Following a relatively stable first quarter, steel imports climbed in May to levels not seen in over two-years, according to preliminary Census data released earlier this week. Projected June license data suggests imports could ease from May, though still strong in comparison to levels witnessed over the past year.
US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices have continued to drift lower, pushing them further below offshore hot band prices on a landed basis.
The Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) has lauded Canada’s decision to launch an investigation into China’s unfair trade practices in electric vehicles (EVs). However, the association hopes the government will go even further and extend the investigation into other sectors.
Worthington Steel’s earnings slipped in its fiscal fourth quarter while sales ticked up.
A press conference at a Cleveland-Cliffs mill in Ohio touched upon several topics, including the unfair trade practices of Mexico and China and Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel.
Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.
Nucor plans to add a new rebar fabrication facility adjacent to its new micro-mill in North Carolina.
Mill Steel Co. has named Evan Keebler as VP of sales for its construction segment.
US sheet prices continue to fall, with SMU’s average hot-rolled (HR) coil price now at $670 per short ton (st). Prices for cold-rolled and coated products are now in the mid/high $900s/st. As I noted in my last Final thoughts, the consensus among our readers is that prices will bottom out in July. And that makes intuitive sense. Lead times in mid/late July should be stretching into the typically busier fall months. The question then is where prices bottom.
Algoma executives reiterated that operations are proceeding as normal following an unplanned BF outage earlier this year.
We have heard ominous warnings about a flood of Mexican steel threatening the US market. It's the kind of rhetoric that gets thrown around often with little regard for the facts. The reality is that the Mexican steel surge is simply not happening, and the US steel industry has consistently maintained a significant trade surplus in finished products with Mexico. In 2023 alone, this surplus exceeded $3 billion.
ArcelorMittal Mexico said it's on the brink of severing labor relations with striking members of the local mining union. This serious move comes as an illegal strike and the resulting mill outage persist into their second month, posing a significant threat to the continuation of the mill’s operations.
Domestic raw steel production ticked up last week following a seven-week low, according to the latest release by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
JSW Steel USA plans to invest $110 million in steel plate mill modernization projects with sustainable technology in its Baytown, Texas, facility.
Bend, Ore.-based Origami Solar has partnered with three US steel fabricators to prioritize a domestic supply chain for its solar frames.
Nucor's weekly hot-rolled (HR) coil price registered a notable decline this week.
Many of our contacts remain bearish about the very short-term direction of steel prices. But a consensus seems to be forming, according to our latest survey results, that a bottom will occur in July. Consensus is also that hot-rolled (HR) coil prices won't fall below $600 per short ton (st).
Offshore cold-rolled (CR) coil prices are cheaper than domestic product despite US CR coil prices ticking lower. Domestic CR coil tags stand at $995 per short ton (st) on average, down $25/st vs. our prior check of the market on Tuesday, June 18. (We will update prices again on Tuesday, June 25.) All told, US […]
The chairman of a large American steel company called for Mexico to be dropped from USMCA at a steel industry conference last week. This follows earlier calls from members of Congress to reinstate Section 232 duties on Mexico. How did we get to this point?
Summer has officially begun, and the countdown to SMU Steel Summit is on. More than 800 steel industry professionals from nearly 350 companies have already registered to attend the Summit on Aug. 26-28 at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in Atlanta. Are you one of them? If so, we’re looking forward to seeing you […]
Steel Market Update’s Steel Demand Index ticked down 2.5 points last week, slipping further into contraction territory, according to our latest survey data. SMU’s Steel Demand Index now stands at 38.5, down from 41 at the beginning of June. The decrease puts the index at its lowest measure since November 2022. The reading – down […]
Global steel output rose 6% from April to May, and is now at the highest rate seen since March 2023, according to World Steel Association’s (worldsteel) latest release.
Algoma Steel’s quarterly and full-year results took a hit from an unplanned blast furnace outage earlier this year. However, with a modernized plate mill and two new EAFs slated to come online by the end of this year, the Canadian flat-rolled steel producer is looking to a greener future.
US drill rig activity eased again last week, now down to levels not seen since late-2021, according to the latest data release from Baker Hughes. Canadian counts are moving in the opposite direction, inching higher for the sixth consecutive week to a three-month high.
Steelmaking raw material prices have generally declined over the past month according to SMU’s latest analysis.
SMU’s Current Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Index tumbled this week, while Future Sentiment ticked up slightly, according to our most recent survey data.
Demand has remained persistently weak across the globe for sheet steel, weighing on prices. US HR coil prices fell the furthest this week as high-volume, low-priced deals were transacted as mills looked to fill order books and competed with one another amid relative demand weakness. Meanwhile, European prices were also down due to low demand […]
Please enjoy this roundup of recent news from the aluminum industry from our colleagues at CRU. EU to hit Chinese electric cars with tariffs up to 48% The European Commission notified carmakers on June 12 that it would provisionally apply additional duties of 17-38% on imported Chinese EVs from next month. The duties will be […]
For the first time in weeks, activity in the futures market broke out of the recent “front grinds lower” pattern to provide new insight into the dynamics of the steel industry.
The US scrap market is quiet as we pass through June. Speculation about the direction of July is mixed, with most sentiment neutral or bearish. The concerns are about demand during the summer months. There are still several planned outages and other cutbacks at various mills that could limit overall demand for recycled steel scrap.