The possible forthcoming Section 232 decisions on steel and aluminum imports have alarmed nations across the globe. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said he “wouldn’t be surprised if there were retaliations to the measures,” but perhaps he underestimated the negative response to his recommendations. Numerous countries have expressed concern for their own domestic markets, while others […]
Flack Global Metals has partnered with First American Resources in a joint venture that will offer prepainted products to the market later this year. The deal is a bit of a departure for FGM, which is now the minority investor in an enterprise that is installing high-end coil coating equipment. FGM has achieved $350 million […]
Flack Global Metals has partnered with First American Resources in a joint venture that will offer prepainted products to the market later this year. The deal is a bit of a departure for FGM, which is now the minority investor in an enterprise that is installing high-end coil coating equipment. FGM has achieved $350 million […]
Reaction by American trade associations and producers to Friday’s Commerce Department recommendations on Section 232 was mostly favorable and encouraged swift action. The Steel Manufacturers Association applauded the recommendations laid out by Secretary Wilbur Ross in the Section 232 steel report: “Secretary Ross has accurately concluded that steel imports threaten to impair our national security […]
Recommendations from the U.S. Commerce Department calling for potential tariffs and quotas on steel and aluminum imports under Section 232 elicited a strong global reaction including trepidation, anger and threats of retaliation. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said during a conference call Friday he wouldn’t be surprised if there were retaliations to the measures, adding that […]
Last week ended with a bang. Steel Market Update received an invitation to participate in a press conference as Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told the world that the DOC had found that imports of foreign steel negatively impact the steel and aluminum industries, which are necessary in the United States for national security […]
Reliance Steel and Aluminum Co. is seeing growing demand across all its product segments and expects that trend to continue through 2018. Reliance reported a strong fourth quarter with net sales up 15.3 percent year-over-year to $2.38 billion. Third-quarter sales were somewhat lower due to expected seasonality. Fourth-quarter shipments totaled 1,451,000 tons, up 6.3 percent […]
Tariffs are an option to stop steel dumping, said President Donald Trump at a bipartisan meeting of legislators this morning. “I want to keep prices down, but I want to make sure that we have a steel industry,” said Trump, according to a Bloomberg report. “Part of the options would be tariffs coming in. As […]
At a meeting with lawmakers this morning, President Donald Trump said imposing tariffs is an option for stopping the dumping of steel and aluminum into the U.S. “I want to keep prices down, but I want to make sure that we have a steel industry,” said Trump, according to a Bloomberg report. “Part of the […]
The Department of Commerce announced on Tuesday the initiation of new antidumping duty and countervailing duty investigations on imports of large-diameter welded pipe from Canada, China, Greece, India, Korea, and Turkey. Dumping margins were estimated by the petitioners at 50.89 percent for Canada, 41.04 percent for Greece, 120.84 to 132.63 percent for China, 37.94 percent […]
The Fourth of July has always been my favorite holiday, so maybe that’s why experiencing a space launch up close evoked so many of the same strong emotions. I was at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Tuesday, sitting in the “Feel the Heat” section for the historic test flight of the Falcon Heavy rocket, the […]
The United Steelworkers challenged the president to reduce the trade deficit after Commerce released its deficit report today. The Department of Commerce reported that for 2017, the goods and services deficit increased $61.2 billion, or 12.1 percent, from 2016. Exports increased $121.2 billion or 5.5 percent and imports increased $182.5 billion or 6.7 percent. Specifically […]
Industry data through the end January, including drivers of steel prices, supply and demand, are all pointing up as the year got off to a strong start. As the month ended, the Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum indicator was pointing to higher flat rolled steel prices over the next 30 to 60 days as […]
ArcelorMittal’s NAFTA segment saw crude steel production decrease 5.2 percent to 5.6 million metric tons in the fourth quarter due to operational issues in Mexico, planned maintenance at Dofasco, and a slower U.S. market. Steel shipments declined 8.9 percent to 4.2 million metric tons, primarily driven by lower volumes in flat and long products. Sales […]
The automotive industry downturn is slight, especially considering the past two years have been record years, said Bernard Swiecki, Senior Automotive Analyst at the Center for Automotive Research, during a presentation Jan. 25 at the regional meeting of the Association of Steel Distributors. Total light vehicle sales slipped 1.8 percent in 2017, but the […]
