SSAB Americas notified customers today, March 7, that it intends to raise its transaction prices by a minimum of $40 per ton effective immediately for all new non-contract orders acknowledged for shipment the week of April 28 and beyond. The increase applies to As-Rolled Mill Plate, Cut-To-Length Plate >72”, Hot Rolled Coils >72”, as well […]
SSAB Americas notified customers today, March 7, that it intends to raise its transaction prices by a minimum of $40 per ton effective immediately for all new non-contract orders acknowledged for shipment the week of April 28 and beyond. The increase applies to As-Rolled Mill Plate, Cut-To-Length Plate >72”, Hot Rolled Coils >72”, as well […]
Some notes that I made to myself during the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association meeting in Nashville this week. There is no panic amongst the attendees. Uncertainty reigns supreme, and uncertainty is difficult to live with. No one with whom I spoke was predicting prices to go crazy. Most felt there would be a modest uptick, […]
Good evening from Nashville, Tenn., and the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association annual meeting. It was a beautiful sunny day today, but a bit on the chilly side for my Florida bones… I enjoyed the two speakers that I saw this afternoon. Dr. Chris Kuehl is back in good voice and humor. He entertained the audience […]
It’s Oscar night. I will try to keep my final thoughts brief. President Trump has delayed the increase in the Section 301 tariffs against China. The deadline was March 2, 2019. No new deadline has been set. However, President Xi of China will meet with President Trump in Florida in the later part of March. […]
The following op-ed in support of steel tariffs, published last week by Alabama’s AL.com, was written by Thomas Gibson, president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute. Gibson will be a keynote speaker at Steel Market Update’s 2019 Steel Summit, scheduled for Aug. 26-28 in Atlanta. This will be Gibson’s first appearance at […]
SSAB Americas has announced the retirements of two long-standing, distinguished members of the company’s senior executive team: Steve Hansen, Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, and Paul Wilson, Senior Advisor to Operations. Wilson’s retirement will be effective Feb. 1, 2019, and Hansen’s retirement will be effective March 1, 2019. Hansen has been with SSAB for […]
Steelmaker SSAB plans to invest up to $100 million in its operations near Mobile, Ala. Improvements to the mill, to take place from 2019 to 2021, will increase the potential capacity for high-strength steel production by 130,000 metric tons per year, the company said. The investment aims to increase production capacity for high-strength, value-added steels, […]
SSAB Americas and Nucor both announced a $40 per ton increase in the price of plate products this week. SSAB Americas informed customers on Monday, Oct. 22, that it is increasing transaction prices on plate products by a minimum of $40 per ton, effective immediately for all non-contract orders acknowledged for shipment the week of […]
I am keeping the SMU Flat Rolled Price Momentum Indicator at “Neutral” as I do not yet see any clear-cut signs of a solid push higher on pricing. What I have seen is a possible short-term bottom to the lower end of our range. This helped take our hot rolled index average from $805 to […]
Both the plate mills and their customers are advising Steel Market Update that, unlike the hot rolled markets, the plate markets are hot and are expected to continue to be hot for some time to come. The plate mills continue to be on “controlled order entry” (allocation) and all of the mills are struggling to […]
Some quick comments I received as I moved around the market today talking about steel prices: JSW Ohio (Acero Junction mill) just got in 50,000 tons of slabs and is in the market. Credit issues are becoming an issue for companies as their customers are reaching their limits sooner due to the high cost of […]
Many steel buyers, and investors in steel futures, are betting that steel prices will follow the typical seasonal pattern and decline in the last few months of the year, even with the Trump tariffs boosting the market. While that may prove true for flat roll, it will most likely not be the case for steel […]
Steel buyers are divided on whether prices have peaked, but most would agree that if they do move higher, any increase will be modest. Steel Market Update canvassed sources this week. Said one executive, expressing a common view: “I don’t see prices rising. I feel we are at the top.” Others anticipate a modest uptick […]
Steel Market Update has adjusted our SMU Price Momentum to Neutral from Higher on all products except plate, which remains at Higher for the moment. We chose to move at this time due to weakness we are seeing in the cold rolled and coated steel markets, with mild price erosion already evident in certain markets. […]
