By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen The 13th National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s Parliament, concluded its annual two-week meeting in March. The NPC is arguably the most important policy meeting in China because it is when key macroeconomic targets are announced together with the policies required to support them. This year’s NPC has drawn attention […]
Over the next couple of years there will be approximately 20 million tons of capacity built in North America. Most of us focus on the capacity being built by Nucor, Steel Dynamics, JSW USA and others. What is overlooked is the capacity being built just south of the U.S. border in Mexico. In an effort […]
Big River Steel still considers Brownsville, Texas, an attractive site for a new EAF mill and the Port of Brownsville is ready whenever BRS greenlights the project. In his State of the Port address this week, Brownsville Navigation Chairman John Reed noted that Big River Steel extended its land lease option for another year. A […]
Bank of America Merrill Lynch predicts that billions in capital investments by domestic steelmakers over the next few years, adding more than 20 million tons of new capacity to the market, will cause a glut of supply that proves disastrous for steel prices—a phenomenon they have dubbed “Steelmageddon.” Steel Market Update canvassed the market this […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Chief Market Risk Officer, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
It has been a year since President Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on steel imports under Section 232, and The Wall Street Journal asked in its Sunday editorial: “How are those steel tariffs working”? The American Institute for International Steel, currently embroiled in a constitutional challenge to the use of Section 232 to regulate imports […]
As the market waits anxiously to see if President Trump gives in to the international pressure to rethink his national security tariff on steel imports, it’s clear that steel fabricators are not big fans of Section 232. Speaking at the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association annual meeting March 5 in Nashville, panelists’ comments reflected the divisive […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Steel and aluminum tariffs are plainly on the table as part of the USMCA approval strategy. Canada and Mexico insist on the removal of the tariffs as part of ratification of the new “NAFTA 2.0.” U.S. Trade Representative […]
By CRU Group’s Zinc Analysis Team Zinc’s price on the LME tracked copper and nickel sharply lower on March 8 as data showed a steep fall in overall Chinese exports in February. Even though January and February data from China can be misleading due to the New Year holiday, the contraction in export volumes rattled […]
December apparent steel supply was calculated at 8,971,570 net tons, according to data released late last week. Apparent steel supply is determined by adding domestic steel shipments and finished U.S. steel imports, then subtracting total U.S. steel exports. December apparent steel supply saw a 469,929 ton or 5.5 percent increase compared to the same month […]
Orders for manufactured durable goods increased for the third month in a row, gaining 0.4 percent in January despite economists’ predictions of a decline. Orders were driven by an increase in transportation orders, especially orders for civilian aircraft, which grew 15.9 percent. Excluding the volatile transportation category, durable goods orders declined 0.1 percent. Core capital […]
U.S. steel exports in December totaled 519,099 net tons (470,919 metric tons), down 15.7 percent from November, and down 31.0 percent from levels one year ago. The last time total steel exports were this low was over 16 years ago, back in July 2002, when 504,621 tons of steel were exported outside of the United […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: President Trump may be forced to concede some ground on his Section 232 tariffs in order to get legislators in Canada and Mexico to sign off on the new North American trade agreement. One option the administration reportedly […]
In the recent op-ed below, American Iron and Steel Institute President and CEO Tom Gibson reiterated AISI’s support of steel tariffs and opposition to congressional legislation called “The Bicameral Congressional Trade Authority Act,” which would prematurely terminate the tariffs. “The massive overcapacity in steel still exists globally. And China in particular is producing steel at record levels—exceeding […]
Editor’s note: Steel Market Update is sharing the following Premium content with all its readers in this issue. For more information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, email info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. U.S. economic growth slowed to 2.6 percent in fourth-quarter 2018, down from 3.4 percent in the third quarter, according to the initial estimate of […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Chief Market Risk Officer, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: We are about to celebrate (or mourn, as the case might be) the first anniversary of “national security” tariffs on steel and aluminum. As we all know, in March 2018 President Trump proclaimed 25 percent tariffs on most steel […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: We are about to celebrate (or mourn, as the case might be) the first anniversary of “national security” tariffs on steel and aluminum. As we all know, in March 2018 President Trump proclaimed 25 percent tariffs on most steel […]
(Editor’s note: John Packard is traveling.) Just as it appears steel prices have finally turned the corner the pressure is on to get final approval of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Trade officials in Canada and Mexico have stated in various press reports that they will not pass the new North American free trade agreement with the […]
Oil production in the U.S. was at an all-time high in October last year and declined only slightly in the latest data for November. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil has recovered somewhat from its recent low of $44.48 on Dec. 27. The spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) FOB Cushing, Okla., […]
President Trump has received the long-awaited report from the Commerce Department on whether imports of automobiles and auto parts pose a threat to national security and now has 90 days to consider whether to place a 25 percent tariff on automotive imports under Section 232. Details of the Commerce findings were not disclosed but the […]
Canada is stepping up its efforts to convince the Trump administration to lift the Section 232 restrictions on steel and aluminum. After meeting with Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley earlier in the week, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland appealed to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Saturday for help in removing the tariffs. “We spoke a […]
The government shutdown is over but much of the data that Steel Market Update uses in its regular analyses for Premium members is still not available. This is a brief summary of where we are today in the process of data recovery. The longest government shutdown in U.S. history, lasting 35 days from Dec. 22 […]
Editor’s note: The following is excerpted from the Feb. 13 CRU Steel Sheet Monitor; editing by CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores. In our Steel Sheet Products Monitor last month, we asked if the market was near an inflection point. That report was published on the sixth working day of the year and, at that point, global sheet […]
The following op-ed in support of steel tariffs, published last week by Alabama’s AL.com, was written by Thomas Gibson, president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute. Gibson will be a keynote speaker at Steel Market Update’s 2019 Steel Summit, scheduled for Aug. 26-28 in Atlanta. This will be Gibson’s first appearance at […]
Earlier this week I was at the Port of Tampa Steel Conference as I was asked to be the master of ceremonies, and I also moderated the two main panels on Wednesday morning. Both panels dealt with trade issues with the primary focus being on the Section 232 tariffs on steel. The Port of Tampa […]
November apparent steel supply was calculated at 9,140,649 net tons, according to data released late last week. Apparent steel supply is determined by adding domestic steel shipments and finished U.S. steel imports, then subtracting total U.S. steel exports. November apparent steel supply saw a 417,102 ton or 4.8 percent increase compared to the same month […]
U.S. steel exports in November totaled 615,818 net tons (558,661 metric tons), down 2.4 percent from October, and down 30.2 percent from levels one year ago. After the September 2018 low of 584,858 tons, last November is the next lowest month for exports since February 2009 when 602,945 tons of steel were exported outside of […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Section 232 tariffs are increasingly in the news. Today, I describe two issues that are central to the prosperity (and in many cases the survival) of steel-using manufacturers. Exclusions With the end of the government shutdown, the exclusion […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Section 232 tariffs are increasingly in the news. Today, I describe two issues that are central to the prosperity (and in many cases the survival) of steel-using manufacturers. Exclusions With the end of the government shutdown, the exclusion […]