Steel Market Update will be taking time off in observance of Passover and Easter this weekend. We will be closed on Friday, April 15, and we will not publish our Executive issue on Sunday, April 17. Our weekly pricing service will not be impacted. We will resume our regular publication schedule on Monday, April 18, […]
I shouldn’t say put a fork in this market and call it done. It’s probably too early for that. But some of the anecdotal indicators I mentioned last week are increasingly showing up in the data we and others collect. Take a look at today’s issue: Lead times are still rising, for the most part. […]
SSAB Americas plans to increase prices on as-rolled, normalized and wide cut-to-length plate by at least $60 per ton ($3 per cwt). The Mobile, Ala.-based steelmaker said the price hike would be $70 CAD per ton for customers in Canada. “SSAB Americas reserves the right to re-quote any open offers not confirmed by an SSAB […]
Sheet and plate prices are flat or modestly down. I didn’t expect to write that this week. But the data we collected and our methodology indicated that it was the right decision. I’ve had a lot of experience with pricing over the years. And in my experience, that data often moves before the words. In […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. chairman, president and CEO Lourenco Goncalves blasted low US tariffs on Russian pig iron given sharply higher ones on steel. The pig iron tariff – $1.11 per metric ton, or $1 per short ton – is too little to stop companies, notably electric-arc furnace (EAF) sheet mills, from importing raw material from Russia, […]
BlueScope plans to buy Coil Coatings from Cornerstone Building Brands for $500 million to expand its presence in painted products in the eastern US. The Australian steelmaker – parent company of sheet producer North Star BlueScope in Delta, Ohio – said the deal would complement its existing coated products business on the West Coast. The […]
If you’re feeling whiplash from the current market, I’d take some comfort in the fact that you’re not alone. I remember attending Great Designs in Steel, one of my favorite events, in Livonia, Mich., back in May 2018. My absolute favorite part of GDIS is seeing the latest vehicle models dissected – and all the […]
President Joe Biden on Friday signed into law a bill stripping Russia and Belarus of what’s known as “permanent normal trade relations,” or PNTR. The president also signed into law a bill prohibiting imports of energy products from Russia. President Biden’s actions came after the Senate unanimously voted on Thursday to pass a bill to remove PNTR […]
President Joe Biden on Friday signed into law a bill stripping Russia and Belarus of what’s known as “permanent normal trade relations,” or PNTR. The president also signed into law a bill prohibiting imports of energy products from Russia. President Biden’s actions came after the Senate unanimously voted on Thursday to pass a bill to remove PNTR […]
SSAB Americas aims to increase prices on all quenched-and-tempered (Q&T) products by at least $100 per ton ($5 per cwt). The price hike is $125 CAD per ton for customers in Canada, the company noted. The move is effectively immediately on all non-contract orders confirmed to ship on May 1 or later, SSAB said in […]
My car was sideswiped recently – a parked car is hard to avoid, apparently – and I thought a silver lining might be that I could do my little part to keep North America’s scrap reservoir full. A quarter panel, maybe even a door. Instead, I am still driving around in that scrap (and probably […]
2022 SMU Steel Summit Finally, a note from our founder, John Packard, who wants to make sure all of you are aware of the latest developments for our big event which will be held in Atlanta on the 22nd through the 24th of August. The following companies registered for the 2022 SMU Steel Summit Conference […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has applied for an air permit for an electric-arc furnace at its Middletown Works in southwest Ohio. The Cleveland-based steelmaker currently operates an integrated steel mill in Middletown. The air permit is for the “proposed installation of an EAF melt shop and associated operations to produce steel slab,” the company said in filings […]
Nucor plans to build its $350 million rebar “micro mill” in Lexington, N.C., in response to growth in the Southeast and in anticipation of increased demand from federal infrastructure spending. The new mill is expected to have capacity of 430,00 tons per year. Construction is slated to take roughly two years pending permits and other […]
I gave the keynote address at The FABRICATOR’s Manufacturers & Suppliers Event in Schaumburg – just outside of Chicago – earlier today. And I want to thank the organizers who invited me, everyone who attended and especially those who asked questions. My presentation focused on the factors we’ve all been following closely over the last […]
