Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Happy Thanksgiving! That most American of holidays gives us a chance to appreciate the blessings we have as Americans. Our tradition almost forces us to eat turkey as part of that ritual—along with a lot of other neat […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The China tariffs, the steel and aluminum tariffs, the safeguard tariffs on solar panels and washing machines all have a feature in common: some form of product exclusion. This means that imported products covered by these measures may be […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen We expect world GDP to grow by 2.5 percent this year and next; in other words, we expect global growth to be broadly stable at current rates. The story for world industrial production, instead, is one of a mild recovery from 1.4 percent in 2019 to 2.2 percent in […]
A memo from the Commerce Department Office of the Inspector General suggests that the Section 232 exclusion process may be favoring the companies that file objections to exclusion requests. The watchdog agency found evidence of unofficial communications that may be giving objectors undue influence in tariff decisions. The Bureau of Industry and Security is charged […]
London, Brexit, new election, split country. As I was standing in line to enter the House of Lords, the gentleman to my left began discussing how Brexit has severed parties and even families. No longer can British families talk about their government openly. I heard the theme on many occasions as I traveled about London […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The presidential campaign heats up. The impeachment investigations continue. Polarization is in the air. Today, I note a trend that’s pertinent to all this—increasingly, pundits and commentators are discussing the futility of our current polarization. I recommend a […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. did better than anticipated in the third quarter, generating net sales of $2.69 billion. Shipments were higher than expected due to strength in Reliance’s largest segment, nonresidential construction, slipping just 2 percent compared to a typical seasonal decline of 4-6 percent. Demand for carbon structural and tubing products helped boost […]
Compared to three months ago, all five of the raw materials prices considered in this report declined in October. Compared to September, there was a recovery in the prices of coking coal and zinc. Table 1 summarizes the price changes through Oct. 16 of the five materials considered in this analysis. It reports the month/month, […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: New developments cascaded on us in the past week. I will focus, as is my habit, on those related to international trade and commerce. Trade-related developments called into question a number of initiatives in Congress and the administration. Impeachment looked […]
By CRU Principal Economist Lisa Morrison The U.S. economy is in the midst of its longest economic expansion on record—124 months and counting. The recent deceleration in U.S. growth momentum and the fading health of the global economy call into question whether the expansion can continue, and for how long. In this article, we discuss […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: As Washington continues to descend into trench warfare over Ukraine, Joe Biden, defense aid and subpoenas, the world continues to turn. It seems likely that soon, impeachment will take up all the oxygen and the ordinary business of government […]
The September Manufacturing ISM Report on Business showed further decline of the manufacturing sector. ISM’s PMI edged down 1.3 points to 47.8 from the August reading of 49.1. “This is the lowest reading since June 2009, the last month of the Great Recession, when the index registered 46.3 percent,” said Timothy R. Fiore, chairman of […]
Raw materials prices were erratic in September with four of the five considered here experiencing price reversals since August. Table 1 summarizes the price changes through Sept. 25 of the five materials considered in this analysis. It reports the month / month, 3 months / 3 months and 12 months / 12 months changes on […]
Metalforming firms are expecting a slowdown in the manufacturing sector, according to the September 2019 Precision Metalforming Association Business Conditions Report. Thirty percent of participants in the monthly survey expect a decline in economic activity in the next three months, up from 27 percent in August. Those who expect no change in activity jumped to […]
I received numerous notes regarding a hot strip mill outage at AMNS Calvert, which began last week. Based on reports from steel buyers, the HSM outage was expected to last for about one week. We asked ArcelorMittal for information and confirmation yesterday, but they failed to respond. Today, we received information that the Calvert lead […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: On Friday, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative published three notices in the Federal Register announcing new exclusions from the China-related tariffs imposed beginning in July 2018. As you will recall, there are four published lists of goods […]
The composite producer price index of all commodities has been relatively stable in 2019, but tinware products are becoming very uncompetitive against aluminum. This report is an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data performed by staff of Steel Market Update and is intended to provide subscribers with a view of the competitive position of […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum continues to dominate the service center market, ranked No. 1 once again in the just-released Metal Center News Service Center Top 50 with $11.5 billion in revenues. In total, North America’s Top 50 metals distributors accounted for a record $61.1 billion of the industry’s sales last year. Sixteen of the companies […]
Ferrous scrap prices are starting to settle as of today. Initial checks with some of our scrap sources found prime grades down $40 and obsolete grades down $30 in portions of the Midwest. We learned the Cleveland area mills bought busheling down $20 to $300/gross ton. We also learned of a purchase of HMS at […]
The effectiveness of the Trump administration’s Section 232 tariff gets mixed reviews. The 25 percent tariff has contributed to a 13 percent reduction in steel imports this year, easing the competitive pressures on domestic mills. But after an initial spike in steel prices last year, and record earnings by the mills, the price of finished […]
The price of iron ore corrected in August with a $32 per dry metric ton decline, while the four-month-long decline in the price of scrap reversed slightly. Table 1 summarizes the price changes through Aug. 21 of the five materials considered in this analysis. It reports the month / month, 3 months / 3 months […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: On Friday, China announced new tariffs in response to the Trump administration’s new tariffs on $300 billion of imports from China. Effective Sept. 1, China will impose 5 percent or 10 percent tariffs on more than 5,000 tariff […]
Tariffs on some of the $300 billion in Chinese goods due to take effect on Sept. 1 have been pushed back until Dec. 15, and some items are likely to be removed from the tariff list entirely, as the Trump administration faces opposition from U.S. companies that claim the duties are hurting their businesses, The […]
Nearly 1,000 executives are registered with just two weeks to go before the start of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We continue to see strong interest in this year’s event, which will be held in Atlanta on Aug. 26-28. Once again, the Georgia International Convention Center will be the home of this, our 9th […]
Declining steel prices and inventory destocking contributed to a guidance miss for Ryerson Holding Corp. Although shipments increased 0.6 percent to 623,000 tons quarter-to-quarter, net sales fell 2.1 percent to $2.1 billion. Net income was $16.4 million, down from $30 million in the previous quarter and $18 million a year ago. Earnings per diluted share dropped […]
The European Union has prepared a list of nearly $40 billion (€35 billion) in U.S. goods it will hit with retaliatory duties should President Trump decide to impose tariffs of 25 percent on imported cars and auto parts. EU Trade Commissioner Cecelia Malstrom said the list of targeted goods has been raised from €20 billion […]
Trade actions have imposed new and increased burdens on both U.S. Customs and Border Protection and on importers, reported the American Institute of International Steel in a July 8 blog by AIIS Customs Committee Chairman and attorney Steven W. Baker. “Importers have recently been faced with many seldom used or new and unprecedented trade remedy […]
If you haven’t registered for the Premier Steel Conference in North America, then this is the time to do so. The Steel Market Update Events App, which all 900+ attendees have access to, was launched last week, meaning registered attendees are now busy organizing meetings with each other in advance to make the most of their time […]
If you haven’t registered for the Premier Steel Conference in North America, then this is the time to do so. The Steel Market Update Events App, which all 900+ attendees have access to, was launched last week, meaning registered attendees are now busy organizing meetings with each other in advance to make the most of their time […]
The surge in the price of iron ore and the decline in the price of scrap continued through mid-July, benefiting the EAF producers in the U.S. over the integrated mills Table 1 summarizes the price changes through July of the five materials considered in this analysis. It reports the month/month, 3 months/3 months and 12 […]