HRC lead times dropped for the week ending December 9 to 3.7 from the three-month high of 3.9 last week.
HDG and CRC lead times also fell – with HDG coming in at a 5-week low of 5.9 weeks from 6.6 in the week prior and CRC falling to a 6-week low of 5.6 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 GalvanizedSteel Market Production Increases – Chinese steelmaker Wanli New Materials recently began production of a new 1.2 mtpy pickling line and has plans to commission a 400,000 tpy annealing line in January.
Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steel company Guoheng Die-Casting Co. is investing in a new steelmaking facility that will have capacity of 900,000 tpy as well as a 1 mtpy longs rolling mill that are expected to come online by the end of 2013.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Taiwanese steelmaker Dragon Steel Corp announced that it will postpone the planned start-date of a 2.5 mtpy blast furnace at the Taichung facility from year-end 2012 to March 2013.
Steel Market Production Increases – Production has been temporarily halted at ArcelorMittal’s Basse-Indre facility in France, due to a strike over the possible shifting of pickling operations from Basse-Indre to the Florange facility. The strike is expected to end by Friday.
Sources: Steel Business Briefing, SteelOrbis
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Our Advance/Decliner Index rose slightly from last week’s level. The increase was driven by strength in European pricing as production cuts – most notably… more.
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For the week ending December 1, 2012, weekly domestic raw steel production fell 0.9% to 1.802 million tons (mt), compared to the 10-week high of 1.818 mt recorded the previous week, but is still up some 7.3% from the recent low of 1.679 mt for the week of October 27, 2012.
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 came in at 72.9%, down from 73.6% last week and down from the year-ago level of 74.3%.
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
Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steelmaker Zhongtian Iron & Steel Group is nearing the completion of a 5 mtpy longs plant that would expand the company’s total finished capacity to 11 mtpy. Five wire rod lines with a combined capacity of 3.5 mtpy have already been commissioned, and two bar mills with a combined capacity of 1.5 mtpy scheduled to begin production in January 2013.
Sources: Steel Business Briefing
Steel Market Production Increases – ArcelorMittal is reportedly planning to re-start the blast furnace at the Gijon facility in early 2013, after reaching a new three-year agreement with the local unions.
Steel Market Production Increases – Russian steelmaker NLMK will resume production at the La Louviere rolling mill in Belgium and will keep it operating for 7 days while attempting to negotiate with the unions on a restructuring agreement.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Italian steelmaker Acciaierie di Calvisano has halted operations at the company’s 400,000 tpy billet plant for a scheduled upgrade, which should be completed by January 10, 2013.
Steel Market Production Increases – E&H Tubing Inc. is planning to use the former assets of Indiana Steel & Tube to manufacture steel tubing and is beginning to ramp-up the established facility with one shift of workers already hired.
Sources: Steel Business Briefing, American Metal Market
Steel Market Production Cuts – Esmark Steel Group had originally planned to re-start the cold-rolled mill at the former RG Steel Yorkville facility in January, but has now pushed the start date back to March or April due to concerns over environmental liabilities.
Steel Market Production Increases – China-based Wuhan Iron and Steel Co (WISCO) has begun production at the company’s new hot-rolled pickling line, with capacity expected to reach 300,000 tpy in 2013.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Egyptian Iron & Steel Co. is suffering from a shortage of coke due to “technical problems” at its supplier and has been forced to reduce production from 1.2 mtpy to about 0.5-0.6 mtpy.
Steel Market Production Increases – ArcelorMittal has restarted the coil-coating lines at the Liege facility in Belgium after a week-long stoppage due to a strike.
Sources: Steel Business Briefing, SteelOrbis, American Metal Market
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Our Advance/Decliner Index fell from last week’s levels, driven by our China Index which fell for the fifth straight week as still buoyant production levels – averaging 1.95 mtpd …more
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Steel Market Production Increases – Italian steelmaker Ilva has received authorization from a governmental decree to resume production at the 11 mtpy Taranto facility, according to the environmental plan that was issued to the facility in late October. The plant will resume production on Friday, after a week-long idling as a sign of respect to a worker that died in a storm-related accident last Wednesday.
Steel Market Production Increases – Russian steelmaker TMK plans to commission a 900,000 tpy EAF at its Tagmet facility by mid-2013, replacing three open hearth furnaces with a combined capacity of 600,000 tpy. Later in 2013, TMK will also commission a 600,000 tpy seamless pipe mill at the Seversky facility.
Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steelmaker Baotou Iron and Steel said that it is close to completing the upgrade of the No. 2 rolling line at its rail and beam facility, which will raise capacity to 1.5 mtpy.
Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steelmaker Shaogang has begun trials of the company’s new 670,000 tpy round bar rolling mill in southern China, with an additional mill for small-diameter bars set for commissioning by year-end.
Sources: Steel Business Briefing, SteelOrbis
The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China declined for the second straight week, falling 2.8% to $115.60 for the week ending November 30, 2012, and is at the lowest level in six weeks. However, the price is still some 29.9% 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
