Steel Market Update’s latest market check revealed that steel mill lead times continue to inch down for sheet and plate products as they move closer to historical norms. On average, lead times declined by 0.2 weeks compared to our early June figures and are down 0.4 weeks compared to one month ago. Lead times over […]
Sheet prices continued to fall this week on lower raw material costs, a buyers’ strike and concerns in some corners about a potential recession. But that gloomy sentiment was not universally shared, with some sources pointing to strong or at least steady demand despite the lower prices. SMU’s average hot-rolled coil price now stands at […]
Despite falling prices and declining lead times for galvanized sheet, overall demand is still generally strong and a good reason for optimism, according to members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International on this month’s call of HARDI’s Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council. One HARDI member in the Rocky Mountain region noted that his company […]
Wolfe Research managing director Timna Tanners will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, June 29, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available free to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about Tanners’ outlook for steel prices, raw materials costs, […]
Wolfe Research managing director Timna Tanners will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, June 29, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available free to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about Tanners’ outlook for steel prices, raw materials costs, […]
The 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta, is just 63 days away. The dates for this year’s conference are Aug. 22-24. We begin with a pre-Summit program at 9 a.m on Aug. 22. The official start of the conference will be at 1 p.m. The […]
The 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta, is just 63 days away. The dates for this year’s conference are Aug. 22-24. We begin with a pre-Summit program at 9 a.m on Aug. 22. The official start of the conference will be at 1 p.m. The […]
By CRU Economist Veronika Akhmadieva, from CRU’s Global Economic Outlook With a higher-than-expected headline CPI inflation reading of 8.6% in May, the Fed opted for an even more aggressive monetary tightening. After a 50 bps increase in the federal funds rate in May – which is the highest increase since 2000 – the Fed raised […]
Editor’s note: Steel Market Update is please to share this abbreviated Premium content with our Executive members. For information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. If you are part of a service center company and interested in becoming a data provider, please contact Estelle.Tran@CRUGroup.com. Flat Rolled = 54.7 Shipping Days of Supply […]
There have been some interesting developments in the plate market lately if you’ve been paying close attention. Let’s start with Nucor’s price decrease on cut-to-length (CTL) plate. For starters, let’s be clear that it’s only CTL prices that were dropped. Prices for discrete plate are unchanged. First, a little background. CTL plate refers to material […]
Imports of less expensive sheet and plate products continue to arrive at US ports, though at a much slower pace in April. Following a boost in volumes in March, imports of flat products decelerated in April and saw their share of the domestic steel market fall, according to Commerce Department data. Imports’ share of US sheet […]
Total mill shipments of steel products slipped in April following a slight uptick the month prior. April’s mill shipments totaled 8.12 million tons, 2.6% decline from March’s 8.34 million tons. Apparent supply also fell in April, down 4.7% versus the prior month. This analysis is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel […]
Flat Rolled = 54.7 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 55.2 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat rolled inventories rose in May as many service centers reported signs of slowing demand. At the end of May, service centers carried 54.7 shipping days of supply on an adjusted basis, according to SMU […]
Nucor Corp. expects to post the most profitable quarter in its history, the company said, for its second-quarter ending July 2 earnings guidance. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker expects earnings of $8.75 to $8.85 per diluted share in the second quarter, according to figures released on Wednesday, June 15. That’s up from the previous record of […]
High steel prices continued to benefit Canadian flatrolled steelmaker Algoma Steel Group as it posted strong results for its fiscal 2022 fourth quarter and full year ended March 31. “Our strong results for the fiscal fourth quarter capped off an incredible year at Algoma, one that produced record revenues, profitability and cash flows. Relentless execution […]
Sheet prices are falling at the fastest clip we’ve seen since before the war in Ukraine. Let’s call it the great rewind. But where are we rewinding to – earlier this year or 2019, the last “normal” market we had before the disruptions caused by the pandemic and the war? First come context: SMU’s average […]
Hot-rolled coil prices have suffered their biggest week-over-week decline since before the war in Ukraine sent tags sharply higher. Steel Market Update’s average hot-rolled coil price stands at $1,100 per ton ($55.50 per cwt), down $90 per ton from $1,190 per ton last week and down $265 per ton from $1,365 per ton in mid-May. […]
The European Union is adjusting its steel safeguard measures, according to a document filed at the World Trade Organization. The EU’s safeguard instrument is entering its fifth year of application. The liberalization rate, which is meant to progressively allow more import competition into the market while the domestic industry adjusts to it, had previously been […]
Antidumping and countervailing duty (“trade remedy”) cases provide a rare glimpse into tariffs on imported goods that entered the US before they were subject to these burdensome duties. In the opinion of some, retroactively applied tariffs are always unfair to importers and their downstream US customers. Others disagree, believing that they deter imports competing with […]
Editor’s note: SMU contributor Bryan Tice is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and the firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. Prior to Metal Edge Partners, Bryan held a variety of commercial […]
Mills are struggling to fill July order books, and some might still have room in June – that’s the feedback we’re getting from market participants and in our survey. You can check the full details in Brett Linton’s writeup of our latest lead time figures. One consequence of slipping lead times: We’re hearing from more […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor, June 8 The CRUspi plummeted again month-on-month in June by over 12.3%, which is a larger drop than in May. This makes it the third-largest percentage point drop on record and the second largest in terms of total points. The supply shock caused by […]
Steel Market Update’s latest market check indicates steel mill lead times continue to decline for sheet products as they move closer to historical norms. Plate lead times have been relatively flat since mid-May. Lead times over the past two weeks have been roughly in line with what we were seeing in the early weeks of […]
May was a good month for market participants surveyed by SMU, most of whom reported meeting or beating expectations then. Approximately 55% of survey respondents said they met their business forecasts last month, 25% said they exceeded them, and only 20% said they missed forecast. The big question will be June, which has seen steel price […]
The big news of the day is that hot-rolled coil prices slipped below $1,200 per ton ($60 per cwt) for the first time since the start of the Ukraine war. The big question remains how far they’ll fall and how fast. There are no immediate signs of what might stop the declines. The Detroit-area scrap […]
Flack Global Metals (FGM) will open a new metals service center near the port of Houston in the fourth quarter of this year, the company announced Tuesday. “FGM Houston” will be located on the campus of North Shore Steel and is FGM’s first physical location. The 60,000-square-foot facility will service flat-rolled steel, aluminum, and stainless […]
Severstal is no longer shipping “anything” to the United States, a company spokeswoman said. The Russian steelmaker instead intends to “continue working with our partners who are not tied with obligations to US,” she said in an email to Steel Market Update. The comments come after the US Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets […]
Sheet steel prices continue to decline from the March/April bump, while plate prices are easing at a slower rate, according to SMU’s price indices published last Tuesday. Plate prices typically carry a premium over hot rolled prices because plate is a value-added product and requires more time on the mill. Hot rolled coil averaged $1,255 per ton […]
Several of you, including some senior executives, have told me recently that I’m being too pessimistic about pricing. I’m not sure what to say about that. It gives me no joy to write about prices falling. No doubt it hurts those holding inventory to see it devalued. But me not writing about prices falling doesn’t […]
Sheet and plate prices continue to fall. That’s not a surprise, as there is little reason for them to do otherwise. What is surprising when you step back is just how quickly prices have fallen, and how much further they could continue to fall. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price now stands at $1,255 per ton ($62.75 […]