On Friday, SSAB announced another plate price increase. Plate buyers were putting the new “aim to” base price around $700 per ton. Plate prices have been stubborn to move higher. SMU will watch momentum carefully this week to see if prices have finally turned the corner. This weekend I am in New Orleans attending HARDI’s […]
This morning President Trump tweeted that due to the decline in the Brazilian and Argentinian currencies, he intends to place 25 percent tariffs on steel and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum from both countries. His tweet has created a great deal of confusion in the U.S. steel markets. Steel Market Update is attempting to […]
This morning President Trump tweeted that due to currency manipulation by Brazil and Argentina, he intends to place 25 percent tariffs on steel from both countries, and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum. His tweet has created a great deal of confusion in the U.S. steel markets. Steel Market Update is attempting to help calm […]
Did everybody buckle up on your way to work on Monday morning? Boy, what a week it has been, and it’s only Tuesday! For those of you who are not aware of the events of the past few days, I will do a quick recap. Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, U.S. Steel had a large water […]
Last week Steel Market Update conducted our mid-November flat rolled and plate steel market analysis. We invited 480 individuals involved in manufacturing, service centers, steel mills, trading companies and toll processors to participate in our questionnaire. On purpose, the survey is heavily weighted to manufacturing companies and service centers since they purchase the vast majority […]
The following article is written by John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update On Sunday, SMU published in my Final Thoughts the following: “There has also been discussion about U.S. Steel in the marketplace as to whether the mill has decided to concentrate on auto, appliance, energy and electrical markets and perhaps move away […]
Steel Market Update will not publish on Thursday, Nov. 28, or Sunday, Dec. 1, due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. Our offices will be closed on Friday, Nov. 29, and will reopen on Monday, Dec. 2. Our early December flat rolled and plate steel market trends survey will begin on Monday, Dec. 2. We will also […]
On Friday morning, SSAB announced another steel plate price increase. In a letter emailed to customers, SSAB advised their intention to raise “transaction prices by a minimum of $40 per ton effective immediately for all new non-contract orders.” The increase, which is the second $40 increase announced by SSAB so far this month, applies to […]
On Friday morning, SSAB announced another steel plate price increase. In a letter emailed to customers, SSAB advised their intention to raise “transaction prices by a minimum of $40 per ton effective immediately for all new non-contract orders.” The increase, which is the second $40 increase announced by SSAB so far this month, applies to […]
Virgin steel is made with iron ore, coke and limestone. It was done that way, and only that way, for many decades. Then along came the “mini” mills. So-called minimills recycle ferrous scrap, mixing it with pig iron or other iron units and melting it down in large electric arc furnaces to produce new steel. […]
The domestic steel mills were busy on Friday with SSAB USA announcing a $40 per ton price increase on steel plate, and then U.S. Steel coming out with a $30 per ton price increase on flat rolled. The SSAB increase was the second on plate this month. Flat rolled has seen three price increase announcements […]
The domestic steel mills were busy on Friday with SSAB USA announcing a $40 per ton price increase on steel plate, and then U.S. Steel coming out with a $30 per ton price increase on flat rolled. The SSAB increase was the second on plate this month. Flat rolled has seen three price increase announcements […]
So, tonight I thought I would write about a couple of text messages that I received over the past 24 hours. Both messages have to do with steel prices, just looking at information out of SMU and other publications or indices differently. The first message was from the president of a Midwest-based service center. They […]
Today I was on a conference call with steel buyers associated with HARDI, the trade organization whose members sell galvanized steel and other products to mechanical contractors. We have an article about the call in this evening’s issue, but there was one fact that was brought up by multiple executives: the price increases “have not […]
Do you think the country is going to be a little distracted this week with all the witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment hearings? A reminder of the results of one of our real-time polls where 53 percent of the 493 individuals responding to a question about who they were going to vote for in the […]
Earlier this week Steel Market Update went out to a group of steel buyers to gather pricing information and market intelligence regarding how they were reacting to the recent price announcements, and if they thought this round of increases would result in yet another dead cat bounce. (A dead cat bounce is one where prices […]
Flat rolled steel prices are on the way up following two recent rounds of price increases. Steel Market Update has been anticipating the turnaround in prices as the market has been near the point of “capitulation” for several weeks. Capitulation is the point when 75 percent or more of our service center survey respondents are […]
There is one constant to our SMU Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals Workshop – just about everyone who takes the workshop enjoys it and sees the value in the subject matter being taught. This has resulted in many of our past attendees working their way up within their company’s management structure. […]
There is one constant to our SMU Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals Workshop – just about everyone who takes the workshop enjoys it and sees the value in the subject matter being taught. This has resulted in many of our past attendees working their way up within their company’s management structure. […]
As flat rolled steel prices move higher, we need to remember that prior to the price increases there was an abnormally large spread between hot rolled based prices and those of cold rolled and coated. Instead of being $100-$140 per ton, they had been running as high as $180-$200 per ton. The spread was created […]
The domestic steel mills announced new $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt) price increases on flat rolled this past week. This is the second price increase on flat rolled over the past two months. The domestic mills, led by ArcelorMittal USA, announced $40 per ton spot base price increases on Oct. 24-25 and were able to collect […]
Steel Market Update was working on an article predicting a flat rolled price increase very soon when we received notice about 5 p.m. ET this evening that the Nucor Sheet Mill Group was raising base prices of flat rolled by a minimum of $40 per ton, effective immediately. This is the second flat rolled price […]
This afternoon Nucor Plate Mill Group increased prices for all plate products by $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt). The follows a $40 per ton increase on plate by Evraz North America dated Oct. 28, 2019. The Nucor increase is to be effective “immediately” and impacts all transaction (spot) prices on new orders of carbon, alloy and […]
Despite the Oct. 28 plate price increase announcement out of Evraz ($40/ton), plate prices continue to be under pressure. [Please note: This article was completed just prior to the Nucor $40 price increase announcement, which was made on plate products at 4 p.m. this afternoon.] A large plate buyer told SMU they had just received […]
The day was bubbling with rumors as I was actively speaking with both plate and flat rolled steel buyers. They were telling me to expect a price increase announcement on both products. The plate guys were much less confident that any increase would “stick,” but it is worth trying. On the flat rolled side, mill […]
Next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals Workshop: Jan. 8-9, 2020, in Ontario, Calif. Next Mill Tour: California Steel Industries, Fontana, Calif. This will be our 30th Steel 101 Workshop since inception. The Steel Market Update Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals Workshop has trained close to 1,000 people […]
Next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals Workshop: Jan. 8-9, 2020, in Ontario, Calif. Next Mill Tour: California Steel Industries, Fontana, Calif. This will be our 30th Steel 101 Workshop since inception. The Steel Market Update Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals Workshop has trained close to 1,000 people […]
I have noticed many articles in the mainline press over the past few days slamming the Trump administration’s Section 232 tariffs as not helping the steel industry. Most of the articles point to the recent loss announced by U.S. Steel as proof, along with minimal to no job gains in the industry. I don’t think […]
London, Brexit, new election, split country. As I was standing in line to enter the House of Lords, the gentleman to my left began discussing how Brexit has severed parties and even families. No longer can British families talk about their government openly. I heard the theme on many occasions as I traveled about London […]
ArcelorMittal USA announced a $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt) price increase today, which is in line with our expectations that an increase was inevitable based on comments from service centers and manufacturing companies responding to our flat rolled steel market trends questionnaires over the past few weeks. By the end of the day, NLMK USA had […]