China is cracking down on air pollution, which worsens during the winter heating season. Chinese steel producers are feeling the pressure from the government to scale back production in the next few months. Reuters reports that growth in China’s steel industry fell to a six-month low in October as a government crackdown on winter air […]
Kevin Voges, president of The Material Works (TMW), just got back from reviewing a new three-cell EPS coil line installation in China, where the company is finding a receptive audience for its EPS process, an alternative to acid pickling. “The Chinese are more environmentally conscious than anyone else because they’ve messed up their environment so […]
Nearly as disturbing as the steel imports themselves are repeated delays in promised trade relief, say steel industry executives, who find themselves doing business in a state of “perpetual uncertainty.” While there is no official confirmation from the Department of Commerce, SMU’s sources have confirmed reports that the Commerce Department has again delayed a preliminary […]
U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Oct. 28 totaled 1,739,000 net tons, a 5.1 percent increase from the same period last year, and up 0.5 percent from the prior week. The mill capability utilization rate for the week averaged 74.6 percent, down from 74.3 percent the prior week and 70.8 percent the prior […]
Steel imports into the U.S. increased by nearly 20 percent in the first nine months of the year, giving imports an estimated 28 percent share of the U.S. steel market—much to the ire of domestic steelmakers. Citing preliminary Census Bureau data, the American Iron and Steel Institute on Wednesday reported that steel imports year to […]
In a preliminary ruling on Wednesday, the Commerce Department found that seven countries have sold carbon and alloy steel wire rod in the United States at less than fair value. Subject to antidumping duties ranging from 2 to 148 percent are imports from Italy, Korea, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Wire […]
Commercial Metals Co., a Texas-based long products producer and scrap recycler, reported a profitable fiscal 2017 despite imports of rebar and other products that continue to squeeze margins. CMC management is hopeful the company will get an assist from Washington in the coming year. “The need for infrastructure renewal is overwhelming, but the issue is […]
If the Trump administration restricts steel imports under Section 232, it will open the United States to a host of retaliatory measures by other nations and will do little to address the root cause of the problem, which is China, argues the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS), a trade group representing foreign steel producers. […]
The U.S. Justice Department wants to know if Americans are at risk as a result of the Kobe Steel quality scandal. The Japanese metal producer’s subsidiary, Kobe Steel USA, Inc., received a request from the Justice Department on Oct. 16 seeking related documents. Kobe officials said they plan to cooperate with the Justice investigation. Kobe […]
ArcelorMittal kicked has off its second annual “Steel Spirit Sweepstakes” contest, giving its USA employees, customers, neighbors, steel enthusiasts and Big Ten sports fans the chance to watch the Big Ten Football Championship Game from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Dec. 2, 2017. The contest is open to all U.S. residents, ages 18 and […]
Truck tonnage declined in September, though it remains ahead of last year, reports the American Trucking Associations. “Tonnage gave back some of the solid gain in August, but remains at very high levels despite the weather-related issues during the month,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Going forward, rebuilding from those hurricanes and other natural […]
Wholesaler/distributors who sell galvanized steel products to the HVAC market are waiting anxiously to see what happens to prices in the coming weeks. In the monthly steel conference call hosted today by the Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International, HARDI members asked two key questions: Will the mills be able to collect the flat roll […]
The supply of trucks available to transport steel is tightening, more so because of a man-made state of affairs than the recent natural disasters. “The storms didn’t help, but they are not the big driver. It’s getting into compliance with the new ELD regulations,” said a service center executive in the Southeast. “The hurricanes have […]
U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Oct. 21 totaled 1,731,000 net tons, a 4.6 percent increase from the same period last year, but down 0.7 percent from the prior week. The mill capability utilization rate for the week averaged 74.3 percent, down from 74.8 percent the prior week and 70.8 percent the prior […]
