News

A quick look at a few of the bigger things affecting our business this week.

Steel: Prices are still climbing, just at a slower pace. Nucor raised hot-rolled coil another $5/ton to $1,160, with its West Coast joint venture up to $1,220. SMU’s broader average actually held flat week over week at $1,180/ton — the first real pause in weeks. One thing worth watching: steel import licenses jumped 9% in July, the highest level since last summer. That’s still a small crack in the wall, not a flood, but it’s the first sign that some import relief could be on the way eventually.

Oil: A rough week, and it’s not over. Talks between Oman and Iran over reopening the Strait of Hormuz fell apart on August 10 after Iran came back with a list of demands — full U.S. troop withdrawal, unfreezing assets, reparations, tolls on ships — that one analyst compared to “a child’s wish list to Santa Claus.” ANS jumped $4.58 that day to $83.11. Things got worse from there: Iran attacked two Abu Dhabi oil tankers in the strait midweek, and Brent is now up roughly 5% for the week, pushing toward $90-plus and within range of $100. On top of that, the interim U.S.-Iran ceasefire is set to formally expire today, and the IEA just warned of the widest global oil supply deficit in five years. No sign this settles down soon.

Infrastructure: Some real progress, with a catch. The Senate voted 90-6 to push the infrastructure funding deadline from September 30 out to December 11 — the House still needs to act, expected when they’re back in session late this month. But that extension only covers the core highway/transit authorizations, not the roughly $36.8 billion a year in advance appropriations that fund grant programs like Mega Grant, Bridge Formula, and rail/transit funding. Those programs are looking at cuts of 50-100% even with the extension in place. If any of your pipeline touches those specific grant programs rather than core highway funding, it’s worth checking which bucket it falls into.

Bottom line: Steel’s holding closer to flat for the first time in a while, oil is heading the wrong direction again with real geopolitical risk behind it, and infrastructure funding got a partial reprieve that doesn’t cover everything. Reach out if you want to talk through what any of this means for your project.

Steel: Steel Market Update, GMK Center, Yieh Corp. Oil: Petroleum News, Fortune, Barchart. Infrastructure: ENR, Roads & Bridges, Holland & Knight.

A quick look at a few of the bigger things affecting our business this week.

Steel: Prices keep climbing. Nucor raised its hot-rolled coil spot price for the third straight week, up another $10/ton to $1,155/ton, and its West Coast joint venture (California Steel Industries) went even higher, up $15 to $1,215/ton. SMU’s broader price indices are at multi-year highs across the board. The driver hasn’t changed — 50% Section 232 tariffs are keeping imports out and giving domestic mills room to keep raising prices. If you’ve been waiting for a dip, there’s still no sign of one.

Oil: Sharp reversal this week, the other direction for once. ANS dropped $6.08 on August 3 to close at $75.54, with WTI down $4.33 to $80.34 and Brent down $6.35 to $83.77, after President Trump paused U.S. hostilities again to give diplomacy with Iran another shot — reportedly with an outline in place to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. We’ve seen this pattern before this summer: prices spike on conflict, drop on ceasefire hope, then it’s anyone’s guess which way it breaks next. Don’t read too much into any single week’s number.

Infrastructure: Some actual good news here. The Senate has negotiated a continuing resolution that would extend highway and transit funding under the infrastructure law through December 11 — pushing back what had been a September 30 cliff. It’s contract authority only, not the full advance appropriations, and it still needs to pass, but it buys some breathing room for anyone with government-funded work on the books this fall.

Bottom line: Steel’s still climbing with no relief in sight, oil just swung back down on ceasefire hopes (don’t bank on it holding), and the infrastructure funding deadline just got a bit of breathing room, assuming the CR passes. Reach out if you want to talk through what any of this means for your project.

Steel: Steel Market Update, Nucor, Yieh Corp. Oil: Petroleum News. Infrastructure: FFIS, Congress.gov. 

A quick look at a few of the bigger things affecting our business this week.

Steel: Prices are holding at elevated levels, with hot-rolled coil still running in the $1,185-1,200/ton range — near the highest we’ve seen since June. Lead times remain stretched, with mills continuing to book well into fall. No real change from the last couple weeks, but no relief either.

Oil: Whiplash continues. The pause in U.S.-Iran fighting from July 24 barely lasted four days before it fell apart — Iran launched missile strikes on July 28, and Alaska North Slope crude, which had been sliding, reversed hard along with WTI and Brent. Add in the ongoing Houthi blockade in the Red Sea (Saudi Arabia is now pulling together a coalition of over 40 countries to protect shipping routes) and you’ve got a market that’s up roughly 24% for the month of July alone — one of the sharpest monthly moves in years. If your project planning touches oil prices at all, plan for continued volatility, not a settling-down.

