Licensed data for March was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on April 5th. An explanation of the methodology that we at SMU use to analyze the trade data is given at the end of this piece. Total rolled product licensed imports in the single month of March were […]
According to the latest data released from the US Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute, apparent steel supply for the month of February 2016 was 8,269,164 net tons. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished US steel imports and subtracting total US steel exports. February apparent […]
We have received a number of calls from sellers of steel asking for our help in trying to explain, from an independent source, why flat rolled steel prices are moving higher and why we expect this trend to continue. When looking at the history of Steel Market Update, our steel market intelligence publication was actually […]
With lead times extended and supply constrained any surprise outages, or the rumor of an outage, could have a dramatic impact on an already spooked flat rolled market. On Sunday, US Steel suffered a short term unexpected outage on their largest blast furnace, #14 at Gary Works. The two day outage is projected to have […]
US Steel will lay off about 25 percent of its salaried workers in its latest cost cutting effort. It is estimated about 750 employees in the 3,000 North American salaried positions will be laid off. “This is part of the ongoing adjustment to staff levels and operations due to challenging market conditions, including fluctuating oil […]
For the week ending April 2, 2016, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,650,000 net tons of raw steel, a 1.5 percent decrease over the previous week but a 2.2 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 70.6 percent, down […]
Essar Steel Algoma announced that it has entered Phase Two of the Sale and Investment Solicitation Process. The company reports receiving “several bids” in the first phase of the sale. During the second phase of the process, qualified bidders will be invited to a management presentation and participate in on-site tours and inspection of the […]
We know our readers enjoy hearing comments from those with whom we speak on a regular basis regarding market trends and pricing. We have had an active week heading into the first full week of April so here are some of the things our readers and sources are talking about during the last week of […]
We have been asked about the possible restart of the blast furnace at AK Steel or the furnaces at Granite City as steel prices rise and lead times remain extended. We spoke with a couple of analysts over the weekend who told us they did not see the AK Steel furnace running at any point […]
For the week ending March 26, 2016, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,675,000 net tons of raw steel, a 0.4 percent increase over the previous week and a 4.6 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 71.6 percent, up […]
Flat rolled steel pricing momentum is clearly on the side of the domestic steel mills. You have a number of the integrated mills essentially out of the spot markets and lead times are extended. Even hot rolled lead times are moving out despite weakness in the energy markets. SMU Price Momentum Indicator continues to point […]
For the week ending March 19, 2016, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,668,000 net tons of raw steel, a 3.1 percent decrease over the previous week but a 4.2 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 71.3 percent, down […]
US Steel says it will idle tubular operations in Alabama, Texas and Ohio, laying off nearly 800 workers. The steelmaker will temporarily idle Lone Star Tubular Operations in Texas and Fairfield Tubular Operations in Alabama in response to market conditions in the energy industry. “As we adjust operations throughout our tubular organization, we are right-sizing […]
Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Christian Provenzano has appealed to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne for help in saving Essar Steel Algoma. Under terms of the sales and investment solicitation process, potential buyers for Essar Steel Algoma are to submit binding offers by May 13. “Based on my own assessment of the matter and taking into consideration […]
There is much more to each of the trade cases than the preliminary and final announcements might have you believe. There are inconsistencies in the rulings where attorneys and clients alike scratch their heads to figure out how the U.S. Department of Commerce came up with their preliminary determination deposit rates. The second item not […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued to move higher over the past week. We are seeing even the weakest product, hot rolled, gaining traction as lead times move out due to the shutdown of US Steel and AK Steel mills (Granite City and Ashland). SMU was advised by both steel mills and steel buyers that orders […]
For the week ending March 12, 2016, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,722,000 net tons of raw steel, a 2.9 percent increase over the previous week and a 7.6 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 73.6 percent, up […]
US Steel Canada continues to lose money due to low steel prices said Court Monitor Alex Morrison in the 22nd monitor’s report. January steel shipments at the CCAA protected steel mill increased by 9 percent to 150,878 tons. Revenue was *$79.0 million resulting in an average selling price per ton of $524. Selling price was […]
The ruling regarding the preliminary determination of dumping of hot rolled steel out of Australia, Brazil, Turkey, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom was announced this evening. You will hear split opinions as to whether the ruling is a “win” or “loss” for the domestic steel mills. It is my opinion that this […]
US Steel CEO Mario Longhi took a 35 percent pay cut last year after the company failed to meet financial targets. Longhi’s pay cut was due mostly to the elimination of a cash incentive award that in 2014 totaled $4 million dollars. A recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows the CEO’s compensation at $8.6 […]
Licensed data for February was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on March 8th. At SMU we perform a detailed analysis of this data, an explanation of our methodology is given at the end of this write up. Total rolled product licensed imports in the single month of February […]
US Steel revealed a new corporate structure for its tubular operations last week. Ownership of the Lorain, Ohio and Fairfield, Ala., operations has been transferred to a new, wholly owned subsidiary US Tubular Operations, LLC. US Steel Seamless Tubular Operations, LLC and the existing US Steel Tubular Products, Inc. (a subsidiary of US Steel Corporation), […]
In Sunday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update we warned our readers that something was happening in China that could impact US steel prices. We have been working on this project ever since and this is what we have learned from multiple sources around the world: Iron ore and steel prices are surging in China. […]
For the week ending March 5, 2016, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,673,000 net tons of raw steel, a 1.1 percent decrease over the previous week but a 2.6 percent increase over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 71.5 percent, down […]
US Steel’s Lorain Tubular steel operations will be idled beginning March 27. The plant is expected to remain down for an unspecified time period until order books improve. US Steel spokesperson Sarah Casella said, “We continue to adjust operations at Lorain to meet customer demand.” The sprawling steel complex in Lorain workers includes both US […]
The market is weighing the latest attempt by the domestic steel mills to raise flat rolled steel prices. Virtually every mill has come out with spot market price increase announcements of $30 per ton on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels. However, there are a couple of mills that have very little spot […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), and financial futures markets was written by Dave Feldstein. As Flack Steel’s director of risk management, David Feldstein is an active participant in the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market and we believe he will provide insightful commentary and trading ideas to our […]
Reaction to the US Department of Commerce (DOC) preliminary duties on cold-rolled steel has been mixed, depending on what side of the antidumping determination the commentators are on. In the UK, the steel sector is readying itself for further onslaught of Chinese exports while its own steel exports to the U.S. are assigned dumping margins […]
Ontario Superior Court Justice Herman Wilton-Siegel settled the question of whether a $2.2 million claim by US Steel on its former subsidiary US Steel Canada is equity or debt. It’s debt says the judge. In a decision on Monday, Wilton-Siegel said US Steel’s investment in its Canadian operation was in the form of loans that […]
An Essar Steel Algoma and US Steel Canada combo may be in the works. Bloomberg reports that bidders for US Steel Canada are looking at combining the operations at Algoma with those at Hamilton and Lake Erie Works. The resulting steel company could become a major competitor in the North American steel market. Potential bidders, […]