New Report Preview:

Our Advance/Decliner Index jumped this week to the highest level since mid-April when Chinese pricing weakness began. Our Ex-China Index hit a 4-month… more

Our full report provides further thoughts about global steel pricing trends and our outlook as well as implications for steel equities.

For a copy of our full report and a free trial subscription, please contact us.

New Report Preview: 

July steel import licenses dropped a scant 2.4% from June, far less than early reports indicated which used premature data, which was confused by reporting nuances. Not only were imports far higher than early reports indicated, but there were… more

Our full report is available to subscribers and provides further details about the July import license data as well as our outlook for the coming months and implications for steel equities.

For a copy of our report and a free trial subscription, please contact us.

Steel Market Production Cuts – According to the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) average daily production for the last 11 days of July came to 1.949 million tonnes per day, down 2.2% from the number reported for the middle 10 days of July.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Chinese producerTangshanplans to undertake maintenance on its 3,200 cu m blast furnace for 45 days from September 15 for a total output loss of 300-350,000 tonnes of pig iron.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Chinese producer Pangang has decided to delay the commissioning its 2,500 cu m blast furnace until October from its initially scheduled start this month.

Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steelmaker Shanxi Zhongyang has announced an upgrade of its steelmaking facilities which will bring their total steelmaking capacity to 4 million tpy of crude steel when production begins in October.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Korean steelmaker Hyundai Steel has scheduled annual maintenance on the A and B sections of its Dangjin works, inSeoulfrom August 31 – September 5.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Korean steelmaker Dongbu Steel plans to undertake repair works from August 16-22.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Italian steelmaker Beltrame has decided to idle its 800,000 tpy EAF, which has been running at 50% capacity since early 2012, until at least October due to weak market demand for merchant bar.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Italian longs producers usual summer stoppages are reportedly on par with 2011’s summer stoppages of 4-5 weeks.

Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese pipemakerBaotouplans to begin production on a new 620,000 tpy seamless pipe mill on October 1.

Steel Market Production Increases – Indian producer Bushan Steel plans to increase the capacity of its Dhenkanal works with a second phase that will increase capacity to 5 million tpy from the present 2.5 million in December.

Sources: Steel Business Briefing and  SteelOrbis

New Report Preview:

After a disappointing 1.8% jump in mid-July, Chinese steel production reported for the last eleven days of the month came in at 1.949 million tons per day (mtpd), down 2.2% from… more

Our full report is available to subscribers only and provides further thoughts on Chinese steel production, Beijing’s recent subsidy moves and the implications for the global steel industry and steel equities.

For a copy of the full report and a free trial subscription, please contact us.

New Report Preview:

After shredded (obsolete) and #1 busheling (prime) scrap prices plummeted a total of $103 and 108/ton in June and July – the largest two-month declines since the recession began – August prices of both grades soared to… more

Our full report provides our scrap and steel price outlook as well as the implications for steel equities.

For a copy of our full report and a free trial subscription, please contact us.

Weekly domestic raw steel production for the week ending August 4, 2012 rose 0.9% to 1.863 million tons (mt) from 1.846 mt last week, but was down some 0.9% 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 as it is right now, the weekly data is actually understating the change.

Capacity utilization also rose from 74.7% last week to 75.4% this week, slightly below the year-ago level of 76.8%.

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

The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China rose some 0.4% to $116.70 for the week ending August 3, 2012, from $116.20 last week – breaking a three week decline in prices – though still near the lowest price since the week ending December 18, 2009.

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

New Report Preview:

With the ink still wet on last week’s second price hike, AK Steel has run with a third increase now, for a total hike of $110/ton. Weaker imports, strong automotive demand and the likelihood of a… more

Our full report is available to subscribers and provides further thoughts on the AKS price increase as well as implications for the steel industry and equities.

For a copy of our full report and a free trial subscription, please contact us.