Given the heightened urgency to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change, nearly all the world’s automakers plan to replace at least some of the internal combustion cars and trucks in their lineups with fully electric vehicles (EVs). GM, notably, has pledged to introduce 30 new EVs by 2025 and to produce nothing but EVs […]
Like those in the steel industry, aluminum suppliers see opportunity in the coming wave of battery electrical vehicles (BEVs). Indeed, they claim, even more opportunity for aluminum than for steel. Automakers are hard at work designing battery-powered cars and trucks with zero emissions as efforts to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions to slow climate change […]
The Biden administration’s ambitious American Jobs Plan, which calls for an historic investment in the nation’s infrastructure, offers enormous promise for the U.S. economy and steel demand, but it faces pushback on several fronts. President Biden addressed the nation from Pittsburgh yesterday afternoon to pitch his vision for an eight-year, $2-trillion infrastructure spending plan that […]
I lost a million-dollar bet to my grandson the other day. Turns out I can’t touch my nose with my big toe like he can. I paid him promptly, per my terms of our wager—one dollar a year for a million years. Plus a cookie as interest. He seemed satisfied. He’s three. During its earnings […]
The United States’ two leading steel industry associations have cheered the Senate confirmation of Michael Regan, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency. The move comes as the U.S. steel industry increasingly looks to burnish its credentials as a green industry – and as the potential of a carbon-border tax boosts the economic viability […]
You Can’t See the Forest for the Trees Mill lead times have surged over the past couple of weeks, which I believe is a result of Snowmageddon in Texas and other areas of the Southeast. When you look at our lead time graphics, you need to remember we are gathering data from our flat rolled […]
How close is the United States to adopting some form of carbon border tax to address climate change? What seemed highly unlikely one administration ago is now even supported by the likes of the trade groups representing the American oil and steel industries. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that the powerful American Petroleum […]
U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) nominee Katherine Tai expressed support for Section 232 tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, characterizing the duties as a “legitimate tool in the trade toolbox.” The prospective top U.S. trade negotiator also signaled that the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) – the replacement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) – would […]
North Star BlueScope continues to be a strong segment for Australian steelmaker BlueScope Steel. North Star BlueScope shipped 1,024,700 metric tons of steel in the first half of fiscal year 2021 for revenue of U.S. $569 million, up slightly from $557 million in the second half of FY 2020. The U.S. division ran at full […]
North Star BlueScope continues to be a strong segment for Australian steelmaker BlueScope Steel. North Star BlueScope shipped 1,024,700 metric tons of steel in the first half of fiscal year 2021 for revenue of U.S. $569 million, up slightly from $557 million in the second half of FY 2020. The U.S. division ran at full […]
In order to slow climate change, steel and aluminum producers around the world will have to go through a fundamental transformation to reduce their greenhouse gases. CRU Group has developed an Emissions Analysis Tool to help them measure and control harmful GHG emissions. More than 700 participants logged into a Feb. 17 webinar to view […]
Rio Tinto, Paul Wurth SA and SHS Stahl Holding Saar are exploring a potential hydrogen-based hot-briquetted iron (HBI) operation in Canada. The Anglo-Australian miner, the equipment manufacturer and the German steelmaker have already inked a memorandum of understanding. They will now conduct a feasibility study about an “industrial-scale” low-carbon iron production plant, according to a […]
No steel mill earnings report is complete these days without the CEO touting his company’s environmental credentials. Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said this week that his company is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2030. “We at Cleveland-Cliffs acknowledge that one of the most important issues impacting our planet is climate change. […]
Cleveland-Cliffs has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2030. In a detailed plan, Cliffs plans to lower combined direct and indirect gas emissions on a mass metric tons per year basis compared with 2017 baseline levels. The company has already made progress toward emission reductions, achieving six years early its 2025 target […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Analysis The primary aluminum industry has operated with the same technology since the large-scale production process was developed in 1886. It is a carbon-based electrolytic process. This process generates a lot of CO2. Global aluminum producers have been focused on reducing GHG for some time, but efforts have accelerated in […]
