What’s up with plate? I’ve been asked again and again how plate has managed to maintain such a high premium over sheet this year. Here are a few arguments that have been made to me over the past week in support of high plate prices. And below that are a few charts I still find […]
Improving results from North Star BlueScope are again causing Australian steel producer BlueScope Steel to raise its 2H FY2022 earnings guidance. The previous expectations of earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for 2H of AUD $1.2 billion to $1.35 billion has been increased to $1.375 billion to $1.475 billion. The company is expecting improving earnings […]
The permitting process for Nucor’s new West Virginia sheet mill continues, with the latest development an application for authorizations with the US Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water and Rivers and Harbors Acts. The new mill will be located near Apple Grove in Mason County, W.Va., with access to the Ohio River. Two […]
Sheet steel prices are moving downwards after the March/April bump, while plate prices continue to hold their ground, according to SMU’s price indices published each 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 $1,350 per ton ($67.50 per cwt) this week and has […]
Sheet prices slipped again this week on what some sources described as a summertime market that has arrived a few weeks earlier than usual. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price was down $15 per ton week-over-week (WoW) to an average of $1,350 per ton ($67.50 per cwt). Other sheet products also fell, with cold-rolled down $30 per […]
Canada’s government has decided to continue antidumping duty orders on hot rolled sheet and strip from Brazil and China and a countervailing duty order on HR from India, while allowing the AD duty order on HR imports from Ukraine to expire. The Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) issued its final ruling in the expiry review […]
Flat Rolled = 51.4 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 48.3 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat rolled inventories declined slightly in April in terms of shipping days of supply, while the amount of material on order rose again. At the end of April, service centers carried 51.4 shipping days of […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) has agreed to acquire Mexican ferrous and nonferrous scrap recycler Roca Acero SA de CV. The Fort Wayne, Ind.-based EAF steelmaker did not disclose the purchase price but said the deal would be paid for in cash. The agreement remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, SDI said. “We […]
Nucor Corp. has agreed in principle to acquire C.H.I. Overhead Doors for $3 billion. C.H.I. is a leading manufacturer of residential and commercial overhead and rolling doors serving US and Canadian markets, and an affiliate of investment funds managed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR). The transaction value represents approximately 13x C.H.I.’s estimated […]
North Star BlueScope officially celebrated its expansion project and the commissioning of its new EAF meltshop this week in Delta, Ohio. The project, which will add 850,000 metric tons (roughly 937,000 short tons) of annual hot rolled sheet capacity once complete, was originally announced in August 2019. It was delayed slightly when, in April 2020, BlueScope said it would reschedule […]
Steel prices have peaked and are trending downward – and fast, according to the latest SMU survey results and comments from market participants. The consensus: the war in Ukraine reset the steel market to roughly where it was on Jan. 1. And now the market is trending downward at least as fast as it was in January […]
Steel Market Update’s market check this week indicates steel mill lead times are shortening for both sheet and plate products, easing an average of 0.9 weeks compared to two weeks prior. This also marks the first time lead times have fallen consecutively since January. Lead times for all tracked products are now roughly in line with levels […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor, May 11 The CRUspi plunged month-on-month (MoM) in May by over 8.6%, which is the largest percentage point decline since late 2008 and the second-largest ever in terms of total fallen points. Supply chain readjustments for both sheet and steelmaking raw materials in the […]
Imports of less expensive sheet and plate products continue to arrive at US ports, and at a faster pace in March. Following lighter volumes in February, overall flat product imports accelerated in March and took a larger share of the domestic steel market, according to Commerce Department data. Imports’ share of US sheet and plate markets […]
Total mill shipments of steel products recovered in March following repeated declines at the start the year. March’s mill shipments totaled 8.342 million tons, a 9% increase from February’s 7.655 million tons. Apparent supply also surged in March, up 12.9% versus the prior month, and expanding for the first time in three months. This analysis is based […]
