The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) released data earlier this week for net shipments of steel mill products for the month of November. Total shipments for the month were reported to be 7,604,428 net tons (NT), down 8.2 percent from October tonnage but up 2.8 percent from November 2012. YTD tonnage through November was […]
In the United States approximately 60 percent of the steel produced is through electric arc furnaces (EAF) used by so-called “mini-mills.” Electric arc furnaces use primarily scrap along with pig iron or DRI (direct reduced iron) to charge the furnaces. All of the long products (rebar, bar, angles, beams) are produced through EAF technology and […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce recently released revised import statistics for the month of November and December. Total preliminary imports for November are 2,584,176 net tons (NT), down 16.7 percent compared to October import figures. November imports are below both the 3 month-moving-average (3MMA) and 12 month-moving-average (12MMA) calculated through October. December imports, based on […]
Platts took all of their flat rolled sheet indices higher this past week and they now reference benchmark hot rolled at $685 per ton – $15 per ton higher than Steel Market Update and $17 per ton higher than CRU. With the New Year Holiday sandwiched in the middle of this past week SMU did […]
In the steel business and particularly in the painted steel business, a fair amount of non-prime or secondary flat rolled sheet and coil product is produced. Non-prime painted steel is generated either because the steel substrate is substandard or because there is a problem in the painting process. A small sample of steel problems are: […]
On Monday, December 23, 2013 Nucor Sheet Mill Group advised their flat rolled customers that “due to higher raw material prices, the Nucor Sheet Mill Group will increase base pricing to the following levels, effective immediately:” Hot Rolled = $35.00/cwt ($700 net ton) Cold Rolled = $40.50/cwt ($810 per ton) Galvanized = $40.50/cwt ($810 per […]
With the announcements by NLMK USA, Nucor and ArcelorMittal USA on Monday, it is quite clear that the flat rolled steel mills are marching to the same drummer when it comes to carbon sheet pricing. All of the announcements made on Monday reflected the same base price levels: Hot Rolled = $35.00/cwt ($700 per ton) […]
I thought our Premium Level readers might appreciate the latest forecast from Timna Tanners, Bank of America Merrill Lynch metals and mining analyst. Timna was a little “light” in her price forecast for 2013 hot rolled coil which was originally $555 average and was upgraded during the year to $622. Tanners believes some of the […]
Steel Dynamics issued its fourth quarter 2013 guidance on Tuesday reporting earnings in the range of $0.21 to $0.25 per diluted share, below analyst estimates ranging from $0.26 to $0.31. SDI announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share. Earnings are expected to be comparable to those of third quarter. Higher steel pricing is […]
Planned outages and the collapse of the storage dome at Nucor Steel Louisiana negatively impacted earnings said Nucor in its fourth quarter guidance. Earnings per diluted share are expected to be in the range of $0.30-$0.40, down from third quarter 2013 earnings of $0.46 per diluted share and fourth quarter 2012 earnings of $0.43 per […]
Essar Steel Algoma has been granted funding relief for the Company’s defined benefit pension plan by the Ontario government. The new regulation allows Essar Algoma make fixed payments over the next three years and extends the amortization period through 2024. The regulation is effective as of December 1, 2013. Essar Steel Algoma’s pension contribution requirements […]
An explosion and fire at the US Steel Great Lakes Works in Ecorse, Mich., has killed a worker and halted steel production. The Ecorse fire department was called to the scene of the fire at 2:50 am on Sunday morning. US Steel spokesman Courtney Boone said that the explosion occurred at the plant’s steel shop […]
We communicated with one of our main Asian contacts over the past few days. We wanted to know what they have been seeing regarding new carbon sheet price offers out of China for their European customers (this source does not ship steel to the USA). We also wanted to learn more about iron ore prices […]
Shipments of sheet and strip products in the first 10 months of 2013 were 29,178,320 tons, a decrease of 0.3 percent from the same period last year. Shipments in the three months August through October averaged 4,216,504 tons / month, an increase of 2.4 percent from the previous 3 months May through July and an […]
Year to date net imports of all hot worked products combined was 10,025,543 tons, down by 26,420 tons from the first ten months of 2012. This reduction was entirely driven by tubulars and plate. Pipe and tube had a decline in net imports of 925,617 tons and plate a decline of 509,778 tons. All other […]
