Community Events
SMU Community Chat: Phil Bell Talks Growing Domestic Capacity
Written by Becca Moczygemba
January 12, 2023
As new capacity continues to come online, there’s a question of what that means for existing capacity. Will the market be flooded with too much supply and not enough demand?
North American flat-rolled capacity has been growing and is expected to continue to into 2025. But Philip K. Bell, president of the Steel Manufacturer’s Association (SMA), says the capacity calculation is not so black and white. “Don’t look at new steel capacity as an addition problem, where the resulting capacity is taking existing capacity and adding to it,” Bell said.
“If you look at it algebraically, you can see that the new capacity represents the electrification, modernization, and decarbonization of the domestic steel industry,” he said.
“The US produces the lowest carbon intensity steel in the world. And EAFs (electric-arc furnaces) in America get their energy from a grid that gets greener every year.” And as companies continue to optimize their production processes, Bell said we should expect an increased demand for scrap and scrap substitutes. “The US steel industry has the carbon advantage”, he said.
He also praised Section 232. “232 played a role in a lower carbon future for our country. It reduced the amount of dirty imported steel coming in,” Bell said. He added that national security tariffs as well as antidumping and countervailing duties are necessary for holding other countries to a higher standard.
Missed the Community Chat with Tom Derry last month? No problem. Click here for a recording of this and past SMU webinars.
By Becca Moczygemba, Becca@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Becca Moczygemba
Read more from Becca MoczygembaLatest in Community Events
Saving US pig iron: NEMO Industries CEO Daniel Liss talks bringing back domestic production
NEMO Industries CEO talks cost and reasoning behind a $3-billion pig iron project in Louisiana.
Join SMU and AMU for a Community Chat with Wiley on Trump, Trade, and Tariffs
Want to know the latest on Trump, tariffs, and trade policy - and the impact on both steel and aluminum? Then join SMU, AMU, and leading law firm Wiley for a Community Chat on Thursday, Nov. 13, at 11 am ET.
Bidding a final farewell to Magic Steel Founder Joe Maggini
Joe 'Magic' was known across the industry as a remarkable salesman with a larger-than-life personality. In 1974, he founded a one-person steel brokerage operation in Michigan that would become Magic Steel.
US mill buys two cargoes of Brazilian pig iron down from Sept prices
SMU spoke with a large channel in Brazil who confirmed his company sold a cargo of 50,000 metric tons (mt) to a US buyer at $383/mt FOB Brazil. That's down $12/mt from the last cargo sold in September.
From integrated mills to EAFs, Dan Brown’s career has spanned changes in the steel industry
Brown's career began at the historic integrated U.S. Steel mills near Pittsburgh. He now helps lead the Big River Steel EAFs in Arkansas.