Michael Cowden

Sheet prices were mixed after Independence Day, with coated and plate up even as hot-rolled (HR) coil and cold-rolled (CR) coil remained flat.

SMU’s lead times for both hot-rolled (HR) coil and cold-rolled (CR) coil ticked down this week, according to our latest steel market survey. We’re talking less than half a week in each case, which I’d read as essentially flat.

Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, will be the featured guest on our next Community Chat on Wednesday, July 15, at 11 am ET.

A worker died on Saturday morning at U.S. Steel’s Granite City Works near St. Louis, the company and the United Steelworkers (USW) union said.

Hot-rolled and cold-rolled prices held steady again this week while prices for coated products and plate continued to tick upward.

Steel Dynamics Inc. posted sharply higher profits on record quarterly shipments and predicted the good times might continue to roll into 2027. SDI reported stellar Q2'26 earnings on record shipments and higher steel prices.

Sheet prices continued to grind higher this week on factors familiar to most steel market participants: extremely limited spot availability, long lead times, low inventories, and firm demand.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. narrowed its losses in the second quarter thanks to increased demand, higher prices, longer lead times, and limited import competition.

Cleveland-Cliffs President and CFO Celso Goncalves said no deal was imminent between the company and South Korean steelmaker POSCO because of disagreements over valuation.

Cleveland-Cliffs’ top executive said any restart of the blast furnace at its Dearborn Works in Michigan hinges on automakers reshoring more production to the US.