After declining 8% the prior month, U.S. steel exports decreased another 8% in December, finishing off the last month of the year at 616,000 tons, according to recent U.S. Department of Commerce data. 2020 saw quite a swing in monthly export levels; the year started strong, nearing 700,000 tons in January through March. Then the […]
Canada has determined that plate imported from Germany and Taiwan has injured its domestic plate industry and will impose anti-dumping duties as a result. Plate from Turkey was exempted from the trade action because the volumes exported to Canada were found to be “negligible,” the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) said. The decision–released late last […]
Auto assemblies in North America bounced back robustly and surpassed pre-pandemic levels to close out 2020. Despite a production shutdown in March to stop the spread of COVID-19, U.S. auto sales ended the year just slightly below the initial 16.7 million forecast at 16.4 million units, according to LMC Automotive (LMCA). U.S. Vehicle Sales Figure […]
Steel and scrap prices continued to climb throughout January, fueled by strong demand and tight supply. Hot rolled steel prices surpassed $1,000 per ton in the first week of the year, levels not seen in over a decade. Steel Market Update’s hot rolled price index reached $1,140 per ton by the end of January, up […]
Supply chain disruptions and material shortages slowed global manufacturing expansion in January. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI slipped to 53.5 last month from 43.8 in December and to a three-month low. Overall, however, the manufacturing sector remained robust with most nations reporting expansion in the sector. Production and new orders rose in January, but new […]
NLMK USA turned in a dismal quarter after cutting production in response to a months-long strike at the Pennsylvania mill and a dearth of duty-free slabs from the import market. Year-over-year, quarterly sales plummeted 22 percent to 370,000 metric tons and total sales for 2020 plunged 27 percent to 1.6 million MT, the company reported. […]
Manufacturing firms in 2021 will see a continuation of the growth trend that began last June, says a new forecast by the Institute for Supply Management. The December 2020 Semiannual Economic Forecast offers an optimistic outlook for revenues, operating capacity, capital expenditures and employment levels in 2021. “Manufacturing’s purchasing and supply executives expect to see strong […]
U.S. apparent steel supply continued its upwards crawl in November, up 0.4 percent to 7.32 million net tons, according to the latest U.S. Department of Commerce and American Iron and Steel Institute data. While supply levels have improved each month since May, recall that April and May were the two lowest levels seen in the […]
By CRU Analyst Sam Grant, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Galvanized steel sheet equates to around 30% of refined zinc demand, making it the most significant first use for zinc globally. China is by far the world’s largest producer, responsible for 33% of the global total, with North East Asia, North America and Europe […]
The upward trend in mill shipments and supply of sheet products continues, although the pace fell off as the fourth quarter carried on. After reaching bottom in June, as a result of the global pandemic, mill shipments and supply maintained a slow but steady upward trajectory through November 2020. This analysis is based on steel […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor In the past week, iron ore has witnessed its steepest price fall since July 2019. Declining steel margins in China and mills having successfully built up inventories, in combination with an upcoming Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday, resulted in weaker buying interest. Supply side […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen and CRU Principal Economist Alex Tuckett, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor After years in which inflation has been low in major economies, financial markets are becoming increasingly concerned about high future inflation. In this Special Feature, we examine a number of factors which could be inflationary over the […]
By CRU Economist Ippolito Tarabini and Multi-Commodity Analyst Zanna Aleksahhina, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor There is a global semiconductor shortage. It was ignited by strong demand for consumer electronics during the COVID-19 pandemic and it is now threatening auto production around the world. We expect it to reduce global vehicle output by around […]
By CRU Prices Analyst George Pearson, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor Chinese sheet prices reached a new high this week after a government policy notice on March 2 notifying of emissions production cuts in Tangshan province in late-February to late-March. We expect the impact of this announcement to be lower than the initial price rise suggests. In other regions, sheet prices globally have continued to rise, […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Analysis The grounding of the MV Ever Given in the Suez Canal has multiple repercussions on the global maritime supply chain, but it is especially acute for the aluminum market. Gulf Region Production is Important The Gulf Region in terms of aluminum production comprises Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and […]
