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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Advance/Decliner Index Drops Further as Chinese Weakness Dominates

September 6, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

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Our Advance/Decliner Index dropped for the third straight week as our China Index remained weak as iron ore prices declined another 10% prompting Chinese…more

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USW-ArcelorMittal Close to Deal

September 5, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

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According to a Facebook posting at 2pm EDT, the USW and ArcelorMittal have “agreed in principle” and are close to an agreement with “economics similar as USS”. The facebook posting was on the facebook page of USW Local 9231 in New Carlisle IN, which is ‘old Inland Steel’ cold-rolling and coating rolling mills. The posting also referred to cancelling the planned “demonstration” today.

Our View: We trust that the facebook local posting is real and that an agreement will be announced in the next few days.

Impact on Steel Market: We don’t believe this is a negative development for domestic steel prices and equities.

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Scrap Outlook – September Scrap Prices Likely to Decline

September 5, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

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After seeing a pick-up in volatility the past few months – with an average monthly change of $60 – we expect a less volatile September with scrap prices likely off no more than… more

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Weekly Raw Steel Production Up Nominally

September 5, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

Weekly domestic raw steel production for the week ending September 1, 2012 increased 0.1% to 1.864 million tons (mt) from 1.863 mt last week and was up 0.5% 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 stayed steady at 75.4% this week, slightly below the year-ago level of 75.9%.

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

Steel Market Production Changes – August 31 – September 4, 2012

September 4, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

Steel Market Production Increases – According to a statement by the USW, ArcelorMittal has restarted blast furnaces that it idled in anticipation of a labor related outage, though the company was not available to confirm this claim.

Steel Market Production Cuts – According to the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA), 46 blast furnaces inChinaare scheduled or are undergoing overhauls for a total reduction in crude steel output of 6.856 million tonnes.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Chinese steelmakerJinanplans to perform maintenance on its 1,750 cu ft. blast furnace in September resulting in a loss of 4,000 tonnes per day of pig iron.

Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steelmaker Xinjiang Bagang Nanjiang Steel Baicheng Co. has begun test production on a new 850,ooo tpy rebar and round bar rolling mill and has two converters set to come online at the end of the year with a combined 3 million tpy of production capacity to feed rolling operations.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Chinese steelmaker Masteel will be conducting maintenance on its h-beam production line from September 14-28, during which time output will be reduced by a total of 35,000 tonnes.

Steel Market Production Increases – According to Bruno Ferrate, Italian steelmaker Ilva’s Chairman, the plant is currently operating at 70% of its 11 million tpy capacity despite reports of a court ordered stoppage and has been doing so throughout the month.

Steel Market Production Increases – Mexican steelmaker Simec plans to start its new 520,0oo tpy billet capacity and 400,000 tpy rebar and wire rod capacity facility in August of 2013.

Steel Market Production Increases – Dubai-based Moulds & Metals plans to begin production on a 200,000 tpy billet plant inPoti,Georgiaby the end of September.

Steel Market Production Cuts – Hungarian flat rolled producer Dunaferr will be deciding whether or not to close its 200,000 tpy capacity Lorinc plate rolling mill inBudapeston September 5 due to unprofitable production.  The company is considering stopping hot-metal production altogether as of July 2013.

Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steelmaker Yulong Steel pipe reportedly plans to commission a new 120,000 tpy welded pipe mill in the second quarter 0f 2013.

Sources: Steel Business Briefing, American Metal Market, SteelOrbis

 

August Steel Import Licenses Show Healthy Drop

September 4, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

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August import licenses dropped a more healthy 8.3% from July, but showed a bifurcated trend with hot-rolled coil (HRC) down some… more

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U.S. Rig Count Falls for Third Straight Week; Lowest in Over a Year

September 4, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

The number of active oil and natural gas rigs in the United States fell to 1,894 for the week ending August 31, 2012, down 0.2% from the prior week, 3.8% from the year-ago level and the lowest since last July.

The highest weekly rig count in theUnited Statessince 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 decreased this week by 5.4% to 316 compared with 334 last week and was down 37.8% from 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.

Iron Ore Prices Fall to 34-Month Low

September 4, 2012 Posted by Steel Market Intelligence

The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China fell 10.1% to $89.40 for the week ending August 31, 2012, the lowest level since the week ending October 30, 2009. Iron ore prices have now fallen for four straight weeks for a total decline of 23.4% 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