The spot reference price for 62% Fe iron ore cfr North China rose to $147.60 on Friday, March 30, 2012, up 1.7% from last Friday’s $145.20, and a 3.2% increase for the month. The price for iron ore rose to $147.70 on both March 28 and 29, the highest since October 18, 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
It’s important to keep current on the often-volatile steel industry, so we’ve done the leg-work for you. By joining our group on LinkedIn, Steel Market Intelligence, we notify you of the latest news in steel, manufacturing, and the economy. We also provide the most relevant analysis of steel equity. All of this right at your fingertips with just a few clicks.
Join Steel Market Intelligence today by clicking on the link or logo and we’ll add you to our 30-day free trial of our full reports too!
New Report Preview
We expect April prices for shredded and prime scrap to post either sideways or modest declines after coming in unchanged and down $12/ton for March.
We believe the main driver for any small declines is increased supply. We believe that obsolete scrap flows have been much more liquid early this year when compared to the historical norm because of warmer weather, while prime scrap generation has improved meaningfully on the back of increased manufacturing activity – most notably for autos.
Our full report provides the drivers behind our scrap price forecast, our steel price outlook as well as the implications for steel equities.
For a free trial subscription, please contact us.
New Report Preview
March prices for OCTG rose a nominal 0.1% to $1,916/ton versus February’s $1,914/ton, according to data released by Pipe Logix yesterday. Prices for both seamless and electric-resistance welded (ERW) pipe saw increases of 0.1%, although the uptick was anything but broad-based as 24 out of the 39 individual products posted declines.
While drilling activity remains strong, March OCTG imports look set to reach a three-year high and new OCTG capacity continues to come online, so we believe supply may be starting to outpace demand.
Our full report is available to subscribers and provides further thoughts on OCTG pricing and margins as well as the implications for shares of OCTG producers.
For a free trial subscription, please contact us.
Steel Market Production Increases – Ternium is moving forward with the installation of a two-strand continuous slab caster at its Argentinean subsidiary, Ternium Siderar. The installation will increase crude steel capacity by 500,000 tpy and is expected to be operational in 3Q 2013.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Turkish steelmaker Habas is planning to conduct maintenance at its Izmir region steel mill at the end of March and beginning of April with an expected duration of three weeks.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Steelworkers at ArcelorMittal’s Tubular Products Galati in Romania have gone on strike over wages and bonuses. The facility has a capacity of 50,000 tpy of longitudinal submerged arc-welded pipe.
Sources: Steel Business Briefing, American Metal Markets
New Report Preview
Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) reported adjusted EBITDA of R$1.463B, in line with the Street’s $1.491B, but 14% below 3Q’s R$1.703B as lower iron ore prices and weaker international steel pricing in 4Q weighed on results.
Guidance was for steel production of 5.7M tonnes in 2012; 4.9M tonnes in Brazil, and 800,000 tonnes in Germany. Approximately 85% of this will go to domestic markets, with another 3-4% going into tinplate in Latin America.
Our full report is available to subscribers only and provides further thoughts on CSN’s 4Q earnings report and conference call as well as the implication for the stock and other equities.
For a free trial subscription, please contact us.
New Report Preview
February preliminary steel imports rose a surprising 5.6% to 2.69 million tons (mt) from 2.55 mt in January, mainly due to an unexpected surge of imported semi-finished steel from Brazil, which we estimate increased nearly 80%. Finished steel imports actually dropped 0.4% in the month, while semi-finished as a total rose 31.1%. We generally compare preliminary monthly data to prior month preliminary data – however, in January there was an unusually meaningful +10.5% revision that will likely leave final February imports down sequentially.
Brazilian semis are running up nearly 45% over the past eight months compared to 1H 2011 and we believe most of the tonnage is headed to Thyssen’s Alabama rolling mill. The average run-rate for the last three months is some 295,000 tons per month, or around 75% of the mill’s ultimate rolling capacity.
Meaningful import increases were also seen for wire rod (up 100.1%) and sheet (up 9.5%). The largest decrease on a tonnage basis was for line pipe, which fell 28.2%, while declines were also seen for heavy structural shapes (down 30.4%), cut-to-length plate (down 16.5%), rebar (down 9.1%) and OCTG (down 5.8%).
Our full report is available to subscribers and provides further thoughts on February imports as well as our outlook for the coming months and implications for steel equities.
For a free trial, please contact us.
It can be difficult to stay on top of all the news regarding steel, manufacturing, and the economy. We’ve created a group, Steel Market Intelligence, on LinkedIn to provide you with the best news in a timely manner to keep you up-to-date.
Click the link or logo to join our group!
To also begin receiving our free 30-day trial subscription, send an email to Jasmine at info@steelmarketintelligence.com.
Steel Market Production Cuts – Commercial Metals is planning an outage at its Birmingham, AL steel mill in early May. The mill produces structural shapes and has 800,000 tpy of raw steel capacity and 600,000 tpy of rolling capacity. The outage is likely slated for the week of May 7.
Steel Market Production Increases – Romanian longs producer Ductil Steel has restarted operations at its Otelo Rosu works following a two week stoppage.
Steel Market Production Increases – Japanese producer Nippon Steel has announced that it is increasing capacity at its number 4 blast furnace at its Yawata works by 18 percent. The upgrade is expected to be initiated during the 4th quarter of 2012 and completed within 85 days.
Sources: American Metal Market and Steel Orbis
New Report Preview
February preliminary steel imports rose a surprising 5.6% from 2.55 million tons (mt) in January to 2.69 mt, mainly due to an unexpected surge of imported semi-finished steel from Brazil, which we estimate increased nearly 60%. Finished steel imports actually dropped 0.4% in the month, while semi-finished as a total rose 31.1%.
Meaningful import increases were also seen for wire rod (up 100.1%) and sheet (up 9.5%). The largest decrease on a tonnage basis was for line pipe, which fell 28.2%, while declines were also seen for heavy structural shapes (down 30.4%), cut-to-length plate (down 16.5%), rebar (down 9.1%) and OCTG (down 5.8%).
Our full report is available to subscribers and provides further thoughts on February imports as well as our outlook for the coming months and implications for steel equities.
For a free trial subscription, please contact us.