Ryerson president and CEO Eddie Lehner will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat. The webinar is on Wednesday, April 6, at 10 ET (9 am CT). It’s free. You can register here. We’ll talk about what’s in store for the second quarter, 2H and looking out into 2023. We’ll also discuss how to […]
The US Department of Commerce has decided to continue countervailing duties of 4.35 percent on cut-to-length steel plate from South Korea. “Commerce determines that revocation of the (duty) Order would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of countervailable subsidies,” according to an entry in the Federal Register dated Friday, April 1, 2022. The decision stems […]
US President Joe Biden has officially implemented a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) that will ease Section 232 restrictions on steel from Japan. “I have determined that imports of specified volumes of eligible steel articles from Japan will no longer threaten to impair the national security,” Biden wrote in a presidential proclamation. The proclamation is dated Thursday, March […]
I decided to take a break from prices and survey data today to check in with a few trusted mill and service center executives. Each had their own take on the market. But there were a couple of common threads. First, the war in Ukraine is still driving the steel and metals markets – even […]
Nucor aims to increase plate prices by between $55 per ton ($2.75 per cwt) and $125 per ($6.25 per cwt) depending on the product. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steelmaker said the price hike was effective with new orders received on Thursday, March 31, in a letter to customers dated the same day. The company made the […]
Ryerson president and CEO Eddie Lehner will be the featured speaker on our next SMU Community Chat. The webinar is on Wednesday, April 6, at 10 ET (9 am CT). It’s free. You can register here. Why should you listen? Lehner told me back in January that the selloff was overdone. That was not a mainstream […]
The US Commerce Department has decided to continue anti-dumping duties on cut-to-length plate from a dozen nations. It has also determined that countervailing duties – more than 250% – on plate from China should remain in place. The Sun Doesn’t Set on Steel Duties Those decisions follow an expedited “sunset” review that began on December […]
The Supreme Court has declined to hear a case about whether former President Donald Trump had legal authority to double Turkey’s Section 232 steel tariff to 50% The high court did so by denying “certiorari” on Monday, March 28, in the matter of TransPacific Steel LLC et al v. United States et al. The move […]
The market has worked itself into a frenzy about rising costs: for fuel, for labor, and for raw materials. All that translates into sharply higher prices for steel. There is a good case to be made that these factors – especially when it comes to fuel and raw materials – won’t go away anytime soon […]
Fuel surcharges continue to march higher along with increased steel prices and ballooning costs for raw materials such as ferrous scrap and pig iron. Case in point: Wheeling-Nippon Steel’s fuel surcharge will increase to 24% effective with shipments on Monday, April 4. “The surcharge will continue to be added to the freight on all invoices […]
Fuel surcharges continue to march higher along with increased steel prices and ballooning costs for raw materials such as ferrous scrap and pig iron. Case in point: Wheeling-Nippon Steel’s fuel surcharge will increase to 24% effective with shipments on Monday, April 4. “The surcharge will continue to be added to the freight on all invoices […]
Algoma Steel Group Inc. expects modestly lower shipments and production volumes in its fiscal fourth quarter because of supply chain bottlenecks and the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based steelmaker forecasts shipments of 540,000-550,000 tons in the fourth quarter and adjusted EBITDA of CAD $310 million to $320 million (USD […]
Nucor has increased the raw materials surcharge (RMS) for customers buying steel sheet on terms linked to scrap prices. The Charlotte, NC-based steelmaker said its RMS – based on prices for busheling scrap – would be $515 per ton ($25.75 per cwt) in April, a $190-per-ton increase from prior levels. The higher RMS will be […]
The U.S. does not have any additional Section 232 negotiations in the pipeline with South Korea, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Reuters. And domestic steel industry lobbying groups said that talks weren’t happening with Brazil or Argentina either, the other countries subject to a Section 232 quota rather than a 25% tariff. The industry execs […]
The United Steelworkers (USW) union is preparing for contract talks this summer with U.S. Steel and with Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., a USW spokeswoman confirmed. A text had been sent out to USW members earlier in the day on Thursday, March 24, alerting them that the USW was getting ready for negotiations. The USW contracts with Pittsburgh-based […]