Contributed by Justin Philipp, People Area Director, Pacesetter Steel It’s no secret that the steel industry is antiquated. Many times, the processing equipment is older than the operator and the same mills have been opened, closed and renamed time and again. Not only is the steel industry plagued by “old” operations issues, the HR issues […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index market cycle appears to have bottomed as buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel were slightly more optimistic than what we collected at the beginning of the month. We measured the single data point for those responding to our flat rolled steel market trends questionnaire this […]
John Ferriola, chairman, president and CEO of Nucor Corp., has been named vice chairman of the World Steel Association board of directors. Ferriola will serve a one-year term with the Brussels-based trade association. Named as chairman of the worldsteel board was Kosei Shindo, president of Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metals Corp. Ohjoon Kwon, CEO of […]
Flat rolled steel lead times continue to shorten up, a trend under way since early August, according to the service centers and manufacturers who responded to Steel Market Update’s flat rolled steel market trends questionnaire this week. On average, lead times have dipped to nearly three weeks for hot rolled, slightly less than six weeks […]
On Monday of this week, Steel Market Update began collecting data for our mid-October flat rolled steel market trends analysis. We invited over 600 companies to participate in our questionnaire. The vast majority of the respondents are either service centers or manufacturing companies. Based on the data collected we found that prior to any of […]
Does the Kobe Steel scandal raise the question that other steel mills, including those in the United States, might cut corners with testing and falsifying documentation? About 70 percent of buyers and sellers of steel responding to Steel Market Update’s flat rolled steel market trends questionnaire this week say no, they remain confident about the […]
September steel shipments by U.S. service centers were essentially unchanged from September 2016. U.S. steel inventories increased on a year-over-year basis for the first time since August 2015, stated the Metals Service Center Institute in its September Metals Activity Report. U.S. service center shipments of all steel products in September totaled 3.043 million tons, about […]
Those who believe unfairly traded steel imports pose a serious threat to America’s security have a high-ranking ally in retired Brigadier General John Adams. In an Oct. 16 op/ed in The Hill, titled “North Korea is Distracting from America’s Steel Import Crisis,” Adams argues that the Section 232 trade case should rate headlines comparable those […]
U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Oct. 14 totaled 1,744,000 net tons, a 5.4 percent increase from the same period last year, and up 0.2 percent from the prior week. The mill capability utilization rate for the week averaged 74.8 percent, up from 74.7 percent the prior week and 70.8 percent the prior […]
Global steel demand growth is expected to moderate in 2018, mainly due to slowing in China, but should maintain its momentum in the rest of the world, according to a generally optimistic short-range outlook from the World Steel Association (worldsteel). The Brussels-based trade association, whose members account for 85 percent of the world’s steel production, […]
U.S. Steel reportedly still plans to construct a new continuous galvanizing line (CGL) at its PRO-TEC Coatings Co. subsidiary in Leipsic, Ohio. In doubt is whether joint venture partner Kobe Steel will still be involved. A U.S. Steel spokesperson told the Northwest Indiana Times on Friday that “U.S. Steel remains committed to our new Advanced […]
What goes around comes around, as they say. In the case of the ferrous scrap market, what goes around and comes around again and again are residuals such as copper that complicate the steelmaking process and threaten to erode some of the competitive cost advantage now held by minimills. Minimill steelmaking has transformed the steel […]
Zinc prices continue their rally that began in early 2016, taking the metal’s price to a 10-year high and raising the cost of producing galvanized steel and other products. Zinc prices have managed to breach the psychological ceiling of $3,000 per metric ton, which stalled rallies in November 2016 and February 2017. Breaking this ceiling […]
Tight supplies of graphite electrodes used in the electric arc furnace steelmaking process have raised electrode prices to the point that at least two stainless steel mills have increased their surcharges. Outokumpu was the first with a surcharge of 30 euros (about $35.50) per metric ton on Sept. 27 in most markets except the U.S. […]
U.S. raw steel production for the week ending Oct. 7 totaled 1,741,000 net tons, a 5.2 percent increase from the same period last year, and up 2.1 percent from the prior week. The mill capability utilization rate for the week averaged 74.7 percent, up from 73.2 percent the prior week and 70.8 percent the prior year, […]
Responses to several subjects in last week’s Steel Market Update flat rolled steel market trends questionnaire shared a common thread. Comments on demand, pricing, purchases of foreign steel and inventory levels all tended to reflect a bearish attitude among many flat rolled and steel plate service center executives. · On the subject of steel demand, […]