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September preliminary imports declined a nominal 1.4% to 2.4 million tons (mt) for a five-month low, and down some 22.4% from the peak in April. There were meaningful …more
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No More Good News? The September Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Steel Survey may actually be the worst report we have seen, as even the green shoots we …more
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September import licenses dropped a healthy 3.4% from August, with sheet imports bucking the trend, up 16% to 611,000 tonnes with hot-rolled (including coiled plate) rising …more
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August preliminary imports declined 4.2% to 2.48 million tons (mt), with meaningful declines for line pipe (-32.9%), coiled plate (-27.2%), hot-rolled coil (HRC) (-25.2%) and …more
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Our Advance/Decliner Index increased for the first time in five weeks, after falling to an eight-week low. The uptick was mainly driven by rebounding Chinese …more
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Total Steel Market Imports
March Steel Import Licenses as of 3/13/12 vs.
February Steel Import Licenses as of 2/14/12 (5.8%)
March Steel Import Licenses as of 3/13/12 1,363,061
February Steel Import Licenses as of 2/14/12 1,447,628
Average Daily Current Month Steel Import Licenses: 104,851 1.4%
Average Daily Previous Month Steel Import Licenses: 103,402
February Steel Import Licenses as of 3/13/12 2,328,045
Semi-Finished Steel Market Imports
March Steel Import Licenses as of 3/13/12 vs.
February Steel Import Licenses as of 2/14/12 5.3%
March Steel Import Licenses as of 3/13/12 422,296
February Steel Import Licenses as of 2/14/12 401,152
Average Daily Current Month Steel Import Licenses: 32,484 13.4%
Average Daily Previous Month Steel Import Licenses: 28,654
February Steel Import Licenses as of 3/13/12 505,108
Finished Steel Market Imports
March Steel Import Licenses as of 3/13/12 vs.
February Steel Import Licenses as of 2/14/12 (10.1%)
March Steel Import Licenses as of 3/13/12 940,765
February Steel Import Licenses as of 2/14/12 1,046,476
Average Daily Current Month Steel Import Licenses: 72,367 (3.2%)
Average Daily Previous Month Steel Import Licenses: 74,748
February Steel Import Licenses as of 3/13/12 1,822,937
Total Steel Market Imports
February Steel Import Licenses as of 2/28/12 vs.
January Steel Import Licenses as of 1/31/12 (10.4%)
February Steel Import Licenses as of 2/28/12 2,188,603
January Steel Import Licenses as of 1/31/12 2,441,424
Average Daily Current Month Steel Import Licenses: 78,164 (0.8%)
Average Daily Previous Month Steel Import Licenses: 78,756
January Steel Import Licenses as of 2/28/12 2,564,094
Semi-Finished Steel Market Imports
February Steel Import Licenses as of 2/28/12 vs.
January Steel Import Licenses as of 1/31/12 (6.5%)
February Steel Import Licenses as of 2/28/12 497,413
January Steel Import Licenses as of 1/31/12 532,124
Average Daily Current Month Steel Import Licenses: 17,765 3.5%
Average Daily Previous Month Steel Import Licenses: 17,165
January Steel Import Licenses as of 2/28/12 537,484
Finished Steel Market Imports
February Steel Import Licenses as of 2/28/12 vs.
January Steel Import Licenses as of 1/31/12 (11.4%)
February Steel Import Licenses as of 2/28/12 1,691,190
January Steel Import Licenses as of 1/31/12 1,909,300
Average Daily Current Month Steel Import Licenses: 60,400 (1.9%)
Average Daily Previous Month Steel Import Licenses: 61,590
January Steel Import Licenses as of 2/28/12 2,026,610
Steel Market Production Cuts – ArcelorMittal’s 1.8 mtpy capacity coil plant in Sestao, northern Spain, is expected to continue to be idled during March, due to minimal scrap purchases in the last two weeks.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Moldova Steel Works’ (MMZ), which has been idle for the last two months, should have resumed production in the past few days, but its restart will be delayed for a few more weeks due to scrap procurement issues.
Sources: Steel Business Briefing
Steel Market Production Cuts – Luxembourg-based steel producer ArcelorMittal has extended the temporary idling of two blast furnaces at its Florange site in eastern France due to poor demand and slower than expected recovery.
Steel Market Production Increases – Mechel, the Russia-based metal and mining company, has resumed the operations at three out of its four mills in Romania, and production at the remaining plant, Targoviste is due to restart on February 27th.
Steel Market Production Increases – Vallourec SA is nearing completion of its new 500,000 tpy seamless pipe mill in Youngstown, Ohio, with the mill on schedule to restart commercial production this summer as it ramps up to the targeted capacity.
Steel Market Production Increases – Vietnam’s SSE Steel is defying difficult market conditions to bet on the future of the construction sector in Vietnam by adding 350,000 tpy of new rebar and wire rod capacity by the end of 2012.
Sources: American Metal Market and Steel Business Briefing.
New Report Preview
After falling to a 10-week low of 49% last week, our Advance/Decliner Index rebounded to 66% as steel prices strengthened in the MENA region on the back of higher scrap prices, pushing our Ex-China Index up to 71% from 50%.
Our China Index remained mostly stable at 50%, compared with 46% the week prior. The Chinese market is still treading water – with some increases here and there, but just as many decreases. We suspect the usual post-holiday pickup is not yet appearing largely because the holidays were so early this year and winter is still blunting construction demand.
Our full report provides further thoughts about global steel pricing trends and our outlook as well as implications for steel equities.
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