Contributor: Michael Cowden

SMU’s flat-rolled steel prices were flat or lower as tariff-related uncertainty continued to drag on the market.

Bilstein Cold Rolled Steel LLC CEO Brent Wilson will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, April 30, at 11 am ET. You can register here. Reminder: The live webinar is free to attend. A recording will be available only to SMU subscribers. About Bilstein and Wilson Bilstein Cold […]

A modest week-to-week change in HR price understates a huge swing in expectations.

The Trump tariff drama continues.

Let’s just say the impact of the latest tariffs on the domestic steel market is uncertain at best.

The US Commerce Department on Friday released preliminary anti-dumping margins in a trade case targeted imports of coated flat-rolled steel from 10 countries. Certain countries and mills were hammered while others were largely spared. Brazilian steelmaker CSN, for example, received a preliminary rate of 137.76%. Some Turkish mills – including Boreclik and ArcelorMittal Celik Ticaret – received no dumping margin at all.

MetalX Founder and CEO Danny Rifkin - born in 1954 - died on April 1, surrounded by family.

The Commerce Department has made a preliminary determination that ‘critical circumstances’ exist for certain imports of corrosion-resistant (CORE) flat-rolled steel from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Commerce decided that critical circumstances did not apply to CORE from South Africa. The department also found that critical circumstances did not apply to CORE from UAE producers Al-Ghurair Iron & Steel LLC and United Iron & Steel Company LLC.

Sheet and plate prices were mixed on Tuesday as the market took a wait-and-see approach to the Trump administration’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.

I’m not sure what I can write today that won’t be old news after April 2. The Trump administration has dubbed Wednesday “Liberation Day.” Since it’s mostly about tariffs, let’s just call it “Tariff Day.” Or maybe we should call it “Tariff Week” – since tariffs typically dominate the news cycle in the first week […]

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed a proclamation that will impose a 25% tariff on most imported passenger vehicles.

After a March frenzy, are prices nearing a peak in April? Some of you have suggested that they are. Others think it's too early to make any such call.

President Trump’s tariffs are aimed in large part at bringing manufacturing back to the United States. In theory, it’s simple enough: Want to avoid a big tariff? Make it in the US!

Wonder what the fallout from all the Trump tariffs might be? A manufacturing renaissance? A post-WWII order in ashes? Or something a little more down the middle? Then register for our next Community Chat on Thursday, March 13 at 11 am ET. Yes, you read that correctly, SMU is shattering precedent by holding a Community Chat on a day that is not Wednesday. Our featured speaker will be Alan Price, a leading trade attorney at Wiley and someone whose columns you read regularly in SMU.

Remember infrastructure week in Trump 1.0? It became a running joke. Because it was almost always derailed by whatever the scandal of the day was. In Trump 2.0, we've got tariff week. And unlike infrastructure week, tariff week is no joke.

Nucor has increased its list price for hot-rolled (HR) coil to $900 per short ton (st), according to a letter to customers on Monday. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker’s list price for HR is up $40/st from $860/st last week and up $125/st from $775/st a month ago, according to SMU’s mill price announcement calendar. The […]

That’s not to say Section 232 shouldn’t be tightened up. Or that certain trade practices – even among our traditional allies – weren’t problematic. But when it comes to the reboot of Section 232, I do wonder whether there will be some unintended consequences.

Market participants might disagree over how high flat-rolled steel price might go and for how long they might remain elevated. But there is near total agreement on one thing: Prices are up sharply again this week. The gains come on the heels of waves of mill price increases (for sheet and for plate), expectations that scrap prices will rise again in March, and the threat of tariffs looming over the market.

Nucor aims to increase prices for steel plate by $160 per short ton (st) with the opening of its April order book. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said the increase was effective with orders received on Feb. 24 in a letter to customers dated the same day.

The US steel market has whipsawed upward on the prospect of expanded Section 232 tariffs of 25% being applied to imported steel - including downstream goods - on March 12. It seems pretty clear that domestic steel mills have the ear of the Trump administration when it comes to Section 232. The result? The much-anticipated Trump bump has finally arrived - and then some.

Cleveland-Cliffs said it will open its April order book for spot material at $900 per short ton (st). The Cleveland-based steelmaker said the increase was necessary because of “rapidly changing market conditions” in a letter to customers dated Friday, Feb. 21.

Some of you have told me that the current market feels about as crazy as early 2021 when demand snapped back after the initial outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Others have said it might be more like late February/early March 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine – and, in the process, caused […]

SSAB has increased plate prices by a total of $240/st in less than a month. That tally results from the current increase, an increase of $80/st in early February, and another of $60/st in late January, according to SMU’s price announcement calendar.

NLMK USA has opened its April order book at new, higher base prices for steel sheet, according to market participants. The steelmaker is seeking at least $900 per short ton (st) for hot-rolled (HR) coil and at least $1,100/st for cold-rolled and coated products, they said.

It’s been an eventful (and chaotic) start to the year for steel and aluminum as industry tries to navigate new Trump administration.

U.S. Steel has increased prices for flat-rolled steel by at least $50 per short ton (st), according to market participants. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker now seeks a minimum of $850/st for hot-rolled (HR) coil. And it seeks at least $1,050/st for cold-rolled and coated base prices, they said.

Sheet and plate prices surged higher this week on a wave of what some called “panic buying” following the Trump administration’s announcement of stricter Section 232 measures last week.

I think it’s fair to say that the last few weeks – and last week especially – have been among the most intense for any of us covering steel (or aluminum).

Josh Spoores, principal analyst at CRU, will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available for free to SMU members. You can register here.

A lot of the changes basically entail rolling back what I’ll call, for fun, Section 232 Lite. S232 Lite resulted from watering down what I’ll call OG S232 – the one first imposed in March 2018 - with exemptions and exclusions over the years. Now, OG Section 232, is back with its across-the-board 25% tariffs against everyone.