US steel market supply and demand and price analysis - steel and wire

Supply:

In the United States, current production of steel bars and wire rods has rebounded, but output is still below the normal level. The volume of deliveries in one year is much lower than the consumption volume. Therefore, even if the recent demand has not increased, the output level must be increased in the future. The market for steel bars and wire rods has changed from a huge net import market to a market with balanced imports and exports. The supply of goods in the market has further decreased. For most of 2009, despite the economic downturn, the domestic steel and wire rod production was too low to meet domestic demand. The previously unused electric furnace production equipment was soon put into production. However, U.S. wire and steel are somewhat different. Not only has production started to increase, but imports have increased even more. American wire rod production has been declining since 2001.

Demand:

The market conditions for steel and wire rods in the United States vary. Demand for steel and wire rod products used in manufacturing has bottomed out, and demand growth in 2010 is extremely slow. Until the end of 2010, the demand for steel and wire rod products used in the construction industry continued to decline, and the demand for wire rods in the non-residential construction industry declined slightly later, so its demand rebounded later. The durable consumer goods manufacturing industry for household appliances has started to pick up. The demand for industrial machinery and equipment products and automotive parts and components has dropped significantly, and there is no evidence of rebound. This means that the demand for alloy bars, small sections and special bars used in the above two sectors will rise moderately. .

price:

The market prices for all steel and wire rods in the United States are far below the highest levels in 2008, and some of them have been reduced to their lowest levels since 2004, while prices of other varieties remain slightly below the highest levels in 2008. In 2010, the price of some low-priced varieties will rise, while the price of expensive varieties will fall. The prices of ordinary carbon steel bars and wire rods are generally at a slow rising trend. The prices of other varieties except for carbon steel bars and wire rods are declining. The most obvious ones are small profiles. Usually the price of small profiles is basically the same as steel bars and wire rods. However, in 2009, the price of small profiles in the United States was 20% higher than that of ordinary carbon steel bars and wire rods, and was higher by US$200 per short ton. Because the production cost of small profiles is basically the same as that of ordinary carbon steel. The higher portion will become the profit of small profile sales in 2009. Except for small profiles, most steel bars and wire rods will slowly increase in 2010, and their increased production costs will increase the price increase of these varieties. However, in the United States, the demand for these varieties remains weak in 2010, and idle capacity will also limit its price increase. It is estimated that the steel and wire market price in 2010 will be 50 US dollars higher than the end of 2009, or 10% higher.