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1 week ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Brett Linton
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released its April Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO). The latest report projects declining crude oil prices, with a downwardly revised forecast due to rising inventories and slower demand growth. Natural gas prices are expected to rise through 2026, driven by increased heating demand and growing exports.
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1 week ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Brett Linton
The average lead time for hot-rolled steel has fallen to five weeks. Tandem products range from six-and-a-half to seven-and-a-half weeks, while plate remains just under six weeks. Table 1 summarizes current lead times and recent changes by product (click to expand). Compared to our April 2 market check, all five of our lead time ranges shifted this week:Hot rolled: The longest lead time in our range declined from seven weeks to six.
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1 week ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Brett Linton
The percentage of buyers reporting room for negotiation dropped to a near two-year low by early March. Negotiation activity appears to have now reached a turning point, with this week marking the highest rate seen since early February. Every two weeks, SMU polls thousands of steel buyers asking if domestic mills are negotiable on new order pricing. In our latest survey, 43% of respondents said mills were willing to talk price (Figure 1).
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1 week ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Brett Linton
Tandem products saw slightly steeper declines: our cold rolled and Galvalume indices both fell $15/st week over week (w/w), while galvanized prices declined $20/st. Compared to one month ago, cold-rolled prices are down just $5/st, while coated products are down as much as $40/st. Plate saw the smallest movement this week, slipping $5/st w/w. This marks the second consecutive weekly decline, following the one-year high seen at the start of April.
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1 week ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Brett Linton
Heating and cooling equipment shipments increased 2% from January to February, according to the latest data released by the Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). Water heater and air conditioner/heat pump shipments climbed higher, while warm-air furnace shipments eased month over month (m/m). February shipments increased by 33,000 units m/m to a four-month high of 1.72 million units (Figure 1, left).
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1 week ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Brett Linton
Raw steel mill output increased last week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Production is now at the second-highest weekly total recorded so far this year, nearing one of the strongest levels logged over the past six months. Through the week ending April 12, domestic steel mill production was estimated at 1,689,000 short tons (st) (Figure 1). Production increased by 33,000 tons, or 2.0%, compared to the previous week.
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1 week ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Brett Linton
Nucor lowered its weekly consumer spot price (CSP) for hot-rolled (HR) coil this week after holding prices steady for the past two weeks. As of Monday, April 14, the CSP is $930 per short ton (st), a $5/st decrease from the previous week. It was $935/st two weeks ago and $930/st one month ago. The HR coil base price for Nucor subsidiary California Steel Industries (CSI) also declined $5/st this week, now at $990/st. It was at $995/st for each of the three prior weeks and $990/st one month ago.
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1 week ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Brett Linton
Canadian drilling continues to decline seasonally following its winter peak. Total oil and gas rig counts fell by 15 this week to 138. Canadian activity typically surges in January and February, then declines through April as thawing ground conditions limit access to roads and drilling sites. The international rig count is reported monthly at the start of each month. The March count was 899 rigs, down six from February and 72 fewer than one year prior.
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2 weeks ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Brett Linton
Apparent supply declined to 8.00 million short tons (st) in February, a month-over-month (m/m) decrease of 979,000 st, or 11%. While down, February supply is just 16,000 tons shy of the same month last year. Supply has fluctuated within a stable range over the past two and a half years, averaging 8.38 million st per month in that time (Figure 1). We have seen increased volatility across the last few months.
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2 weeks ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Brett Linton
The bulk of US exports go to US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trading partners, with half of February exports going to Mexico and 43% to Canada. Other notable destinations, each accounting for 1% or less of total exports, included the Dominican Republic, China, the Bahamas, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, Brazil, South Korea, India, Turkey, and Colombia.
