Posts Tagged: ‘steel’

Weekly Raw Steel Production Drops to Lowest Since November 2011

September 10, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

Weekly domestic raw steel production for the week ending September 8, 2012 fell 2.8% to 1.811 million tons (mt) from 1.864 mt last week and was down 3.1% year-on-year.

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 prior months’ 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 73.3% this week, below the year-ago level of 76.4% and the lowest since last November.

The lowest production level since the recession began was 800,000 tons for the week of December 27, 2008, while the highest level 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

 

 

Free Trial of SMI Research for Steel Market Intelligence LinkedIn Group Members

September 10, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

Steel Market IntelligenceJoin our group on LinkedIn, Steel Market Intelligence, to follow the often-volatile steel market.

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August ISM Survey – The Dribble Economy

September 10, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

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The August ISM Steel Survey reflects more of the bi-polar recovery we had been seeing the past few years, with both a bit more optimism and a bit more pessimism as …more

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August Chinese Steel Exports Show a Surprising Decline

September 10, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

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August net Chinese steel exports dropped 3.8% to 3.01 million tonnes (mt) from 3.13 mt in July, as the combination of government-guided production cuts… more

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Iron Ore Prices Fall Further

September 10, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China fell 0.4% to $89.00 for the week ending September 7, 2012, the lowest level since the week ending October 30, 2009. Iron ore prices have now fallen for five straight weeks for a total decline of 23.7% over that time period.

For the first quarter of 2012, the iron ore price averaged $141.84, and for 2Q, $139.35; this compares to an average of $176.90 for 1H 2011 and $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

 

 

September Scrap Prices Fall More-than-Expected

September 7, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

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Reacting to a global steel deep freeze and plunging iron ore costs, just-released Midwest scrap prices – the benchmarks that drive domestic steel – posted… more

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Join Our Steel Equity Researchers Group on LinkedIn

September 7, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

Steel Equity Researchers on LinkedInSteel Equity Researchers, a LinkedIn group managed by Steel Market Intelligence, provides analysis and forecasts on the steel industry that you and your company need.

All new members who are qualified institutional investors will receive a free trial to Steel Market Intelligence’s reports and expert analysis on steel equities.

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U.S. Rig Count Shows Largest Weekly Drop in over 2 Years; Canada Jumps

September 7, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

The number of active oil and natural gas rigs in the United States fell to 1,864 for the week ending September 7, 2012, down 1.6% from the prior week, 4.8% from the year-ago level and the lowest since June 2011.

The highest weekly rig count in theUnited 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 increased this week by 9.2% to 345 compared with 316 last week but was down 33.0% from the year-ago level.

The highest rig count forCanadawas 727 on February 3, 2006; the lowest was 29, recorded on April 24, 1992.

Source: Baker Hughes Inc.

 

Steel Market Production Changes – September 5 & 6, 2012

September 6, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

Steel Market Production Cuts – The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) reported that for the last 11 days of August average crude steel production was 1.8715 million tonnes per day, down 3% from the middle 10 days of August.

Steel Market Production Cuts – China’s Ministry of Industry & Information Technology (MIIT) has released a variety of new environmental and productivity standards to be enforced starting October 2012, including a rule that requires a company that produces common steel products have a capacity of 1 million tpy and specialty producers have a capacity of 300,000 tpy.

Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steelmaker Hebei has admitted that local government has discouraged permanent cuts to steelmaking capacity – instead favoring short-term maintenance outages.

Steel Market Production Cuts –China’s Ministry of Industry & Information Technology (MIIT) has reported that it intends to carry on with its campaign to close 7.8 million tpy of steelmaking capacity along with 10 million tpy of iron making capacity in 2012

Steel Market Production Cuts – Custodians of Italian steelmaker group Ilva’sTarantoplant have reportedly received a letter from Italian prosecutors asking them to immediately reduce harmful emissions – a request that according to unions could result in the cessation of melting.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Chinese steelmakerHebei’s subsidiary Tanshan Iron & Steel will be conducting blast furnace maintenance for 45-50 days, causing a total loss of 300,000-350,000 tonnes of hot metal output.

Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steelmaker Liuzhou has begun production on its 2.25 million tpy iron-making capacity blast furnace number 4 following construction work.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Gerdau Long Steel North America plans to conduct a 5-10 day outage in early October at its 700,000 tpy crude steel making capacity mill inBeaumont,Texasto complete upgrades on the rolling end.

Steel Market Production Increases – Egyptian steelmaker Suez Steel will begin production this November on a new 1.25 million tpy capacity EAF.

Steel Market Production Increases – Mexican seamless pipe producer Tamsa is increasing production capacity by 50% to 1.23 million tpy by way of a new rolling mill that is ramping up production in the central state ofVeracruz.

Steel Market Production Increases – Czech plate and sections steelmaker Evraz Vitkovice has resumed production at its 950,000 tpy capacity meltshop which is now running at 76% capacity.

Sources: Steel Business Briefing, American Metal Market, SteelOrbis

 

Chinese Steel Production Flash – Late-August Production Drops 6% from July

September 6, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

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Estimated Chinese steel production overnight was reported to be down 3% for late-August, after a 2% drop in mid-August, leaving estimated August full-month production of… more.

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