The U.S. electric-arc furnace steelmaking industry is eager to work with the administration of President-elect Joe Biden to craft better trade, infrastructure and manufacturing policies, the head of the Steel Manufacturers Association said. And those efforts could be fruitful given Biden’s moderate positions on those issues and the moderation that will be necessary to effectively […]
In December 2020, Congress passed a massive spending bill, which is the way appropriations have been done in Washington for the last 20 years or so. One new provision with international implications is the requirement for the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to prepare an annual threat assessment report. This new report, issued recently by […]
By CRU Senior Cost Economist Ross Cunningham, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor Global CO2 emissions have been rising since the start of the industrial revolution. This has caused rising global temperatures and severe weather events such as wildfires, flooding and drought. In 2015 the United Nations framework convention on climate change put together the Paris […]
Panelists in a webinar presented by the Alliance for American Manufacturing on Wednesday said an infrastructure bill and sensible trade policy should be top priorities for the new administration. Entitled “How Can President-Elect Joe Biden Build Back Better,” panel members discussed what the Biden administration will need to do to rebuild the economy. Rep. John Garamendi (D-CA) […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The transition to a new administration is now strongly under way. Tomorrow, the president-elect is set to name additional members of his economic team, including the roster of international trade officials. The time for speculation is over since […]
In an interview with Steel Market Update on Thursday, Philip Bell, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association in Washington, shared his thoughts on what the change of presidential administration means for the steel industry and SMA. Following is an edited transcript: SMU: Will the change in administration next year change SMA’s mission? Bell: As a […]
Kevin Dempsey, Interim President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Iron and Steel Institute, is confident the industry trade association will be able to work productively with the incoming Biden administration in pursuit of the steel industry’s goals. “Obviously there will be a change in personality and personnel in key positions, but at the […]
ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and decarbonization are big concerns for corporate investors in the metals and mining sector, according to a recent survey by CRU. How prepared are global corporations to take on the changes needed to reach zero emissions? China is a leader in decarbonization, announcing in September a target of net zero emissions […]
By CRU China CEO John Johnson and CRU Senior Consultant Ashley Wang from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor On Sept. 22, in a statement to the United Nations General Assembly, President Xi Jinping announced to world leaders that China “aims to have CO2 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060”. The part of this statement concerning CO2 was brief […]
The global steel industry is one of the biggest culprits in the climate change debate, responsible for some 7 percent of harmful carbon dioxide emissions each year. Every ton of steel produced in 2018 released 1.85 tons of carbon into the atmosphere. Thus the steel industry is under enormous pressure to reduce its carbon footprint. Fortunately, […]
Algoma Steel has been awarded a $4 million grant to upgrade its equipment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The funding was provided by Canada’s Low Carbon Economy Fund and will be used to improve both the tar-removal and light-oil-recovery areas of its coke-making plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. This process will not only help […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: A rather eventful week in D.C. has brought to the fore a new proposal from House Democrats to pass an infrastructure bill. Readers will recall “Infrastructure Week” last year, which featured a tense White House meeting that ended […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: As I write today, the politics of trade are becoming clearer. I’ve often been asked to predict where things are going and how politics will affect the markets. Here goes. This election year, trade is more controversial than […]
Domestic mills won back market share from imports in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Even though the steel market contracted by 1.9 percent in 2019, shipments by U.S. mills to domestic locations increased by 2.9 percent as imports declined. Table 1 shows 13 years of history of total steel supply to the U.S. market in short […]
While America’s integrated steel producers are investing millions in R&D to reduce harmful emissions from their steelmaking process, the nation’s minimill steel producers have already claimed the high ground for environmental stewardship. Integrated mills and their blast furnaces heat iron ore and coking coal at high temperatures to produce high-quality virgin pig iron and steel. […]