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.
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.
US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices fell further this past week, pushing them below offshore hot band prices on a landed basis.
US sheet prices edged lower this week as discounting continues. Major factors remain ample supply, shorter lead times, and lower input costs. Meanwhile, demand had remained steady to soft, depending on the end market. SMU’s hot-rolled (HR) coil price now stands at $685 per short ton (st) on average, down $25/st from last week. Hot […]
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.
North American auto assemblies ticked higher in May, moving up for the second straight month and reaching a nine-month high, according to LMC Automotive data. While assemblies were up month on month (m/m), they are still 1.7% lower year on year (y/y).
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.
Shipments of heating and cooling equipment receded from March to April according to the latest data released from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI).
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.
As the scrap market for June settles at lowered levels, let’s look at the situation for exports of ferrous scrap from the US East and Gulf coasts. Despite declines in the North American ferrous markets over the last two months, export prices have remained range-bound within a tight trading window. After a brief decline last […]
A roundup of recent aluminum news from CRU.
Pig iron prices have been trending higher in all key markets besides Europe. Limited exports from Brazil and Ukraine are contributing to higher prices in the USA, though soft demand cushioned a sharp price upswing. In the US, pig iron prices increased by $15 per metric ton (mt) m/m to $485/mt CFR NOLA. Buying activity […]
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.
Crude oil prices are forecast to ease slightly through the remainder of the year, while natural gas prices are expected to move higher following recent lows
Domestic scrap prices have fallen in June for all grades tracked by SMU, with prime scrap sinking $30 per gross ton (gt) from May, according to scrap sources.
US hot-rolled (HR) coil prices fell further this past week, bringing them even with offshore hot band prices on a landed basis.
US light-vehicle (LV) sales rose to an unadjusted 1.43 million units in May, up 4.8% vs. year-ago levels, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported. The year-on-year (y/y) growth in domestic LV sales came in with a 7.6% month-on-month (m/m) boost.
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.
Sometimes, words can lead you in interesting directions. Specifically, crosswords. For the last six weeks we have been making steel-themed crosswords in the lead-up to SMU's Steel 101 course in Fort Wayne, Ind., which is taking place today and tomorrow. I’ve learned snippets of steel history and educated myself on the finer points of sponge iron.