HRC lead times for the week ending November 25 rose to 3.5 from last week’s 3.0.
CRC lead times also rose – coming in at an 11-week high of 6.4 weeks from 6.1 in the week prior. HDG lead times posted the lone decrease, falling to 6.3 from last week’s 3-month high of 6.5.
Sources: The Steel Index, Steel Business Briefing
HRC = Hot Rolled Coil CRC = Cold Rolled Coil HDG = Hot Dipped GalvanizedSteel Market Production Cuts – Italian steelmaker Ilva has announced the closure of the entire 11 mtpy Taranto facility and all down-stream facilities after Italian officials issued a court-order to seize all steel produced over the prior four months. Representatives of Italy’s unions, Ilva’s chairman, the prime minister, and other government officials will meet on Thursday, November 29, in an attempt to resolve the standstill.
Steel Market Production Increases – Severstal North America has restarted the blast furnace at the Dearborn, Michigan facility after finishing repairs. The BF has been offline since November 2 due to the explosion of a cold-air pipe.
Steel Market Production Cuts – The planned restart of Tokyo Steel’s 1.8 mtpy pickling line at the Tahara facility has been pushed back until March of next year. The line has been out of commission since October 15, when a fire broke out at the plant.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau is delaying the re-start of the 135,000 tpy Muña longs mill in Colombia from sometime in 2012 to early 2013 due to low demand.
Steel Market Production Increases – Jordanian Taybah Steel will begin production at a new 500,000 tpy rebar facility in Saudi Arabia sometime around August 2013.
Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese pipemaker Fangrui Steel has increased its capacity for welded pipe from 50,000 tpy to 200,000 tpy after the start-up of two new production lines and plans to add an additional 100,000 tpy by year-end 2013.
Steel Market Production Increases – Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau has acquired a 2-strand billet caster for the company’s Mexican (Corsa) operations and plans to begin operations in March 2013, boosting the production run-rate to 400,000 tpy.
Sources: Steel Business Briefing, American Metal Market
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According to Pipe Logix, November OCTG prices declined another $12/ton (or 0.7%) to the lowest since March 2011 as prices for welded and seamless pipe declined…more
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After posting four consecutive increases, our Advance/Decliner Index declined from an eight-month high, but remained at elevated levels. The drop was driven by our …more
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After rising 1.6% in early November, Chinese steel production estimated by the China Iron & Steel Association (CISA) for the second 10 days of November came in at …more
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The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China declined for the first time since late September, falling 3.2% to $118.90 for the week ending November 23, 2012, and is at the lowest level in five weeks. However, the price is still some 33.6% higher than the recent low of $89.00 on 9/7/2012.
The spot price for iron ore averaged $141.84 in 1Q, $139.35 in 2Q, and $112.12 in 3Q; this compares to an average of $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
HRC lead times for the week ending November 18 fell to 3.0 from last week’s level of 3.8 – the largest week-on-week decline in 9 weeks and the shortest lead times in 6 weeks.
CRC lead times also fell – coming in at 6.1 weeks, down from 6.3 in the week prior. HDG lead times posted the lone increase – jumping to a three-month high of 6.5 from 6.1 in the previous week.
Sources: The Steel Index, Steel Business Briefing
HRC = Hot Rolled Coil CRC = Cold Rolled Coil HDG = Hot Dipped GalvanizedSteel Market Production Increases – Chinese pipemaker TPCO America aims to begin production at the pipe and end-finishing facilities in Gregory, Texas by mid-2013, with the seamless pipe rolling mill and EAF expected to start operations in late 2014.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Russian steel company Mechel has halted the 1.1 mtpy DEMZ longs facility due to a “local scrap shortage” and could remain offline until April.
Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steelmaker Chonggang plans to commission a 1.5 mtpy longs plant in February 2013, bringing total capacity to 8 mtpy.
Steel Market Production Increases – Egyptian steel company IIC plans to start up the upgraded 250,000 tpy Alexandria wire-rod and bar mill by the end of the year.
Steel Market Production Increases – Chinese steelmaker MCC has completed a 1.2 mtpy pre-painted galvanized coil facility in Shandong that contains a 1.2 mtpy CRC mill, two 600,000 tpy pickling lines, two hot-dipped galvanizing lines, a continuous annealing line, and two color-coating lines.
Sources: Steel Business Briefing, American Metal Market
Steel Market Production Cuts – Italian steelmaker Ilva has idled the 1.8 mtpy plate mill and the 70,000 tpy pipe mill No. 2 due to weak market conditions and may still have to shut down the entire plant if the government’s environmental sanctions are not lifted.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Chinese steelmaker Bayi Iron and Steel has permanently shut down two BOF’s with combined capacity of 1 mtpy due to “excessive emissions.”
Steel Market Production Increases – American pipemaker Welspun Tubular will begin operations at the new 175,000-225,000 tpy ERW OCTG mill in Little Rock, Arkansas in January.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Swiss Steel AG will halt production of the 560,000 tpy EAF at the Emmenbrucke plant until about August 2013, to allow Siemens to make upgrades that will boost capacity to 650,000 tpy.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Chinese steelmaker Yuanda Steel Science and Technology has completed a new 1.2 mtpy cold-rolled sheet facility inBinzhou,Shandong. The company plans to add a pickling line, hot dip galvanizing line, and two color-coating lines in the future.
Steel Market Production Increases – Italian steelmaker AFV Beltrame has decided to restart the merchant bar mill at the San Giovanni Valdarno facility in January, after being closed for about a year. However, the mill is expected to operate at a low production rate.
Sources: Steel Business Briefing, American Metal Market, SteelOrbis
