The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China rose 0.5% to $110.90 for the week ending June 7, 2013 but remained near an eight-month low and is some 30.2% below the recent peak of $158.90 on February 20, 2013.
The spot price for iron ore averaged $139.35 in 2Q12, $112.12 in 3Q12, $120.57 in 4Q12, and $148.16 in 1Q13; the full-year 2012 average was $128.30.
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
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Weekly domestic raw steel production decreased for the second consecutive week to 1.844 million tons (mt) for the week ending June 1, down 0.3% from 1.850 mt last week, and 4.0% below the year-ago level of 1.920 mt.
We would caution readers that only half of the AISI reporting companies release their weekly production in “real time” so the other half of this data is estimated using the last month’s reported production & operating rate. What this means is that when production is changing, the weekly data is actually understating the change.
Capacity utilization fell to 77.0% this week, down from 77.2% last week, and was slightly below the year-ago level of 77.7%.
The lowest production since the recession began was 800,000 tons for the week of December 27, 2008, while the highest was 2.005 mt for the week of May 12, 2012. The lowest capacity utilization rate since the recession began was 33.5% for the week of December 27, 2008; the highest was 81.1% on May 12, 2012.
Source: AISI and Steel Market Intelligence
The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China fell 10.4% to $110.40 for the week ending May 31, 2013, the lowest since October 8, 2012 and some 30.5% below the recent high of $158.90 on February 20.
The spot price for iron ore averaged $139.35 in 2Q12, $112.12 in 3Q12, $120.57 in 4Q12, and $148.16 in 1Q13; the full-year 2012 average was $128.30.
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
The number of active oil and natural gas rigs in the United States rose to 1,771 for the week ending May 31, 2013, up 0.5% from last week’s count of 1,762 but 10.6% below the year-ago level of 1,980.
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 rose 10.7% to 145, some 22.9% above the three-year low of 118. Despite the climb, rigs are down 7.1% compared to last year’s count of 156.
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.
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