Harry Moser, president of the Reshoring Initiative, is a big supporter of the Trump administration and its trade policies. But when it comes to the Section 232 tariffs on steel imports, which have dramatically raised steel prices in the U.S., domestic steelmakers have gained at the expense of steel-consuming manufacturers downstream. “Overall, I am delighted […]
The Nucor Plate Group announced today, Oct. 23, that it is raising transaction prices on carbon and alloy plate and heat-treated plate by $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt). The increase takes effect immediately on all new orders promised on or after Jan. 1, 2019. All published extras will be applied. Nucor’s last price hike on plate […]
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says it would be in the best interest of both Canada and the United States to lift tariffs the countries now impose on each other, but she offered no timeline on when that might occur. Responding to a press question yesterday on the prospects that the U.S. Section 232 […]
JSW Steel USA broke ground Friday in Baytown, Texas, on what it claims will be the most technologically advanced electric arc furnace, slab caster and plate mill in the world. It will be the only melt and manufacture plate mill with a contiguous pipe mill in North America, the company said. Thanks to policies from […]
Will the flat rolled mills be successful in collecting the $40 per ton price increase they announced last week? No, they will not, predict eight out of 10 steel executives who responded to this week’s Steel Market Update Market Trends questionnaire. Only about 20 percent believe the price increase will stick. Following are some insightful […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: Three items of interest for today, which will be expanded upon as events warrant: WTO Disputes on Section 232 Tariffs—At least two WTO members (the EU and Norway) requested formation of a dispute settlement panel […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: As we approach the 2018 mid-term elections in a bit more than two weeks, I checked on the available data on voter attitudes toward the tariffs and trade policy. There is a lot of information […]
The flat rolled mills announced a price hike last week. This was at the same time Steel Market Update sources were advising of $38.00/cwt ($760 per ton) out of more than one domestic steel mill. The increase, announced initially by Nucor, was seen as an attempt to dry up the sub-$800 offers and put a […]
With the market sending mixed signals, distributors of HVAC products are keeping inventories lean as they wait to see if the price increase just announced by the steel mills gains any traction. “You can make a case for prices to go either way,” said one member of the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) […]
Material Sciences Corporation has joined the North American Steel Alliance. MSC becomes the 121st member of NASA, a purchasing cooperative based in Chicago. MSC provides advanced solutions in metals, metal products and metal processing across a diverse array of end-use markets. Its specialties include electrogalvanizing, continuous coil-coating, laminating, acoustic composites and supply chain management. “One […]
How long will the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports remain in place? There is no way to know for sure. But supporters, including various trade and government officials, make a strong case that the tariffs are likely to remain in force for some time to come. President Trump announced the 25 percent […]
How long will the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports remain in place? There is no way to know for sure. But supporters, including various trade and government officials, make a strong case that the tariffs are likely to remain in force for some time to come. President Trump announced the 25 percent […]
AK Steel has received an award of up to $1.2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to help fund its research into low-density steels, which could ultimately be used in automotive structural applications. AK Steel will work on a three-year project in collaboration with DOE, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Colorado School […]
Samuel, Son & Co., Limited, has promoted Colin Osborne to the position of president and chief operating officer. He will assume leadership responsibility for Samuel’s operations, manufacturing, purchasing and commercial activities, along with oversight of the company’s corporate functions. Samuel is a leading metals distributor and industrial products manufacturer based near Toronto. It is the […]
International Monetary Fund economists forecast global economic growth of 3.7 percent for 2018-19, 0.2 percentage point below their forecast six months ago. While still positive, the expansion has become less balanced and may have peaked in some major economies, the IMF reported in its October World Economic Outlook. Excerpts from the WEO report below clearly […]
On Wednesday of this week, Nucor’s Sheet Mill Group announced a $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt) price hike on flat rolled steel products produced by the mill. The price hike affects only spot tons and not contract orders, which tend to be tied to a flat rolled steel price index. In an Oct. 10 letter to […]
On the heels of the price hike announced by Nucor yesterday, the other major sheet mills followed suit today raising spot prices on flat rolled steel products by $40 per net ton. Customers were notified of the increase by ArcelorMittal USA, U.S. Steel, California Steel Industries and USS-POSCO Industries. California Steel Industries told customers it […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: A question came up this week about production and changing tariff codes for products to avoid or minimize tariffs. Understanding options depends on the issue of how tariff classifications are changed through processing. And if […]
Alro Steel has acquired two Missouri service centers, extending its reach further west. Alro has purchased the assets of Sedalia Steel Supply, Sedalia, Mo., and Camdenton Steel Supply, Camdenton, Mo. Established in 1976 by Wayne and Gayle Lamb, Sedalia Steel Supply distributes a complete line of steel products from a 107,000-square-foot facility in Sedalia and […]
Nucor’s Sheet Mill Group announced a $40 price hike this morning. In an Oct. 10 letter to customers, Nucor said that base prices on hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel products would all increase by $40 per ton, effective immediately. The steel mills have been largely silent on price changes for the past few […]
Union Partners has acquired the assets of Xcel Steel’s pickling operations in Dearborn, Mich., effective Oct. 5. The division has joined Union Partners-owned Maksteel and will now operate under the name Maksteel Processing. As this transition occurs, there will be no interruption in service to customers, the company said. The Detroit location of Xcel Steel Processing will continue […]
The market has been searching for a bottom and perhaps found it this week as all the major flat rolled mills announced price hikes of $40 per ton on hot rolled, hot rolled P&O, cold rolled and galvanized steel products. Steel prices have seen a steady decline of around $80 per ton since this summer. […]
Energy prices are up, but growth in the rig count has slowed, and bottlenecks in the nation’s oil fields will continue to constrain oil and gas production—and along with it demand for oil country tubular goods (OCTG), reports Rick Preckel, a principal at Preston Pipe, a Ballwin, Mo., market research and consulting firm. As of […]
Twice as many of the respondents to Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire expect flat rolled steel prices to remain the same or move higher. About 24 percent feel the downward price trend has bottomed, compared with 12 percent in last month’s returns. Steel Market Update’s current Price Momentum Indicator is pointing toward lower […]
Demand for steel products has been strong and improving for much of the year, but the findings of Steel Market Update’s latest flat rolled and plate steels market trends questionnaire show that more companies see demand for their products declining than increasing under the current market conditions. However, when you view the graph below, you […]
Prices for secondary steel have followed the downtrend with prime, but to a lesser degree, report distributors of nonprime material. Finding enough material to meet customers’ needs remains a challenge, they say. Secondary steel is nonprime or excess material that did not meet the specifications for its original intended use, but is acceptable to other […]
Liberty Steel Products Holdings is now the majority owner of Mississippi Steel Processing (MSP), located on the campus of Steel Dynamics’ Columbus, Miss., flat roll mill. MSP will continue offering a complete array of toll steel processing services in the Southeast and surrounding markets and looks to build on its position as an independent steel […]
The attitudes of steel buyers and sellers, as measured by this week’s SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index questionnaire, are slightly more optimistic than they were last month. The goal of the index is to measure how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful today (Current Index), as well as […]
Lead times for most flat rolled steel products continue to shrink, according to returns from Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level—the shorter the lead time, the less busy the mill, and theoretically the more flexible the price. Lead times for […]
When it comes to haggling over steel prices with the mills, buyers retain a strong bargaining position. Steel Market Update tracks how buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel represent the mill negotiation position. More than eight out of 10 buyers report that mills are willing to negotiate spot prices on new orders placed this […]