Sheet prices fell hard this week after bouncing around between about $1,440-1,480 per ton ($72-74 per cwt) for much of April. Our average hot-rolled coil price dropped to $1,365 per ton this week, down $75 per ton (5.2%) from $1,440 per ton a week ago and down $115 per ton (7.8%) from $1,480 per ton […]
Sheet prices have fallen sharply following weeks of more modest declines. The big drops this week prompted SMU to shift all its sheet price momentum indicators from neutral to lower. SMU’s hot-rolled coil price plunged $75 per ton ($3.75 per cwt) week-over-week, falling well below the $1,400-per-ton threshold. Cold rolled fell $55 per ton, galvanized […]
SSAB Americas aims to increase plate prices by at least $50 per ton ($2.50 per cwt) effective immediately on all non-contract orders confirmed to ship on or after July 3. The Mobile, Ala-based steelmaker said the price hike would be $65 per ton CAD for customers in Canada. The increase applies equally to as-rolled, normalized, […]
Nucor has been granted final approval for a construction permit, clearing the way for the building of its $2.7 billion, three million tons per year sheet mill in Mason County, W.Va. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Air Quality issued the air permit to Nucor on May 5, noting that “all available […]
The US steel market continues to revert to where it was before the outbreak of war in Ukraine. SMU’s prices for sheet products are lower. Prices abroad are too. The latest bit of evidence: Published mill lead times. Case in point: Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) published updated lead times on Tuesday, May 3. They indicated […]
Sheet prices were flat or lower again this week on expectations of lower scrap prices and concerns about increased import competition over the summer months. Hot-rolled coil prices were down $10 per ton, cold-rolled prices were unchanged, galvanized base prices down $30 per ton, and Galvalume base prices down $35 per ton. Plate prices were […]
Sheet and plate prices were flat or down modestly again this week. And it has become clearer and clearer that the market has gotten over the initial shock of the war in Ukraine. Mill after mill lined up during earnings calls last month to say that they were no longer sourcing pig iron from Russia […]
Friedman Industries has acquired PlatePlus Inc. facilities in East Chicago, Ind., and Granite City, Ill., including real estate, buildings, equipment, inventory, and other assets. The deal between the two service center groups closed on April 30, Friedman said. It includes not only steel inventory but also customer and supplier networks from Plateplus locations in Loudon, Tenn. […]
The steel market has adapted to the shock of the war in Ukraine – and it’s become clearer with each passing week that a steeper price decline than we have seen to date might be in store. I wrote on Thursday that the headline data from our latest survey indicated the market had peaked. I […]
US Steel is in the midst of a 45-day planned outage on the No. 8 blast furnace at its Gary Works in northwest Indiana. The outage began on April 11 and is for typical repairs, a spokeswoman for the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker told SMU. She did not have an end date for the repairs. That said, […]
US Steel is no longer importing pig iron from Ukraine and Russia for its Big River Steel Works – now the official name of its Osceola, Ark., electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker has also mostly weaned its integrated steel mill in Košice, Slovakia, off Russian raw materials as well, they said. […]
Monthly Key Market Indicators improved slightly through March, though sentiment remains cautious, according to the latest analysis by Steel Market Update. Neutral and positive indicators have increased, while negative indicators have eased. Consumers and businesses continue to spend even though economic dynamics remain in flux, with supply disruptions weighing on the economy. While inflation continues […]
Strong demand, growing shipment levels, and robust metals pricing allowed Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. to achieve another record quarter with first quarter sales of $4.49 billion and gross profit of $1.39 billion. “Notwithstanding ongoing macroeconomic challenges, our performance was supported by positive underlying trends including continued strong demand with improving shipment levels in each […]
Steel Market Update’s latest check of the market indicates steel mill lead times are sideways to down for sheet and plate products, decreasing by an average of 0.4 weeks compared to two weeks prior. This is the first time lead times have declined on average since late January. Hot rolled, cold rolled, and galvanized lead […]
Sheet prices continue to bump around what some sources think might be the top of the market, with prices for most products down modestly week-over-week. Hot-rolled coil and cold-rolled prices slipped $30 per ton ($1.50 per cwt). Galvanized base prices were down $20 per ton. And Galvalume prices slipped $45 per ton. The dip comes […]