Tag: economy

In its Beige Book report released on Nov. 29, the Federal Reserve noted slower economic activity since October's report.

Sector fundamentals for US steel companies remain solid overall, according to ratings agency Fitch’s 2024 outlook report.

New orders for manufactured durable goods fell in the US in October.

Last week was billed as big. The annual meeting of members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in San Francisco convened amid much fanfare. A much-anticipated meeting between President Biden and President Xi Jinping of China was a featured event. So also, was the anticipated completion of the framework agreements establishing the Indo-Pacific Economic […]

A group of California members of Congress is calling on U.S. Steel to keep its USS-UPI steel mill in Pittsburg, Calif., open by finding a buyer for the operations.

The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) increased in October thanks to stronger commercial activity, according to the latest Dodge Construction Network (DCN) data.

The American steel industry is the backbone of the US economy and produces the cleanest steel in the world.

Manufacturing activity in the US contracted once again during the month of October.

With the aluminum industry assembled in Nashville, Tenn., for the Aluminum USA 2023 conference, word was breaking of a tentative deal between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Ford.

CRU forecasts a stronger year for steel sheet demand in 2024 than in 2023 as growth continues in Asia and a recent period of contraction in the West ends.

Nucor Corp. remains incredibly bullish long-term on steel demand, but an underlining theme during the steelmaker’s third-quarter earnings conference call with analysts on Tuesday, Oct. 24, was tempered near-term expectations.

Nucor Corp. announced it is considering installing a new rebar micro mill in the Pacific Northwest.

The pig iron trade is an important element to the US steel and foundry industry.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union announced a new phase in its ongoing stand-up strike against the Big Three Detroit-area automakers on Friday.

With solid demand and attractive margins, the North American market has been helping to prop up CMC’s results as its European operations struggle with weaker demand amid challenging market conditions.

The US steel market appears to have gone from despairing over the possibility of spot HRC prices slipping into the $500s per ton to worrying about spot availability – and in just a matter of 2-3 weeks.

Pessimism grew among metalformers in September’s business report from the Precision Metalforming Association.

Last week, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers gave a major speech challenging the views of anti-trade leaders, such as (but not limited to) Bob Lighthizer.

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has laid out a case for China’s failure to comply with its World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations, which it joined in 2001.

After a quiet couple of weeks, the futures market has recently come to life over the last three days, and is starting to show some bullish signals.

Deputy United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jayme White met on Wednesday with Mexico’s Under Secretary of Economy for Foreign Trade Alejandro Encinas, and discussed issues regarding the “surge” into the US of Mexican steel and aluminum imports.

As the world works to decarbonize and limit greenhouse-gas emissions to reach the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement, many steel companies have joined others in setting their own targets to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Trade policy moves create great ironies sometimes. I often write about these ironies when the US acts against the interests of the country as a whole by protecting certain industries from international competition. But the US is not alone, especially in recent years as the World Trade Organization and the international geopolitical order have been […]

The LME aluminum 3-month price was broadly stable on the morning of Sept. 15 and was last seen trading near $2,208 per tonne.

Sheet prices have fallen to their lowest point of the year - just below $700 per ton ($35 per cwt) when it comes to hot-rolled coil (HRC).

The US Federal Reserve said that although overall economic activity was modest in July and August, per its latest Beige Book Report released on Sept. 6, the report was still slightly more optimistic than the previous one.

The LME aluminum three-month price was broadly stable again on the morning of Sept. 8 and was last seen trading at $2,180 per tonne.

The spot market remains quiet on fears of a potential United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike late next week.

Last week the Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, visited China for high-level meetings with the Chinese government. Her counterpart, Wang Wentao, China’s Commerce Minister, participated in the discussions. The four-day meeting included an announcement of two new working groups dealing with US-China economic relationships. The first was a forum to explain US export controls relating […]

Alan Beaulieu, president of ITR Economics, joined us again at Steel Summit to talk about what is on the horizon for 2024.