Courtesy of Majestic Steel USA
Each week, Majestic Steel USA [majesticsteel.com], a steel service center that distributes prime, flat-rolled galvanized steel sheets and coils to industries across the United States, compiles the Core Report. The Report is “an in-depth look at key indicators and trends driving the steel market. Market volatility demands your attention about what’s driving prices, when and why.” Data sources are listed in each section.
Majestic Steel has granted Rollforming Magazine permission to publish information excerpted from the Report for its readers. The information included here is from the Core Report for the week ending April 26, 2024.
Domestic Steel Production
According to the American Iron & Steel Institute, Weekly Domestic Steel Production report dated April 23, 2024, domestic raw steel production decreased for the second consecutive week as mill maintenance outages got underway.
U.S. mills produced an estimated 1,716k tons at a 77.3% utilization rate; this is down from 1,726k tons and a 77.7% rate previously.
This is the lowest weekly tonnage output since mid-March.
Production increased in three of the five regions but was offset by a large drop in the Southern region. Production from the Southern region slipped from 734K tons to 724k tons.
Year-to-date production of domestic steel is now up 3.3% compared to the same timeframe from last year.
Global Steel Production
According to the WorldSteel, Global Steel Production report for March 2024, global steel production continued to trend higher in March, and is now up for the third consecutive month.
Global steel production came in at a 5.200 million mt/day rate in March, up 0.9% from February but was 4.3% below the 5.432 million mt/day rate in March 2023.
The boost in production in March came from China, which saw daily production increase 1.7% from February to 2.847 million mt/day.
Production on a year-over-year basis declined however, sliding 7.8% from March 2023.
Production from the rest of the world was flat, holding at a 2.352 million mt/day rate in March.
North American production came in at a 305k mt/day rate in March, up 0.6% from February but down 1.4% from March 2023.
This was the third consecutive month with a year-over-year decline.
Spot Iron Ore
The Platts, Spot Iron Ore report ending April 26, 2024, indicates an increase for the third consecutive week. Spot iron ore pricing ended the week at $111/mt, up from $110.35/mt the week before. This is the highest price for iron ore since early March.
The report also says, “The iron ore market is bracing for an uncertain second quarter, with demand relying heavily on the property sector which has struggled of late.”
Carbon Steel Imports
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Carbon Steel Imports report for March 2024: Preliminary March carbon steel imports continued to climb, on a per day basis, and are now at their highest level since June 2023. Total carbon steel imports totaled 1.975 million tons in March, which is up 6.9% from February and up 1.1% from 1.954 million tons in March 2023.
Carbon flat rolled imports increased as well, climbing to 663,778 tons (21.4k tons/day) in March. This is up 14.2% from February and up 46.5% from March 2023.
Within flat rolled, all three products increased from February, with hot rolled up 34%, cold rolled up 13.2%, and coated up 19.4%.
The full library of Core Reports from Majestic Steel USA can be accessed at https://www.majesticsteel.com/majestic-insights/core-report/. RF
