Tag: steel

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.

The summer doldrums are here. That means lazy days at the office, or behind the computer. Perhaps heading over to the water cooler to chat, maybe stare at a fly buzzing on a windowsill. There is work to be done, product to be made or shipped, but there’s no hurry. And around lunchtime, you hang that classic sign on the front door: Gone fishin’.

Steel mill lead times remain short for all steel products tracked by SMU, according to our latest market survey. Service center and manufacturers continue to report short to normal lead times for sheet and plate products.

CMC reported solid demand and a healthy start to the construction season in its latest quarterly earnings statement.

The next SMU Community Chat will be Wednesday, June 26, at 11 am ET (10 am CT) with Gary Stein, CEO of Triple-S Steel Holdings Inc. The webinar is free to attend. A recording will be available to SMU members. You can register here.

US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices fell further this past week, pushing them below offshore hot band prices on a landed basis.

Steel buyers of hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized products found mills more willing to negotiate spot pricing this week, according to our most recent survey data. However, buyers of Galvalume and plate products said mills were less willing to talk price.

Mill Steel Co. announced several executive appointments as it works to transform the organization.

Nearly 800 people have registered to attend Steel Summit on Aug. 26-28 at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in Atlanta.

Flack Global Metals (FGM) is set to take majority ownership of Pacesetter Steel Service.

Galvanized prices have tumbled from a month ago, and many market participants expect that trend to continue in July.

ArcelorMittal Mexico is suffering a significant production loss as the labor strike at its mill in Lazaro Cardenas is now in its fourth week.

Steel Dynamics Inc.’s (SDI’s) top executive Mark D. Millett has received the 2024 Willy Korf/Ken Iverson Steel Vision Award.

Domestic raw steel production fell to a seven-week low last week, according to the latest release by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).

Flat Rolled = 60.6 Shipping days of supply Plate = 61.1 Shipping days of supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel supply rose in May with a drop-off in shipments. At the end of May, service centers carried 60.6 shipping days of supply on an adjusted basis, up from 57.8 shipping days of supply […]

Steel Dynamics Inc. guided to significantly reduced second-quarter earnings as its steel operations have taken a hit from lower prices.

U.S. Steel has guided to lower second-quarter earnings both sequentially and on-year in "dynamic" spot price market.

Nucor priced its weekly hot-rolled (HR) coil consumer spot price (CSP) at $715 per short ton (st) this week, down $5/st from last week.

The conventional wisdom is that sheet prices will trend down for the next few weeks (maybe the next two months) before rising again in August – around when lead times stretch into the busier fall months. We see that reflected in our survey results and in market chatter. And there are plenty of data points to choose from if you want to support of that position.

Former President Trump’s visit to Capitol Hill last week made a lot of news. One proposal directly involves international trade and tariffs. While the specifics are hazy, President Trump allegedly talked about replacing the federal income tax on individuals with tariff increases. Let’s check that out.

Offshore cold-rolled (CR) coil prices have changed little, but they are still notably cheaper than domestic product. That remains the case even as US CR coil prices ticked lower this week.

US drill rig activity eased further last week, now down to a two-and-a-half-year low according to the latest update from Baker Hughes. In contrast, Canadian counts inched higher and are now at a three-month high.

We’re less than a week off from the official start of summer, and anticipation leading up to SMU’s Steel Summit 2024 is already heating up.

A roundup of recent aluminum news from CRU.

Canada’s Algoma is set to host the grand opening of its modernized plate mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, on June 18.

Nucor Corp. has guided to much lower second-quarter earnings, as profitability in its steel mills segment suffers due to lower prices and volumes.

The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices has narrowed for the second consecutive month, according to SMU’s most recent pricing data.

We’ve been writing a lot about sheet prices, and those for hot-rolled (HR) in particular, coming down. Here's one thing that hasn't dropped: The wide spread between HR and cold-rolled (CR) prices. That's what's in a chart below. And I'm using it as a rough proxy for galv and G'lume base prices as well

The amount of finished steel available to the US market rose 1% from March to April, according to SMU calculations on Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) data.