The outbreak of war in Ukraine triggered an energy crisis in Europe. Gas and consequently electricity prices soared and remain high. European production of commodities such as ammonia, aluminum, and zinc which require significant energy and/or natural gas were and remain disrupted to differing degrees. Natural gas is supposed to be a ‘transition fuel’ in […]
Now that the new year is one-twelfth over, the changes from last year are taking shape. In foreign policy and trade, a primary focus has changed from economics to geopolitics. Trade between the West and China, which has been the key metric for the last 20 years, has tapered off, although it remains strong. Trade […]
Now entering the second month of the year, prices are still a top-of-mind conversation. After its run-up to over $2,600/tonne, the London Metal Exchange calmed, and volatility dropped. This signals that, for now, it has hit resistance. The Midwest premium has followed a similar trend. After peaking just over $0.30/lb, it has started to come […]
The cost and scope of Steel Dynamics Inc.’s flat-rolled aluminum mill in Columbus, Miss., and related scrap processing operations, have increased. The total cost of the project is now expected to be $2.5 billion, up from an initial $2.2 billion, SDI chairman, president, and CEO Mark Millett said during the quarterly earnings call last week. […]
When President Trump imposed steel tariffs in 2018, he included an exclusion mechanism to liberate customers from tariffs on imported products that were not produced domestically. This was to permit steel-using manufacturers to continue to compete. Steel rolling mills that rely on imported slabs were among the largest users of the exclusion mechanism. When regulations […]
The big story of the new year continues to be the run-up of the regional Midwest premium (MWP). As January comes to an end, the MWP sits just over $0.30/lb, or almost 50% higher than December’s price. A return of market activity in general has pushed the premium back up closer to replacement cost levels. […]
We’re less than two weeks away from the Tampa Steel Conference. It’s not too late to register, but you should do it ASAP. The event will be at the Tampa Marriott Water Street hotel on Sunday-Tuesday Feb. 5-7. Approximately 445 people have already registered, which is more than total attendance last year. New companies are being added […]
We’re less than two weeks away from the Tampa Steel Conference. It’s not too late to register, but you should do it ASAP. The event will be at the Tampa Marriott Water Street hotel on Sunday-Tuesday Feb. 5-7. Approximately 430 people have already registered, which is more than total attendace last year. We expect that number to […]
The London Metal Exchnage aluminium three-month price was moving up again this week, and peaked near $2,650 per tonne– its highest level since June 13, 2022, but late week trading saw a $100 correction. Still $200-300 higher than on the close of 2022, we can only assume a return to volatility following a 2022 Q4 […]
Mill Steel Co. has acquired Cleveland Metal Exchange (CME) and Chicago Stainless Metal Exchange. A full line of stainless steel and aluminum products is now available through the Mill Steel Stainless and Aluminum division led by former CME CEO, Randy Horvat, and president, Jeff Haas. “We are thrilled to be entering the stainless and aluminum […]
Moving goods from one location to another may seem simple enough. But as we’ve seen in the past few years, it’s not always that easy. Fortunately, there are experts like Anton Posner, CEO of The Mercury Group, who take on the chaos of transportation. The Mercury Group is a consulting firm that specializes in global […]
Last week I wrote about the US loss in the Section 232 steel and aluminum trade dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO). This week, the US suffered another loss—the dispute settlement proceeding under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on the Agreement’s rules of origin for automobiles. The United States has thus recently lost two […]
The Midwest premium (MWP), calm at year end, started the new year off with a bang, and has jumped up $0.03-.04 in the first two weeks of January. Movement is likely based on the market regulating back up to the full replacement cost level (freight, inventory carry cost, insurance) as trading activity picks back up. […]
US Steel is increasing the warranty policy on Galvalume-coated coils. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said it is doubling the standard limited warranty policy for Galvalume-coated coils used in nonresidential and residential building construction. The new warranties will range from 40-60 years vs. 20-25 years for existing warranties, the company said in a statement. “At US […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active […]
