Posts Tagged: ‘global steel’

Iron Ore Price Increases for Third Straight Week

December 26, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China Increased 4.7% to $135.40 for the week ending December 21, 2012, reaching a six-month high. The price is now some 56.2% 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

Steel Market Production Report – Dansteel Now Offering Heavy Plate

December 21, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

Steel Market Production Increases – Danish steelmaker Dansteel has begun operations at their new 4.2 mtpy heavy plate mill that will supply plates for off-shore drilling and off-shore wind platforms.

Steel Market Production Increases – Russian steelmaker Evraz has scheduled a re-start of the 950,000 tpy meltshop at its Czech unit, Evraz Vitkovice Steel. The meltshop has been idled since October and will be re-started on January 3, 2012.

Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steel companies Xinyuantai and Shougang have completed the second phase of their OCTG joint venture after commissioning the final two pipe lines, adding 150,000 tpy of capacity and raising the total to 450,000 tpy.

Sources: Steel Business Briefing, SteelOrbis

U.S. and Canadian Rig Counts Drop

December 21, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

The number of active oil and natural gas rigs in the United States fell for the fourth straight week – declining by 25 to a 22-month low of 1,774 for the week ending December 21, 2012 – down 1.4% from last week and 11.7% 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 also fell – down 8.2% to 384 from 418 last week, and some 5.4% 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.

 

Steel Market Production Report – China and the Middle East Swept by Longs Increases

December 20, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steelmaker Changzhi Iron and Steel has begun trials of a new 1.1 mtpy wire-rod mill that is scheduled to begin normal operations in January 2013.

Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steelmaker Shangang is planning to commission a 1 mtpy wire rod and rebar mill at its new Xinjiang facility by year-end.

Steel Market Production Increases – Turkish steel re-roller Mescier Demir Celik has begun production of a new 250,000 tpy medium sections mill at the Bartin facility, bringing total production to 500,000 tpy.

Steel Market Production Increases – Turkish steel company Doga Group is entering into a joint venture EAF rebar mill in Iraq that will have capacity for 580,000 tpy of billet and 420,000 tpy of rebar, with production scheduled to begin in April 2013.

Sources: Steel Business Briefing, SteelOrbis

November Global Steel Production Rises, Bucking Normal Seasonal Decline

December 20, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

New Report Preview:

On the back of rising steel prices, November global average daily steel production rose 0.5%, bucking the typical seasonal drop of 0.6%, although capacity utilization …more

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Lead Times Climb Across All Categories

December 19, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

HRC lead times dropped for the week ending December 16 to 4.2 from 3.7 last week.

HDG and CRC lead times also rose – with HDG coming in at 6.4 weeks from a 5-week low of 5.9 in the week prior and CRC rising to 5.8 from a 6-week low of 6.4.

Sources: The Steel Index, Steel Business Briefing

HRC = Hot Rolled Coil
CRC = Cold Rolled Coil
HDG = Hot Dipped Galvanized

Steel Market Production Report – ArcelorMittal Plans Year-Long BF Outage

December 19, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

Steel Market Production Cuts – ArcelorMittal has idled a 1.3 mtpy blast furnace at the Temirtau tubes facility in Kazakhstan, for a complete revamp that will continue into 2014.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Chinese steelmaker Shagang will idle a 1.8 mtpy plate mill for a 15 day scheduled maintenance period, starting on December 26.

Steel Market Production Increases – Brazilian steelmaker Votorantim will begin production at its new 400,000 tpy rebar facility in mid-January.

Sources: Steel Business Briefing

November ABI Climbs to Five-Year High; Commercial/Industrial Breaks Above Key 50 Level

December 19, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

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The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) ABI Index – a leading indicator of non-residential construction activity – broke the critical 50 mark for the fourth consecutive month …more

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Steel Market Production Report – Sparrows Point to be Sold for Parts

December 17, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

Steel Market Production Cuts – According to a Baltimore County executive, the 3.5 mtpy Sparrows Point facility will be officially disassembled and sold for parts, eliminating its capacity from the market.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Ukrainian steelmaker Ilyich Iron & Steel has pushed back the restart of one caster and indefinitely postponed the restart of another as they undergo repairs related to an accident on December 10th. As a result, Ilyich expects December production to be 20% lower than November’s levels of about 330,000 mt.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Turkish longs producer Icdas has idled the 1 mtpy EAF at the Biga facility due to weak demand and has not given any indication on when it will be re-started.

Steel Market Production Increases – Japanese steelmaker Nippon announced that a new blast furnace at its Wakayama facility is on-schedule to begin production in March and will provide a 50,000 tpy upgrade over the furnace it will replace.

Sources: Steel Business Briefing

Advance/Decliner Index Jumps to Nine-Month High

December 17, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

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Our Advance/Decliner Index jumped to the highest level since March due to further producer price hikes in the US and Chinese markets. Our China Index jumped to a …more

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