New Report Preview:
Quick on the heels of AK Steel’s hike on Monday, trade press has reported that Nucor has followed with a $50/ton sheet price increase of its own. We are surprised at the …more
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Less than three weeks after US Steel led with a $40/ton sheet hike, AK Steel announced a second sheet price increase of $50/ton effective immediately today, bringing the total to $90/ton.
SBB’s domestic HRC price assessment had remained stable the past two weeks after jumping $25/ton (or 4.3%) less than a week after US Steel’s initial hike, and we believe this increase is an attempt to get the market to fully absorb the first $40/ton hike.
Scrap Will Help. Strengthening scrap will likely support the increase, as there are increasing reports of scrap purchases up as much as $45-55/ton. We believe other sheet mills are likely to follow, although we suspect mini-mills will wait for Chicago scrap prices to settle before announcing increases of their own.
The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China rose 0.4% to $120.10 for the week ending November 2, 2012, after increasing 3.7% the week before, and is now 34.9% higher than the recent low of $89.00 on 9/7/2012.
The spot price for iron ore averaged $141.84 in 1Q, $139.35 in 2Q, and $112.12 in 3Q; this compares to an average of $167.59 for full-year 2011.
The post-recession low was $59.10 on March 27, 2009, while the high was $190.19 on February 17, 2011.
Source: The Steel Index
Steel Market Production Increases – U.S. Steel announced that the maintenance outage for the Gary Works No. 14 blast furnace has been completed and the BF can now operate at a higher capacity with “significantly” lower consumption of coke.
Steel Market Production Increases – After the start-up of another 3 mtpy of crude steel capacity a week ago, Chinese steelmaker Yuzhong Iron & Steel plans to begin production at two 800,000 tpy wire rod mills sometime around November 10, with the projects lifting both crude and finished capacity to about 4 mtpy.
Steel Market Production Increases – Indian steelmaker Monnet Ispat & Energy Ltd will import billet for the 500,000 tpy rebar mill at the Raigarh facility until the company can begin production at the facility’s new billet plant in August, 2013. An additional 700,000 tpy plate mill is planned for early 2013 and the entire brownfield integrated steel project is expected to add 1.5 mtpy of capacity when completed.
Steel Market Production Cuts – While it was previously reported that Peruvian steelmaker Aceros Arequipa planned to add an additional 650,000 tpy rolling mill by year-end, the company has pushed the start date back to February 2013.
Steel Market Production Increases – Ukrainian steelmaker Interpipe plans to install a new 325,000 tpy rotary hearth furnace at the Niko Tube facility in the first quarter of 2013, replacing the old 212,000 tpy furnace.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Russian coil producer Vektron has permanently ceased operations at their 100,000 tpy hot-dip galvanized coil mill inUkraineand plans to relocate the line in the first half of 2013; Vektron is considering Russia.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Italian steelmaker Ilva has temporarily halted production of the finishing end and will reduce production of the hot end after a worker was killed in an accident on Oct. 30. The plant was operating at about 70% of capacity – or some 22,000 tpd – despite recent environmental sanctions and will be idled for “a few days”.
Sources: Steel Business Briefing, American Metal Market
New Report Preview:
Following US Steel’s leading $40/ton sheet price hike yesterday, Nucor, ArcelorMittal, AKSteel, Severstal and NLMK have now announced matching price increases, with Severstal’s HRC list price set at $620/ton, a 7% increase. An additional five sheet producers raising prices cements the credibility of US Steel’s initial move and we expect any mill yet to follow to do so in quick order…more
For a copy of our full report and a free trial subscription, please contact us.
New Report Preview:
Quick on the heels of US Steel’s leading sheet price hike yesterday, AK Steel followed with a $40/ton hike of its own, and we expect others to make similar moves in the next few …more
For a copy of our full report and a free trial subscription, please contact us.
New Report Preview:
According to trade press, this morning USS has quietly told customers of a pending $40/t price hike in flat-rolled, leading the industry’s first since July, after six straight …more
For a copy of our full report and a free trial subscription, please contact us.
New Report Preview:
Consistent with a pickup in China’s overall export economy in September, net steel exports surged 30% from August, despite government-driven production cuts that have …more
For a copy of our full report and a free trial subscription, please contact us.
Steel Market Production Increases – Brazilian steel producer Gerdau has received funding for a new 770,000 tpy flat-rolled facility at the company’s Acominas plant, with the hot-rolling mill scheduled to come on line in early 2013 and the plate mill to follow in 2014.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Czech steelmaker Evraz Vitkovice Steel AS has halted operations at theOstravafacility indefinitely as a result of low demand and a need to “optimize stock supplies.”
Steel Market Production Increases – Indian steelmaker JSW plans to increase capacity at the JSW Ispat subsidiary from 3.3 mtpy to 8 mtpy, after finishing a capacity expansion from 10 mtpy to 12 mtpy at the company’ Vijayanagar facility.
Sources: Steel Business Briefing, Bloomberg
