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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

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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

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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

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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

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The July ISM Steel Survey continues to reflect American manufacturing’s scaled-back expectations for the US economy as well as increasing uncertainty, driven largely by worries about… more

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TMS International (TMS) reported 2Q EBITDA of $37.8m, slightly ahead of the Street’s $36.7m and the $33.5m recorded in the year-ago period.  The yoy improvement is due to… more

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A.M. Castle (CAS) reported a 2Q loss of $(0.13)/share, which adjusted to a profit of $0.11/share after non-recurring items, well short of the Street’s $0.29 and 1Q’s clean $0.29/share. The sequential drop was driven by… more

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