BNSF Railway union members have taken steps towards a work stoppage over a new attendance policy introduced during national negotiations by the railroad company. Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation union (SMART-TD) – who collectively represent […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Metallics Monitor, Feb. 10 The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) rose in February m/m by 2.4% to 392.9, gaining back some of the ground lost during January’s unusually bearish market. This slight upward trend was driven primarily by supply scarcity for obsolete grade scrap and pig iron, […]
Total mill shipments of steel products fell 3.3% in November to 8.334 million tons, slipping for only the second time in eight months. Apparent supply rose fractionally in November, up 0.2% after eroding successively the prior two months. This analysis is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import-export […]
Imports of less-expensive sheet and plate products continue to arrive on U.S. shores, a steady increase over the past seven months, driven by the need for buyers to find relief from inflated steel prices in the U.S. Although domestic steel prices have been declining, November Commerce Department data show imports’ shares of the U.S. flat products markets […]
South Korean mills are out with new lower prices for steel sheet and steady prices for plate, according to recent offers reviewed by Steel Market Update. The trend is important because U.S. mills are increasingly willing to compete with imports, meaning that the latest import offers give an indication of where domestic prices are headed. […]
By Principal Analyst Josh Spoores from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor, Jan. 22 Trends in the North American sheet market have picked up where 2021 left off, particularly a continued decline in sheet prices. Various supply pressures have overwhelmed demand and led to lower sheet prices in all North American markets. In the U.S. Midwest […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor, Feb. 9 Sheet prices in the North American sheet market have continued to collapse due to a temporary supply surplus. Since prices peaked in late September/early October, the price decline for HR and HDG coil has been at a larger amount in USD […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Producer prices expanded by 0.2% in December, seasonally adjusted, maintaining their upward climb since reaching the most recent bottom 21 months ago, reports the U.S. Labor Department. The unyielding trend continues to highlight […]
Producer prices grew by 1.0% in January, seasonally adjusted, maintaining a 22-month growth run since reaching the most recent bottom in April 2020, reports the U.S. Labor Department. Wholesale prices jumped by twice the expected level in January as inflation pressures were unabated to start the year. The Labor Department said that its Producer Price […]
Nucor Corp. has confirmed that its greenfield, $2.7 billion electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill will be built in West Virginia. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said the mill, expected to have capacity of three million tons per year, would be located in Mason County along the Ohio River. Additional sites in northern West Virginia are […]
U.S. Steel will invest $3 billion in a new state-of-the-art minimill in Osceola, Ark., near its Big River Steel plant. This new minimill will combine two electric arc furnaces (EAFs) with 3 million tons per year of advanced steelmaking and finishing capabilities, highlighted by the first endless casting and rolling facility in the U.S. Construction […]
West Virginia is on the cusp of announcing that it has been chosen for the site of Nucor Corp.’s new, $2.7 billion electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill, according to local media reports. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said when it announced the project last September that it was considering locations in three states: Ohio, Pennsylvania […]
Flat-rolled steel prices continue to fall, but the market participants I spoke to today were taking the news in stride. SMU’s average hot-rolled coil price now stands at $1,480 per ton ($74 per cwt), down $55 per ton from $1,535 per ton a week ago and down $475 per ton from a 2021 high – […]
SMU’s Community Chat webinar with Wolfe Research metals and mining managing director Timna Tanners last week was our second-best attended ever. With more than 800 registered attendees, Tanners topped her own previous record. Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, still holds the title. But not by quite as wide a margin. We […]
U.S. steel mills shipped 7,893,990 net tons in November, a 16.9% increase from the same month last year, but a decline of 3.9% from the previous month, the American Iron & Steel Institute reported. Shipments by U.S. steelmakers year to date through November totaled 86,848,042 net tons, a 17.4% increase versus 2020 shipments of 73,950,515. […]
