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December Chinese net steel exports dropped 6.2% to a four-month low of 3.78 million tonnes (mt) compared with November’s 4.07 mt. We suspect…more
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Archive for: ‘January 2013’
HRC Lead Times Climb – Others Down
HRC lead times rose for the week ending January 6 to 3.6 from 3.4 last week.
CRC and HDG lead times both fell – with CRC coming in at 5.6 weeks from last week’s 6.0 and HDG falling to 5.8 from 6.0 in the week prior.
Sources: The Steel Index, Steel Business Briefing
HRC = Hot Rolled Coil CRC = Cold Rolled Coil HDG = Hot Dipped GalvanizedDecember Steel Imports Decline 8%; All-Time Records for Japanese and Korean Imports as China Floods Asian Market
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December import licenses declined 8.0% to 2.2 million tonnes (mt) from 2.4 mt in November, the lowest level since last December. The overall decline was driven by…more
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Advance/Decliner Index Unchanged at Two-Year High, US Sheet Prices Slip but China Rising
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Our Advance/Decliner Index remained at the highest level since January 2011 in another holiday-shortened week. Our China Index remained… more.
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January Scrap Prices Come in Flat; Weaker-than-Anticipated
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January prices in Chicago for #1 busheling (prime) settled flat for the second straight month at $390/ton, while shredded was unchanged at $386/ton, we believe…more
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Steel Market Production Report – A New Year and A New Turkish Sections Mill
Steel Market Production Increases – Turkish steelmaker IDC commissioned a new 400,000 tpy medium sections mill on January 3.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Hungarian steelmaker Dunaferr has plans to idle one of its two blast furnaces, or roughly half of its 1.7 mtpy crude capacity, for at least a year of maintenance starting in mid-January. Dunaferr has also closed the rolling lines at its Lorinci plate mill and is said to be mulling a permanent closure.
Steel Market Production Increases – Croatian steelmaker Adria Steel will restart its 200,000 tpy EAF in mid-January and will produce billet for its rebar rolling line.
Sources: Steel Business Briefing, SteelOrbis
December ISM Steel Survey – More Hope; Weaker Reality
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The December Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Steel Survey showed typically “calendar-turning” optimism, as the percentage of respondents expecting …more
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U.S. Rig Count Down Nominally while Canada Climbs
The number of active oil and natural gas rigs in the United States fell for the sixth straight week – declining by 1 to a 22-month low of 1,762 for the week ending January 4, 2013 – down 0.1% from last week and 12.2% from a year ago.
The highest weekly rig count in the United States since 1940 was recorded on December 28, 1981, at 4,530; the lowest was recorded on April 23, 1999, at 488.
The number of rigs in Canada showed its usual first week jump – climbing 26.5% to 258 from 204 last week, and some 28.5% below the year-ago level.
The highest rig count for Canada was 727 on February 3, 2006; the lowest was 29, recorded on April 24, 1992.
Source: Baker Hughes Inc.
Iron Ore Price Jumps to Highest Level in 15 Months
The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China Increased 3.0% to $139.40 for the week ending December 28, 2012. The price has since moved up another 10.0% this week to $153.30 – the highest level since 10/18/2011 and some 76.8% higher than the recent low of $86.70 on 9/5/2012.
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
