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According to Pipe Logix, February OCTG prices declined another 1.1% (or $19/ton) to $1,702/ton, the lowest since February 2011, and some 11.2% (or $214/ton) below… more
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Our Advance/Decliner Index was mostly steady with the pre-Chinese New Year level two weeks ago. The nominal increase versus the comparable pre-holiday period was… more
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Preliminary January imports rose 10.3% to 2.58 million tons (mt) from 2.34 mt in December as a 27.4% spike in finished steel imports more than offset a… more
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As we have been expecting, some five weeks after a failed attempt to raise sheet prices, yesterday US Steel led another go-round with a… more
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Important points from recent company investor calls, including Rio Tinto, BlueScope Steel, Usiminas, BHP Billiton, Vallourec and TMS International include: …more
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For the week ending February 23, 2013, weekly domestic raw steel production jumped 1.6% to 1.843 million tons (mt) – the highest level since 9/1/12 when production was 1.864 tons.
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 the last month’s reported production & operating rate. What this means is that when production is changing, the weekly data is actually understating the change.
Capacity utilization came in at 76.9%, up from 75.7% last week and from the year-ago level of 80.7%.
The lowest production since the recession began was 800,000 tons for the week of December 27, 2008, while the highest 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 number of active oil and natural gas rigs in the United States fell by 1 to 1,761 for the week ending February 22, 2013 – down 0.1% from last week and 11.1% from last year but still up 0.7% from the nearly 2-year low a month ago.
The highest weekly rig count in the United States since 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 rose for the 8th straight week, rising by by 1.7% to 662 from 651 last week but was still down 5.6% from last year.
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.
For the week ending February 16, 2013, weekly domestic raw steel production fell 0.4% to 1.814 million tons (mt) – but is up 8.0% from the recent low of 1.679 mt for the week of October 27, 2012.
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 the last month’s reported production & operating rate. What this means is that when production is changing, the weekly data is actually understating the change.
Capacity utilization came in at 75.7%, down from 76.1% last week and from the year-ago level of 80.7%.
The lowest production since the recession began was 800,000 tons for the week of December 27, 2008, while the highest 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
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January global steel production rose 3.3%, less than the 5.7% uptick we have seen over the past three years, and up a scant 0.8% year-over-year, down from… more
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