By CRU Analyst Kevin Bai from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor China has announced that it will remove the value-added tax (VAT) rebate it has historically applied to steel exports, alongside changes in import and export tariffs. This will increase the cost of exporting and discourage export volumes, which will help loosen a tight domestic […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Analysis The EU continues to move ahead on its plan to decrease greenhouse gases (GHGs). Here’s some historical context on emissions management in the EU. The EU has been on a long journey to its current condition. Phase 1 of its decarbonization plan took place between 2005-2017. The Emissions Trading […]
By Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) increased by 8.3% m/m in May to 370.7. Following China’s removal of a VAT rebate for steel exports, scrap markets in Asia surged. This momentum carried over to Turkey, where scrap import prices rose substantially m/m, although upward […]
By Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor One year ago, the title of our May Steel Sheet Products Monitor was “Global sheet markets move past bottom of demand cycle.” Today, global sheet consumption continues to rise, reaching levels where current global production cannot keep pace. In addition to the continued demand rebound from […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Erik Hedborg, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor The iron ore market has experienced one of the most volatile weeks on record. Prices have traded within a $40 /dmt range within the past week due to demand uncertainty in China. On Tuesday, May 18, CRU assessed the 62% Fe fines price […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Global steel prices, as measured by the CRUspi index, have increased for the 10th consecutive month, gaining 9.4% m/m and 116% y/y. This index now stands at 301.1, a new record high. This index continues to be supported by higher finished steel prices across all regions. […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Analysis Primary aluminum prices are on a roll in China and the World ex China. The Shanghai Metal Exchange (SHFE) spot price is 18,425 RMB or $2,825 per metric ton. Even adjusting out the 13% Value-Added-Tax (VAT) embedded in that price, it’s still a 10-year high of $2,500 per metric […]
U.S. steel exports slipped 8 percent in November to 668,000 tons, according to recent U.S. Department of Commerce data. Although down over the prior month, November shows improvement compared to earlier this year; exports are up 79 percent compared to May, when we saw the lowest level in SMU’s 24-year data history. Total November exports […]
The U.S. steel industry has enough capacity to meet demand even if the Biden administration passes a big infrastructure bill, said the top executive of the nation’s biggest steelmaker. The United States “desperately needs” an infrastructure package worth “more than $1 trillion,” and Nucor hopes such a bill will be passed in the early days […]
By CRU Research Analyst Eduardo Tinti, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor Iron ore prices continued to rise over the past week. Due to offloading constraints at Chinese ports, iron ore port inventories declined, contributing to the recent price hike. On Tuesday, Jan. 12, CRU assessed the 62% Fe fines price at $172.0 /dmt, $5.0 […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor Iron ore prices have held steady in the past week as restocking activities in China have continued and iron ore inventories at mills have been built up. At the same time, further disruptions in the supply chain have renewed supply fears in the […]
The Canada Border Services Agency has hit heavy plate from Germany and Taiwan with dumping margins as high as 80.6%. CBSA slapped German steelmaker AG der Dillinger Hüttenwerke with a dumping margin of 6.3% on its exports of heavy plate to Canada. All other German exporters face a dumping margin of 68.6%, according to a […]
Global manufacturing ended 2020 with growth rates for production and new orders among the strongest of the past decade. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI posted 53.8, unchanged from November’s 33-month high. Output continued to expand in December, although at a slightly slower pace, and was led by growth in Germany, Brazil and India. New […]
I’m looking forward to next month’s Tampa Steel Conference, where we will discuss lots of steel-related policy issues. The conference provides an opportunity to weigh the importance of the steel industry in the American economy and the global economy. We cannot realistically discuss what to do about steel (or any industry) from either a government […]
Steel price levels are in uncharted territory these days. The current prices, especially in an economy where interest rates are near zero and inflation remains low, are truly remarkable. How did this happen and when will it end? The short answer is that nobody really knows—but we can analyze the events surrounding the spike and […]