized steel conference call. Each month HARDI hosts a conference call amongst the wholesalers who supply galvanized sheet and coil to the mechanical contractors who are producing the duct work and air handling systems for both residential and commercial construction. We discussed in the previous […]
There seems to be more inaccurate analysis published on this subject than on any other that we track at Steel Market Update. For example on Saturday AMM reported that, “US steel service center shipments improved in June compared with the previous month ——-.” At a superficial level this statement is correct, but as an analysis […]
ArcelorMittal responded Monday to rumors of a potential closure of Indiana Harbor West in East Chicago. Key Banc reported that sources indicated “ArcelorMittal USA is taking steps to reduce its sheet hot end and finishing capabilities via the closure of Indiana Harbor West.” A spokesperson at ArcelorMittal USA, in an email to Steel Market Update, […]
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 […]
Net imports equals imports minus exports. We regard this as an important look at the overall trade picture and its effect on demand at the mill level. Figure 1 shows that net sheet product imports on a three month moving average (3MMA) basis in May, continue to be more than double that which existed before […]
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 […]
The Department of Commerce said Wednesday that it will proceed on AD/CVD investigations of imports of corrosion-resistant steel products from China, India, Italy, Korea, and Taiwan. A petition to investigate the products was filed on June 3, 2015 by US Steel, Nucor, ArcelorMittal USA, AK Steel, Steel Dynamics, and California Steel Industries. The products covered […]
Earlier today (Tuesday, June 23rd) HARDI sponsored their monthly galvanized steel conference call. On the call were HVAC wholesalers who sell galvanized steel sheet and coil to the HVAC mechanical contractors around the United States and Canada. Also on the call were a number of galvanized steel service centers and manufacturing companies, all associated with […]
This piece, written by Peter Wright, combines our own data analysis with recently published opinions about the iron ore, metallurgical coal and zinc markets that we find credible. Iron Ore: The Platts IODEX of 62 percent Fe delivered North China recovered to $61.25 on March 22nd, continued its upward trend in June then on June […]
I was advised by the US Department of Commerce that they will announce tomorrow (Wednesday, June 24) whether they will “…initiate AD and CVD investigations of imports of corrosion-resistant steel products from China, India, Italy, Korea and Taiwan.” We will have a fact sheet from them outlining their decision and we will provide it to […]
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 178,700 tons in May to 3.126 million tons. Shipping days at 20, were two less than in April. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments increased from 150,200 […]
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 Friday reported results through May. We run this analysis every three or four months to give readers […]
The $1.3 billion Big River Steel mill, in Osceola, Ark., is beginning to take shape. The site excavation, totaling 1,178,000 cubic yard, is nearly 100 percent complete, said Mark Bula, Chief Commercial Office in a progress report to Steel Market Update. About 26 percent of the 235,000 cubic yards of concrete that will be needed […]
This report compares domestic mill shipments and total supply to the market to enable a side by side comparison and 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 supply and mill shipments of sheet […]