Of the four raw materials tracked by Steel Market Update, scrap and zinc prices advanced in January, iron ore took a small step back and coking coal declined by 10 percent. Each January, Bloomberg and U.S. Global Investors compile their Periodic Table of Commodity Returns. Figure 1 shows the returns of commodities each year of […]
The steel community was probably disappointed this evening when President Trump failed to mention anything about the Section 232 investigation that has been hanging over the heads of the industry for one year. We will all need to wait to see if the president will do anything on the subject of steel and aluminum imports. […]
The pile of unfinished paperwork on President Trump’s desk just got a little taller with Friday’s delivery of the Section 232 report on aluminum. It joins the Section 232 report on steel that hit the president’s desk on Jan. 11, starting the clock on a 90-day deadline for possible trade action. On Jan. 19, the […]
President Trump’s decision today to impose tariffs on imports of solar panels and large washing machines in a bid to help U.S. manufacturers has heated speculation the administration may take a similar tack on the pending Section 232 rulings on steel and aluminum imports. President Trump has approved recommendations by the U.S. International trade Commission […]
The pile of unfinished paperwork on President Trump’s desk just got a little taller with Friday’s delivery of the Section 232 report on aluminum. It joins the Section 232 report on steel that hit the president’s desk on Jan. 11, starting the clock on a 90-day deadline for possible trade action. On Jan. 19, the […]
The year is beginning with numerous weather-related disruptions to shipping. Ice in the Great Lakes region has made loading of iron ore difficult, freezing port equipment and the ore itself. Sources report carriers on the Great Lakes will be expediting ore shipments to the steel mills that were shorted, once the Soo Locks reopen in […]
Future automotive trends reinforce the role of steel, says Greg Ludkovsky, vice president of global R&D for ArcelorMittal. In the following commentary, Ludkovsky contends that steel offers the optimal balance of strength, performance and mass reduction with the least impact on the environment compared to aluminum and other materials: While sales of battery electric vehicles […]
Future automotive trends reinforce the role of steel, says Greg Ludkovsky, vice president of global R&D for ArcelorMittal. In the following commentary, Ludkovsky contends that steel offers the optimal balance of strength, performance and mass reduction with the least impact on the environment compared to aluminum and other materials: While sales of battery electric vehicles […]
When Ford surprised the market by introducing an aluminum-bodied F-150 in 2014, cutting the pickup’s weight by a dramatic 700 pounds, many assumed its rivals would have to follow suit to keep pace with the fuel economy savings. Instead, they decided to wait and see if the truck would perform as promised and if it […]
Both the steel and aluminum sectors have made major strides in supplying automakers with new, strong-but-light materials to take weight out of vehicles and boost their miles per gallon while lowering harmful tailpipe emissions. But to meet the current federal requirements for 2025, which call for a fleetwide average of over 50 mpg, the auto […]
As expected, Wilbur Ross and the U.S. Department of Commerce submitted the Section 232 report on steel on Thursday evening. The much-anticipated report, originally “due” back in June 2017 (at President Trump’s request), beat the technical timeline by a couple of days. The White House did not release the recommendations reported and does not have […]
Is the United States violating World Trade Organization rules with its trade remedy methodologies? Canada says yes and has filed a complaint with the WTO alleging that the United States’ use of antidumping and countervailing duties violates international trade law. Spurred by recent duties on paper, lumber and airplanes, Canada filed a complaint last month […]
The tug-of-war between steel and aluminum for a greater share of the lucrative automotive materials market will be on full display beginning this week at the North American International Auto Show. The Detroit auto extravaganza will run from Jan. 13-28, showcasing the latest and greatest in automotive design as carmakers strive to wow consumers and […]
We have had companies contact us already regarding when registration will open for the 2018 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We will be working on the Steel Summit section of the website tomorrow (Wednesday) with the hope to open up registration for the Aug. 27-29, 2018, event on Friday of this week. We will also open […]
Zinc reached a 10-year high on Thursday, closing at $3,364 per metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Zinc, used for galvanizing metals, has nearly doubled in price over the past two years as supplies have tightened. At the same time, demand has increased. Chinese demand grew by 2.1 percent last year, and U.S. demand […]