Automakers are being challenged to put their best vehicles forward in the fight against climate change. Europe’s new emissions regulations for passenger and light commercial vehicles went into effect as of Jan. 1 this year. Going forward, auto manufacturers selling cars in the EU will work toward a 15 percent reduction of CO2 emissions by […]
The Super Bowl is done, the Grammys are behind us, the Oscars selected a foreign film (Parasite from South Korea) for the first time as Best Movie. The Iowa caucus presented more questions than answers. Today is the New Hampshire primary and the first votes finally are being cast to see who the Democrats will […]
As advanced as steelmaking has become, producing steel is still an inherently carbon- and energy-intensive process. Steel mills in the United States and the rest of the world find themselves in the crosshairs of the many environmental and political groups now calling for dramatic steps to reduce harmful air emissions and slow the pace of […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Friday’s vote in the Senate to end the impeachment trial of President Trump without calling witnesses or receiving additional evidence seals the fate of the impeachment effort. The Senate will hear closing arguments and debate the issues Monday […]
By CRU Principal Economist Lisa Morrison and Economist Anissa Chabib, from CRU’s Economic Outlook CRU Economics ran its fourth annual survey to gauge our clients’ expectations of economic conditions for 2020. We elicited responses across CRU’s full product portfolio and received information from 182 clients, working in 41 different countries. This feature presents the results […]
By CRU Analyst James Campbell, from the Steel Sheet Products Market Outlook 2019 was a bad year for the steel industry. Prices and margins collapsed and, outside of China, demand contracted. However, the combination of a new restocking cycle and reduced output in many markets allowed producers to raise prices and margins at the end […]
Climate change is moving up the political agenda in countries around the world, putting increasing pressure on industries such as steel to reduce greenhouse gases. Globally, the steel industry is responsible for around 5 percent of total CO2 emissions. Steelmakers are responding with plans for mills that run on solar or wind energy and are […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Matthew Watkins, from the Steel Sheet Products Market Outlook The European Green Deal for the EU was launched on Dec. 11 by the new European Commission. This is a strategy that aims both at achieving zero net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 and at managing the transition to that state […]
Editor’s note: Steel is the largest producer of global industrial CO2 emissions. So, as stemming climate change takes on ever greater urgency, steelmakers are challenged to find production methods that emit fewer greenhouse gases. New technologies in development range from improving process efficiency to carbon capture to using hydrogen instead of coal as fuel. Following […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan Smith and Senior Consultant Sarah Macnaughton, from CRU’s Crude Steel Market Outlook Climate change is moving up the political agenda and putting increasing pressure on heavy industry to reduce their CO2 emissions. As the largest producer of global industrial CO2 emissions, the steel sector has a clear role to play in meeting […]
ArcelorMittal is taking the lead on a new steel industry certification standard called ResponsibleSteel, which will set a single, global standard for the “mine to metal” steel value chain. The standard will enable steel producers to prove their production processes and products meet rigorously defined standards across a broad range of social, environmental and ethical […]
A new national poll shows that voters want infrastructure to be the top priority for Congress and the president, says the Alliance for American Manufacturing. In the AAM national survey conducted by the Mellman Group and Public Opinion Strategies, 80 percent of 1,200 likely voters in the 2020 general election chose repairing roads, bridges, water […]
International Monetary Fund economists forecast global economic growth of 3.7 percent for 2018-19, 0.2 percentage point below their forecast six months ago. While still positive, the expansion has become less balanced and may have peaked in some major economies, the IMF reported in its October World Economic Outlook. Excerpts from the WEO report below clearly […]
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned against protectionism at a meeting of business leaders in China on Wednesday, offering a thinly veiled criticism of the Trump trade agenda. “We are at a pivot point in the world right now, where we decide whether we work together in an open and confident way and succeed or whether […]
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned against protectionism at a meeting of business leaders in China on Wednesday, offering a thinly veiled criticism of the Trump trade agenda. “We are at a pivot point in the world right now, where we decide whether we work together in an open and confident way and succeed or whether […]
President Trump heads to Hamburg, Germany, today for the G20 summit with trade deficits and steel dumping on his mind. Trump is expected to receive strong opposition on any attempt to use the Section 232 steel investigation as leverage to influence trade talks. G20 leaders have been critical of the White House’s casting of national […]
President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement was met mostly with silence from the steel industry. Cliffs Natural Resource CEO Lourenco Goncalves was among the few to publicly voice his support for abandoning the environmental agreement signed by 194 other nations. “Cliffs applauds President Trump for his decision to withdraw from the […]
With the exception of ArcelorMittal and Cliffs Natural Resources, the U.S. steel industry passed on making statements about climate change and how much the steel industry has done over the past twenty years to minimize its carbon footprint and to reduce pollutants in the air and water. The rise of Electric Arc Furnaces (EAF) and […]
The European Union and China failed to reach an agreement at the 19th EU-China Business Summit on the issues of trade investment, steel overcapacity, and the EU’s assertion of dumping from China. China pressed its demand to be recognized as a market economy and to receive equal treatment in antidumping investigations before the World Trade […]
TransCanada received the go-ahead from the White House on Friday to complete the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline. During remarks at the White House announcing the approval of the presidential permit, President Trump said: “It’s a great day for American jobs and a historic moment for North American and energy independence. This announcement is part of […]
President Trump announced on Wednesday the rollback of fuel economy standards that were established by executive action near the end of the Obama administration. Speaking to automotive executives and workers in Detroit, MI, Trump said, “Today, I am announcing that we are going to cancel that executive action. We are going to restore the originally […]
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday giving permission for the Keystone XL oil pipeline project to advance as quickly as possible. While the announcement prompted mixed reaction in the United States, TransCanada said it appreciates the president’s invitation to proceed and will re-submit its application to do so. “KXL creates thousands of […]
Members of the USW were headed to court today for the hearing regarding the sale of Stelco, the former US Steel Canada, to Bedrock Industries. The sale has the support of the Ontario government and Stelco but is meeting some resistance from union workers and the City of Hamilton. The USW says the proposal leaves […]
The global steel industry situation and its impact on U.S. steel industry is the topic of discussion this week at hearings held by the United States Trade Representative and Department of Commerce in Washington DC. Representatives from the steel industry, manufacturing, mining and Congress are giving their opinions and suggestions during three days of hearings, […]
TransCanada says it intends to file a claim for more than $15 billion against the U.S. for what it calls the “arbitrary and unjustified” rejection of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The claim, filed under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement, seeks to recover “costs and damages that it has suffered as […]