Speculation that steel prices were near the bottom and the mills were contemplating a price increase has proven out as ArcelorMittal became the first to hike flat rolled prices today by $40 per ton. Other mills are expected to follow. ArcelorMittal informed its commercial team today that it is raising base prices on light flat […]
Crude oil prices have returned to the levels prior to the attack on the Saudi Aramco Abqaiq crude oil processing facility on Sept. 14. The spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) FOB Cushing, Okla., exceeded $60 per barrel for one day on Sept. 16 when it reached $63.10 before falling back to $52.76 on […]
Steel price volatility was persistent in 2019, said CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores at the FMA/ASD Executive Networking Series held in Pittsburgh last week. U.S. economic growth was below the historical trend throughout 2019, but has improved since April, according to the Chicago Fed National Activity Index. Activity in two key steel sectors, fabricated metal products and […]
Nucor reported a decline in financial results as expected for the third quarter of 2019. Net earnings were $275 million, down from $386.4 million in Q2 and $676.7 million in Q3 2018. Consolidated net sales fell 7 percent from the previous quarter to $5.46 billion. Steel shipments to outside customers declined 7 percent from last […]
Based on Steel Market Update’s analysis of 10 indicators, U.S. manufacturing output is now contracting and articles manufactured from iron and steel are down by 6.1 percent year over year. This report summarizes 10 data streams that describe the state of U.S. manufacturing in general and the steel industry in particular. In data released in […]
By CRU Analyst Sam Grant Looking at our North American zinc market forecasts for 2020, there are clear arguments for either a rollover or slight decline in contract premia as we head into negotiations during the final quarter of this year. In this article, we present an overview of the North American refined market fundamentals […]
By John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update The Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index has been a mirror of the comments made by buyers of flat rolled and plate steel over the past few days. Our Sentiment Index, which measures how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to […]
By CRU Prices Analyst Estelle Tran U.S. steel sheet prices have fallen faster in early Q4 than initially expected, as lower demand levels, economic uncertainty and another $30-40 /l.ton decrease in scrap prices in October guided steel prices down. The CRU Midwest HR coil price assessment on Oct. 16 was $507 /s.ton, down $64 from […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments for the month of September: Flat Rolled = 49.9 Shipping Days of Supply Plate Steels = 52.1 Shipping Days of Supply (48.2 adjusted) Flat Rolled Service center inventories of flat-rolled steel dropped significantly in September, which the decrease in on-order volumes in August […]
February was the first month for the import market share of total steel products, including semifinished, to fall below 20 percent since August 2009. The import share remained below 20 percent through August 2019 when it was 18.4 percent. Our data goes back to January 2003 in which time period the high import share was […]
Demand for sheet products spiked to over five million tons in August for the first time since August last year, though flat rolled demand remains tepid. Construction expenditures are softening and will reduce the demand for long products through the balance of 2019. This analysis by Steel Market Update is based on steel mill shipment […]
Mill lead times for all flat rolled sheet products continued to see slight shortening over the past month. The average lead time for hot rolled is now down to nearly three and a half weeks, cold rolled is less than five and a half weeks and coated steels are less than six and a half […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores The North American sheet market has taken a turn for the worse. At a time when sheet demand and prices have already been stunted by a weaker trend of industrial growth and sheet demand, two recent events are only now starting to affect sheet prices: an on-going strike at […]
In September, the licensed import volume of rolled steel products was the lowest since February 2011, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of the latest Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data. Total rolled product imports in September declined by 15.5 percent year over year on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This follows the […]
Lack of demand for ferrous scrap, especially in the Ohio Valley and Chicago market, forced prices down another $30-40/GT for October, on top of a similar decline in September, sources tell Steel Market Update. Scrap prices are their lowest in years, dropping eight out of the last 10 months. Shred prices today are around $215/GT, […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores Sheet prices in North America have taken another step down this week losing $15-17 /s.ton w/w. Industrial demand remains limited as evidenced by the most recent ISM Purchasing Manager’s Index, which showed another contraction. Adding to this structurally weak demand environment is the ongoing strike at General Motors. This […]
The news today that U.S. Steel plans to purchase a 49.9 percent interest in Big River Steel, with an option to buy the rest within the next four years, surprised the market. But most of the steel buyers polled by Steel Market Update view the pairing of one of the nation’s oldest integrated producers with […]
The net situation changed little from August but the Treasury 10/2 yield spread became slightly positive on Sept. 27 and the SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index suffered a serious setback on Sept. 15. This report is designed to be a big picture summary of data on which we have reported in detail during the month. […]
Domestic steelmakers managed to reverse the year’s long downtrend in steel prices for a few weeks in July and August, but the turnaround was short-lived. As of mid-September, Steel Market Update’s Price Momentum Indicator is pointing firmly lower for hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steel prices, as well as for steel plate, as the […]
The growth of manufacturing in the U.S. is slowing, and on a single-month basis the ISM index became negative in August. This does not bode well for the balance of 2019 or for 2020, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of 11 manufacturing indicators. This report summarizes 11 data streams that describe the state of […]
The weekend drone strikes against Saudi oil production sent WTI futures as much as 15.5 percent higher overnight Sept. 15 to $63.34 per barrel, the biggest intraday percentage gain since June 22, 1998, according to various reports. The market is watching intently to gauge the duration and the impact of the outage on world energy […]
Demand for sheet products is declining due to the weakness in manufacturing. Construction expenditures are showing signs of softening and will reduce the demand for long products through the balance of 2019. This analysis by Steel Market Update is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import/export […]
The composite producer price index of all commodities has been relatively stable in 2019, but tinware products are becoming very uncompetitive against aluminum. This report is an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data performed by staff of Steel Market Update and is intended to provide subscribers with a view of the competitive position of […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments, reported earlier this week to data providers and Premium subscribers, shows flat rolled inventories of 55.8 days of supply, and plate inventories of 52.1 days, as of the end of August. Service center flat rolled inventories remained elevated, while plate saw a reduction […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments, reported earlier this week to data providers and Premium subscribers, shows flat rolled inventories of 55.8 days of supply, and plate inventories of 52.1 days, as of the end of August. Service center flat rolled inventories remained elevated, while plate saw a reduction […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments shows flat rolled inventories of 55.8 days of supply, and plate inventories of 52.1 days, as of the end of August. Service center flat rolled inventories remained elevated, while plate saw a reduction in supply last month to the lowest level seen all […]
Nucor expects a weaker performance from its steel mills segment in the third quarter due to lower prices for sheet and plate steel. “Although we still see stability in most of the end-use markets that we serve, there has been some softening in automotive, agricultural products and power transmission markets,” said the company in guidance […]
For those of you who are not aware, my Final Thoughts is an area where I will sometimes provide my opinion or view of the marketplace. Understand that these are my comments and are not coming from any steel mills, service centers, trading companies or the financial community. You can take them or leave them; […]
On Jan. 7-8, 2020, Steel Market Update will conduct our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop in Ontario, Calif. This workshop will include a tour of the California Steel Industries mill. Why do companies send employees to our Steel 101 workshops? Because they receive a broader understanding of: How steel […]
On Jan. 7-8, 2020, Steel Market Update will conduct our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop in Ontario, Calif. This workshop will include a tour of the California Steel Industries mill. Why do companies send employees to our Steel 101 workshops? Because they receive a broader understanding of: How steel […]