Commercial Metals Co. (CMC) plans to build a “micro mill” to better serve markets in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. “The new micro mill will fortify our position in the large construction markets within the region and optimize CMC’s existing Eastern U.S. operational footprint,” CMC Chairman, President and CEO Barbara Smith said. The new mill […]
Algoma Steel Group Inc. said it expects its third-quarter fiscal 2022 financial results to align with its previous guidance despite lower-than-expected steel shipments for the quarter. The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based steelmaker shipped roughly 550,000 net tons of steel in the third quarter of fiscal 2022 ended Dec. 30, 2021, below prior guidance of 590,000 […]
The big question entering 2022 is how fast, and how far, steel prices will decline. As Wolfe Research Managing Director Timna Tanners said during our Community Chat this week, “the trajectory for 2022 will depend on the pace of destocking, the new capacity ramping up and demand.” Steel Market Update’s latest survey data offers some […]
Popular analyst Timna Tanners may have changed where she works but not her view that there’s a “sheet storm” on the horizon, one that will bring in sharply lower steel prices over the next few years. Formerly with Bank of America, Tanners is now the managing director of metals and mining at Wolfe Research. Speaking […]
Steel prices declined for the fourth consecutive month in December, following a year-long streak of continuous price increases. Hot-rolled coil prices declined $130 per ton throughout the month, with the SMU index averaging $1,600 per ton ($80.00 per cwt) as of Tuesday, Dec. 21 (SMU did not published updated prices on Dec. 28). The SMU Price Momentum […]
Wolfe Research Managing Director Timna Tanners will be the featured speaker for Steel Market Update’s first Community Chat webinar of 2022 on Wednesday, Jan. 5. We’ll discuss the big issues – the great debates – that will drive steel markets next year: • Will we see continued solid demand in 2022 or a “great unwind”? • […]
Total steel imports into the United States jumped by nearly 45% in the first 11 months of 2021, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute, based on preliminary Census data through November. Imports for the year to date totaled 29.7 million net tons of steel, up 44.6% versus the same period in 2020, including 21.6 […]
Nucor has decided to keep plate prices unchanged with the opening of its February order book. The current plate pricing levels – announced on Monday, Jan. 3, and effective immediately – are the same as those rolled out in late November for January orders. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker’s letter to customers also marks the first […]
BlueScope Steel has closed its $240 million deal for ferrous scrap recycler MetalX. With the transaction complete, MetalX will operate under the name BlueScope Recycling and Materials. BlueScope announced the deal in early November and closed it on Dec. 17, according to a statement released earlier this week. MetalX is the leading scrap supplier to […]
In line with the declining steel prices, lead times for spot orders from the mills continue to shorten with the average for hot rolled now below five weeks and cold rolled and galvanized now below eight weeks, based on Steel Market Update’s check of the market on Monday and Tuesday. Lead times for all products […]
First the takeaway: Don’t overthink it on the way down. Prices are falling, like it or not. The good thing, demand is still good – so don’t let falling prices ruin your holidays. Now, let’s overthink it a little. We’ve seen some chunky declines in recent weeks: SMU’s hot-rolled coil price fell $70 per ton […]
A&T Stainless – a joint venture between Allegheny Technologies and China’s Tsingshan Group – has filed a request with the Commerce Department asking for a Section 232 tariff exclusion to import hot-band coils from Indonesia. If granted, A&T intends to restart the Midland, Pa., Direct Roll Anneal and Pickle (DRAP) line that was idled in July […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group Legislation passed Dec. 16 by the Senate and now on its way to the White House will all but ban imports connected at any point in the supply chain to materials from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. However well justified by human rights, this ban will be a challenge for […]
It’s not just domestic steel prices that are falling rapidly, so too are prices abroad. Case in point: South Korean steelmaker Hyundai. Its latest offer for hot-rolled coil for February-March shipment to the West Coast is $1,450 per ton DDP to Los Angeles-area ports. That’s down significantly from prior offers of $1,600-1,640 per ton, according […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Monitor, Dec. 15 Seasonal pressures are starting to temporarily slow demand for some steel products. For sheet, this weakness is adding to a monumental shift in supply fundamentals. For other products, an unseasonably warm start to December has allowed construction demand to remain stronger than normal. […]