Imports of most rolled products and semi finished declined in November. The only exceptions were rail and tin plate. Sheet products were down by 21.5 percent in total but within that group coated products were down over 40 percent. An analysis of the 3 month moving averages (3MMA) of imports results in a very different […]
There is a lot of interest in what direction spot flat rolled prices will move from here. It appears there is a split between some of the domestic steel mills regarding the most recent price announcements made by AK Steel and Severstal NA. We understand that spot prices on hot rolled are hitting a bit […]
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out its series of producer price indexes, for thousands of goods and materials. The latest release on Thursday reported October results. These statistics are a useful way to evaluate any changes in the competitive position of steel against competing materials. For the purpose of this report, SMU […]
Apparent supply is defined as domestic mill shipments to domestic locations plus imports. Sources are the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Department of Commerce. The three month moving average (3MMA) of the total tonnage of flat rolled sheet and strip supply was 4,469,473 tons per month in the period July through September. This […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) reported today that for the month of September 2013, U.S. steel mills shipped 7,879,747 net tons, a 5.6 percent decrease from the 8,343,075 net tons shipped in the previous month , August 2013, and a 8.9 percent increase from the 7,233,375 net tons shipped in […]
Severstal NA reported sales volume increased 2.6 percent quarter-over-quarter to 1.2 million tonnes in the third quarter due to improved sales of CRC and galvanized products. Revenue was reported at $993 million, up 4.2 percent from $953 million in the second quarter. Higher sales volume and pricing along with lower costs at Severstal Columbus resulted […]
ArcelorMittal reported a net loss of $193 million in the third quarter. Sales of $19.6 billion were down from $19.7 in the second quarter and $20.2 billion in the third quarter of 2012. EBITDA of $1.7 billion was reported for the quarter, 24 percent higher than the same quarter in 2012 and well above analyst […]
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Nov. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Daniel R. DiMicco has announced that he is retiring from the Board of Directors of Nucor (NYSE: NUE) and from his position as Executive Chairman on December 31, 2013. In appreciation for his distinguished and exemplary service to Nucor as CEO, Chairman and Executive Chairman of the Company, […]
Olympic Steel announced net income of $1.3 million compared to $1.6 million in third quarter 2012. Net sales dropped 11.3 percent year-over-year to $304 million for the third quarter. Flat products sales were $248 million and tubular and pipe product sales totaled $55.5 million for the quarter, both down from the same period last year. […]
Olympic Steel announced net income of $1.3 million compared to $1.6 million in third quarter 2012. Net sales dropped 11.3 percent year-over-year to $304 million for the third quarter. Flat products sales were $248 million and tubular and pipe product sales totaled $55.5 million for the quarter, both down from the same period last year. […]
Based on recently released data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, exports of steel rose slightly during the month of August to 1,147,411 net tons (all products). This represents an increase of 60,102 tons compared to the exports shipped during the month of July which totaled 1,087,309 tons. August exports of hot rolled totaled 86,065 […]
The 3 month moving average (3MMA) of imports of the combined tonnage of billets, blooms and slabs through September reached the highest level since February last year. We use the 3MMA to avoid getting too wrapped up in a single months numbers which can be a fruitless exercise. On the same basis flat rolled products […]
New orders for manufactured durable goods in September came in slightly above trend at $233.411 billion, (Fig 1). This monthly data is very spiky mainly due to erratic orders for civil aircraft. However it is one of the earliest indicators for US manufactured goods and though we are not involved in aviation the overall trend […]
Pencil them in as non-believers. During our monthly steel conference call held with HARDI wholesalers who distribute steel sheet and coil, we were advised that it is only a matter of time before steel prices begin to falter. One of the wholesalers told the group, “…Forty dollars per hundredweight – How many months out of […]
Total service center carbon steel shipments declined by 241,500 tons in September compared to August but shipping days also declined by two. As a result, tons per day shipments increased from 158,100 to 161,800. Month end inventory increased by 2,000 tons to 7,604,000 tons. Intake improved from 162,210 tons per day in August to 166,940 […]