In the past year, the epidemic has been overcast, and many US steel mills have stopped production, and the US steel industry has suffered a lot.
The demand for automobiles, trucks, household appliances and other steel products has recovered to a certain extent, and the output of American steel mills has only begun to slowly increase.
In the second quarter of 2020, the capacity utilization rate of American steel mills once dropped to 56%, and it is now even 75%, but it is still far below the level of 82% in February last year. The same is true for steel shipments, which have increased, but they are not as good as the same period in 2019.
At the same time, data from the US Census Bureau showed that the number of unfulfilled steel orders in the United States reached the highest level in five years, and inventories were at a low point of nearly three and a half years.
In terms of prices, the benchmark US hot-rolled steel price reached US$1,176/ton this month, the highest level in at least 13 years. Since August last year, US steel prices have risen by more than 160%.
Many American parts manufacturers not only fall into the “there are orders, no raw material” of the situation, soaring steel prices also make their material costs soaring, some companies rising cost of steel has nearly doubled in the past six months.
IHS Markit PMI survey data shows that the US factory paid price index in February was the highest since 2011, and the finished product price index was the highest since 2008.
According to the current situation, digesting costs or passing on costs has become a new problem facing manufacturers.
Post time: Feb-23-2021
