New Report Preview:
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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Weekly domestic raw steel production for the week ending September 22, 2012 increased a nominal 0.4% to 1.824 million tons (mt) from last week’s 1.817 mt, but was down 1.5% year-on-year. Production has increased just 0.7% since reaching a 10-month low of 1.811 mt two weeks ago.
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 rose to 73.8% this week, slightly above last week’s 73.5% but well below the year-ago level of 75.7%.
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
New Report Preview:
Domestic mills reduced rebar and beams by $15/ton effective immediately, by offsetting the $28/ton scrap surcharge with a $13/ton base price increase, while mills cut …more
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New Report Preview:
The MSCI August report held good news and bad news. Inventories for flat-rolled are continuing to decline, completely negating the view that flat-rolled pricing strength …more
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New Report Preview:
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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Steel Market Intelligence has confirmed that ArcelorMittal is taking “asset preservation” steps at facilities ahead of the risk of a work stoppage. The USW has scheduled a picket for 3pm on Monday near the company’s East Chicago office. We continue to believe that the company and USW are far apart on major issues, however, there is a longstanding history of top-notch relationships between local AMUSA management and rank-and-file as well as USW leadership – as we approach the deadline on 8/31, these relationships will count more and more! For further information, please subscribe to Steel Market Intelligence by contacting Jasmine at info@steelmarketintelligence.com
New Report Preview – Steel Prices
Nucor confirmed earlier reports this week that steelmakers had shelved a March plate price increase, most likely due to the significant uptick in January plate imports, in our view.
American Metal Market has reported that Nucor is holding the line for February/March plate prices – despite a $30/ton increase in the February scrap surcharge – following two hikes that lifted January list prices by $80/ton (or nearly 9%), but is raising heat-treat plate prices by another $40/ton for March that will lift list prices a total of $140/ton (an estimated 12-13%) since the end of the year.
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