Infrastructure: No major new developments this week, but the clock keeps ticking — current highway funding and what’s left of the infrastructure bill money both run out September 30, now about eight weeks away. If you’ve got government-funded work planned past that date, worth checking in on where that funding actually stands.

Bottom line: Steel’s steady but expensive, oil is more unpredictable than it’s been in years, and the infrastructure funding deadline is getting close. Plan ahead where you can. Reach out if you want to talk through what any of this means for your project.

Steel: Steel Market Update, Trading Economics. Oil: Petroleum News, Alaska Dept. of Revenue, Trading Economics. Infrastructure: CBO, Roll Call. Posted weekly for our customers — not investment advice.
#SteelIndustry #OilMarkets #GreerTank #TankFabrication

A quick look at a few of the bigger things affecting our business this week.

Steel: Prices are still climbing. Hot-rolled coil is averaging $1,165/ton now, up from $1,135 two weeks ago. The bigger issue is lead times — mills are quoting 7.8 weeks on average, the longest we’ve seen since 2021, and some are already booking into October. If you’ve got a project coming up, get your material locked in now rather than waiting.

Oil: Another volatile week. Houthi forces shut down Saudi shipping through the Red Sea on July 20, and the U.S. responded with eleven straight nights of strikes on Iran. ANS crude jumped from $76.87 to $81.28 over the week, and Brent briefly touched $100. That’s the third significant swing in a month. If your project planning depends on oil prices, build in room for things to move fast.

Infrastructure: The House passed a highway funding bill out of committee with strong bipartisan support, but CBO says it still leaves a real gap in the Highway Trust Fund — roughly $99.5 billion short for highways and $48.2 billion for transit through 2031, even with new EV fees included. Current highway funding, along with what’s left of the infrastructure bill money, runs out September 30. Worth keeping an eye on if you’ve got government-funded work planned for next year.

Bottom line: Steel keeps getting more expensive, oil remains unpredictable, and federal funding has a deadline coming up fast. All three point the same direction — plan ahead. Reach out if you want to talk through what any of this means for your project.

*Update on the steel industry and section 232. *
The section 232 quotas and tariffs that first threatened our industry in the first quarter of 2018 had a steep price on steel supplies, both in terms of pricing and lead times. Although pricing climbed steeply through the second quarter it has remained steady over the last few weeks. This is not expected to continue.

On June 1st tariffs and quotas on Canada, Mexico and other NAFTA countries went into effect. There is now a 25% tariff on hot roll steel products and a 10% tariff on aluminum products from these countries. Canada accounts for about 40% of the import for US suppliers.

Industry experts had been thinking that pricing and lead times would begin to soften a bit through the summer as they typically do. However, with this new development they are changing their stance on this. Right now, it is looking like we will see another round of price increases. Beam mills have already increased pricing by 5.00/CWT. Domestic mills have imposed higher transportation costs across the country. We could be looking at another 6.00-10.00 per CWT increase through the summer months. If Canada holds true to its threat of retaliatory tariffs on imports from the US beginning July 1st, we could see even higher increases.

The immediate affect will likely be longer lead times for hot roll and aluminum products as suppliers are not going to want to quote material until they know what is going to happen over the next month. We, at Greer, are dedicated to providing our customers the best service and products. We will continue to do what we can to keep costs down for our customers. And continue to keep you informed with what is going on in our industry.
*David Kapla * *General Manger Greer Steel Inc. *

Market-update-June-4-2018.pdf

Dear valued customers,
We wanted to alert you to a recent development in the steel industry.
On Friday, February 16th, Secretary Wilbur Ross released the U.S. Department of Commerce report detailing the impact to our national security from imports of steel mill products. This investigation was carried out under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. The Department of Commerce found that the quantities and circumstances of steel imports “threaten to impair national security” as defined by Section 232.
President Trump has until April 11th to make a ruling on the recommendations of Secretary Ross. The recommendations include tariffs and quotas on imported steel which could raise steel prices significantly. Although a final decision has yet to be made, the report has caused new challenges in the steel market. Some mills are not taking new orders, while others are not quoting prices. There also has been speculation that some products may be subject to allocation.

Because of the uncertainty regarding both price and availability, Greer Steel Inc. reserves the right to review all existing quotes prior to acceptance of an order. Acceptance of orders will be based on the best available market information. We understand this impacts your business as well as ours and we will do our best to mitigate the impact of these market disruptions.

Greer Steel Inc. will continue to communicate further developments in the current market. Thank you for your business and we look forward to working with you.

*David Kapla *
*General Manager Greer Steel Inc*

Market-update-March-20.pdf