We’re less than one month away from the Tampa Steel Conference. The event will be at the Tampa Marriott Water Street hotel again, so mark your calendar for Sunday-Tuesday, Feb. 5-7. There are nearly 375 attendees registered, and the list is growing daily. Keep in mind that this is the high season for tourism in Florida, and […]
The United States lost a dispute in the World Trade Organization last month. This is hardly the first time. In this case, tariffs and other import restrictions on steel and aluminum imposed by President Trump in 2018 were found to violate WTO agreements. The United States argued that its invocation of “essential security interests” was […]
Starting after the recovery of the financial system from the 2008 global financial crisis, and continuing until Covid-19 hit, the economy was remarkably stable and consistent. Demand for aluminum in general grew at a steady pace, with some end-use segments outperforming historical averages. For financial markets, the running joke became “stock prices go up.” Since 2020, […]
The new year is off to a great start, and there’s still time to register for the Tampa Steel Conference as you make your travel plans for 2023. The event will be at the Tampa Marriott Water Street hotel again, so mark your calendar for Sunday-Tuesday, Feb. 5-7. Nearly 300 of you have registered already. We’re on track […]
With 2022 now in the past, the door has closed on one of the most volatile years for the aluminum industry. Supply chain disruptions as a residual fallout from Covid-19 and elevated levels of geopolitical risk raised uncertainty throughout the value chain. The shift in import trends has also been a major topic and is […]
In our column of Nov. 4, we updated you on the progress that Novelis and Steel Dynamics (SDI) were making on executing on their planned two mills. Since that time, nothing has really changed. That perhaps is profound in and of itself, in that we have nothing new to tell you about the status of […]
The trend is your friend these days in US HRC futures. They posted another strong week of gains on the back of a massive upswing in the index last week. While widely expected to be higher—we supposed a $40-per-ton increase was being priced into the cards in our last comment on Dec. 9—this still managed […]
Donald Trump has been out of office for nearly two years. But some of his most unsustainable policies live on. Hostility to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is one. Tariffs that violate the rules of global trade is another. Immigration policy is a third. Trade is one of the most remarkable. Smart and experienced people are saying things […]
The LME aluminum three-month price has found a higher trading range and has settled in near the $2,450/metric-ton mark this week. The price rallied by over $60/metric ton after lower-than-expected US inflation data was seen in the market as a positive sign that inflation is cooling. Yet as the week closed out on Dec. 16, […]
Producer prices grew more than expected in November, thwarting hopes that inflation could be easing, the US Labor Department reported. Last month’s Producer Price Index (PPI), a measure of the prices received for final-demand products, advanced 0.3% month-on-month (MoM) and 7.4% from a year ago, the smallest annual gain since May 2021, according to data […]
Alro Steel has opened a new location in Grand Rapids, Mich. The new Alro Metals Outlet is a 12,700-square-foot facility selling a variety of metals and plastics, including carbon steel, aluminum, stainless steel, tool steel, copper, brass, and bronze products in a variety of shapes and sizes, in a retail setting. Shearing and cutting is […]
The Biden administration sent a proposition to the European Union (EU) Dec. 7 for a potential trade alliance between nations that use lower carbon emissions to produce metals. In October 2021 the US lifted the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the EU, which was replaced by the tariff rate quota (TRQ) […]
The US and the European Union have been engaging in talks designed to reduce global “overcapacity” in steelmaking. These talks stemmed from the agreement between the US and EU to change US Section 232 import measures from tariffs to tariff rate quotas (TRQs). The US has announced a plan (details are scarce) to impose higher […]
The federal government and the domestic steel industry lashed out against a World Trade Organization (WTO) decision ruling that the US violated international trade rules with Section 232 national security tariffs on steel and aluminum. The WTO on Friday, Dec. 9, ruled in favor of Norway, which challenged the Section 232 tariffs – 25% on steel and […]
The World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute panel has ruled against the US on its implementation of Section 232 tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Norway brought this case. There are pending cases on Section 232 from China, India, Russia, Switzerland, and Turkey—all challenging the legitimacy of US arguments the tariffs were essential to protecting US […]