The Association for Iron & Steel Technology announced the appointment of a new president and slate of officers for 2018-2019. James Dudek, vice president, Asset Revitalization and Manufacturing Excellence, U.S. Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, Pa., will assume the presidency of AIST. Dudek succeeds Randy Skagen, vice president and general manager, Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa. Dudek said he […]
We saw another surge in flat rolled and plate steel prices last week as steel buyers deal with closed order books, allocation and uncertainty. With the Section 232 tariffs set to go into effect on Friday of this week (March 23) buyers are scrambling to make sure they are covered. This has allowed the steel […]
SSAB Americas announced yesterday, March 14, that it is increasing steel transaction prices by a minimum of $50 per ton for customers in the United States, and $60 per ton for customers in Canada, effective immediately on all new non-contract orders, and for all existing noncontract orders acknowledged for shipment the week of April 29 […]
SSAB Americas announced yesterday, March 14, that it is increasing steel transaction prices by a minimum of $50 per ton for customers in the United States, and $60 per ton for customers in Canada, effective immediately on all new non-contract orders, and for all existing noncontract orders acknowledged for shipment the week of April 29 […]
A small fire occurred at SSAB Mobile on Wednesday evening. The incident was confined to the building of plate processing partner Bastech, said a spokesperson for SSAB. The SSAB steel mill was not impacted and there was no disruption to production. No injuries were reported and an investigation is underway. SSAB’s Alabama steel mill is […]
President Trump’s announcement today of his intention to impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports puts the steel industry on course for historic change. Historically good or historically bad, or perhaps some of both, depends on the individual’s perspective. Following are some of the reactions Steel Market Update received from readers, whose names were […]
The SMU Steel Summit Conference is THE fastest growing steel conference in North America and THE one conference manufacturing, distribution, suppliers to the industry and steel mills want to attend. Details about the agenda, speakers, location and costs, as well as how to register, can be found on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel-Summit or you can contact […]
Responding to strong demand in the New Year and the market’s apparent acceptance of higher price tags, the major mills have announced another round of price increases on plate and flat rolled products. For most mills, this is the fourth increase they’ve announced in the past three months. On Monday, Nucor’s Plate Mill Group announced […]
SSAB Americas notified customers today, Jan. 29, that it is increasing transaction prices on steel plate products by a minimum of $50 per ton, effective immediately on all new noncontract orders. The increase will apply to As-Rolled Mill Plate, Cut-To-Length Plate >72”, Hot Rolled Coils >72”, as well as Normalized and Quenched & Tempered Plate. […]
On Wednesday and Thursday of this past week a sold-out group of attendees and six Steel Market Update instructors, one event coordinator and a potential future instructor traveled to Mobile, Alabama to participate in the first Steel 101 workshop of 2018. The workshop was a success aided by the generosity of the SSAB plate mill […]
SSAB North America achieved higher market share in 2017. SSAB’s share of the North American steel slab market was estimated at 30 percent for the year. Full-year earnings and shipments increased compared to 2016. Sales for the full year were SEK 12.7 billion ($1.6 billion) and shipments 1,971,000 metric tons (2.17 million short tons). Fourth-quarter […]
On Wednesday and Thursday of this past week, a sold-out group of attendees and six Steel Market Update instructors, one event coordinator and a potential future instructor traveled to Mobile, Ala., to participate in the first Steel 101 workshop of 2018. The workshop was a success, aided by the generosity of the SSAB plate mill […]
The wheels are moving and things are happening that are going to affect the momentum behind this market. First, there are new price increase announcements being made, first out of California and now by ArcelorMittal USA, which has put new base prices into the market. Second, Big River Steel put their customers on allocation for […]
We have mentioned this elsewhere in today’s newsletter, but it bears repeating. The recent Section 201 decision by President Trump on residential washers and solar equipment may well be a blueprint for what we might see when the Section 232 decision is made on steel. The formula seems to be pointing toward some form of […]
I was “chatting” (by email) with a financial analyst about a number of items earlier today. (How long will price momentum remain with the steel millls? Will a downturn in Chinese numbers creep into the U.S. market, etc.?) One of the items discussed was Section 232 and whether Trump will do anything that would actually […]