On the 24th of May the US Department of Commerce is scheduled to announce their Final Determinations regarding the corrosion resistant trade suits against China, Korea, India, Taiwan and Italy. There is an expectation that the announcement may actually be more supportive of the domestic mill position than what was seen in the Preliminary Determinations. […]
The following is the March steel exports report from the American Institute for International Steel: Falls Church, VA. May 11, 2016. Steel exports changed little from February to March, though they remained well below the level of a year earlier. The 775,270 net tons of exports were 0.5 percent less than the previous month and […]
If things weren’t tight enough there have been a couple of accidents at steel mills, one in the United States (North Star BlueScope) and one in Brazil (CSN), which are impacting the domestic flat rolled steel order books. CSN (Brazil) Affecting Galvanized Markets About two weeks ago, CSN in Brazil had a breakout with their […]
If things weren’t tight enough there have been a couple of accidents at steel mills, one in the United States (North Star BlueScope) and one in Brazil (CSN), which are impacting the domestic flat rolled steel order books. CSN (Brazil) Affecting Galvanized Markets About two weeks ago, CSN in Brazil had a breakout with their […]
According to the latest data released from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute, apparent steel supply for the month of March 2016 was 8,716,178 net tons. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished US steel imports and subtracting total US steel exports. March apparent […]
March steel exports totaled 775,270 net tons (703,314 metric tons), down 0.5 percent over February and down 13.5 percent from March 2015. Total March figures are below both the thee month moving average (3MMA, average of January 2016 through March 2016 figures) and the twelve month moving average (12MMA, average of April 2015 through March […]
The annualized GDP growth rate in the first estimate of the first quarter of 2016 was 0.54 percent, down from 1.38 percent, in the fourth quarter of 2015. Normally there are two revisions of the first estimate and sometimes three. Revisions to the four quarters of 2015 were +0.4 percent, +1.59 percent, +0.5 percent and […]
Licensed data for April was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on May 3rd. An explanation of the methodology that we at SMU use to analyze the trade data is given at the end of this piece. Total rolled product licensed imports in the single month of April were […]
Flat Rolled Steel Service Centers Comment About Their Relationship Customers Late last week Steel Market Update started canvassing flat rolled steel distributors about their customer base in an effort to better understand the psyche of their customers. We found there are essentially three camps buying from the domestic steel service centers: 1) Contract customers tied […]
The Broad Index value of the US $ peaked on January 20th at 126.2, and on April 15th (latest figure available) was rated at 119.7, a decline of 5.2 percent. This is the lowest value since November 3rd 2015 (Figure 1). On March 15th the Fed held rates constant and cut its projection for the […]
This may come as a surprise to some but, there are many who think 2016 may be one of those years where flat rolled steel price volatility, maybe even extreme volatility, could become the norm. We are now in the midst of a five month upswing in flat rolled steel prices which has taken benchmark […]
The United Steelworkers filed a petition this week under Section 201 of U.S. trade law to attempt stem imports of primary unwrought aluminum. We are reporting on this because a number of companies/organizations having begun calling for the use of Section 201 to help stem unwanted steel imports (see article in tonight’s newsletter written by […]
NLMK USA crude steel production of 160,000 tonnes was a 94 percent increase quarter over quarter and a 68 percent increase year over year. The jump in production was due to the re-launch of steelmaking at NLMK Indiana after repairs at the end of 2015 as well as from improved steel demand. Capacity utilization improved […]
There have been a number of questions about whether steel prices have the staying power to continue to move higher from here. We thought we would bring in another opinion on the subject. MetalMiner published an article on the subject just yesterday and they have allowed us to reproduce the article in tonight’s newsletter. Lisa […]
Last week hearings were held in Washington, D.C. regarding the plight of the domestic steel industry, world over-capacity of steel production (with a special emphasis on China). During the hearings a number of trade remedies were mentioned such as Section 201 and Section 232 along with the antidumping and countervailing duty flat rolled steel trade […]
China has agreed to eliminate some export subsidies on products exported to the United States, said U.S. officials this week. The subsidized products gave advantages to small firms in seven industries, including textiles and seafood, and were in violation of World Trade Organization rules. It is estimated that government subsidies for the program totaled about […]
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey reached its highest level in more than a year in April. The headline general business index rose 9 points to 9.6, continuing a second positive month with respondents reporting business conditions have improved. New orders picked up two points to register 11.1 after making strong gains in March. Shipments continued […]
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, […]
February ferrous scrap exports totaled 1,137,700 net tons (1,032,105 metric tons) with Turkey, India, Canada, Taiwan, and Korea being the top five countries receiving scrap from the United States. These five countries accounted for 66.6 percent of all scrap exports. Total February ferrous scrap exports were 87.3 percent higher than previous month. Despite the large […]
Exports of U.S. produced steel increased 7.8 percent from December to January and inched downward 0.4 percent in February. The latest American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) report on U.S. steel exports follows: Falls Church, VA. April 12, 2016. Steel exports totaled 779,010 net tons in February, just 0.4 percent less than the previous month, but […]
Licensed data for March was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on April 5th. An explanation of the methodology that we at SMU use to analyze the trade data is given at the end of this piece. Total rolled product licensed imports in the single month of March were […]
This report summarizes total steel supply from 2003 through February 2016 and year on year changes. It then compares domestic mill shipments and total supply to the market. It quantifies market direction by product and enables a side by side comparison of the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron and […]
According to the latest data released from the US Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute, apparent steel supply for the month of February 2016 was 8,269,164 net tons. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished US steel imports and subtracting total US steel exports. February apparent […]
On Friday and Saturday of this past week, Steel Market Update attended the Association of Steel Distributors spring meeting. The following are some of the notes made during the presentations and during discussions with ASD members. Dr. Chris Kuehl of Armada Corporate Intelligence reported that he is “a little optimistic” when it comes to the […]
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the third estimate of Q4 2015 Annual Revision of the National Income and Product Accounts on Friday. The annualized growth rate in the third estimate of the fourth quarter was 1.38 percent, down from 1.97 percent, in the third quarter and down from 3.86 percent in Q2. Normally […]
A quick survey of ports shows good warehouse availability for incoming steel products. Los Angeles and Gulf ports saw a significant decline in steel imports in 2015. At the Port of Houston steel import tonnage dropped 28 percent from 6.5 million tons in 2014 to 4.6 million tons in 2015. Tubular product imports are expected […]
Tata Steel announced yesterday that it will consider selling off all of its British operations. In a review of its UK operations, the Tata Steel Board concluded that due to deteriorating financial performance in the past twelve months the company will “explore all options for portfolio restructuring including the potential divestment of Tata Steel UK, […]
Japan steelmaker JFE Holdings and Nucor Corp reportedly are in talks to build a jointly run steel plant in Mexico. JFE plans to invest $264 million in the project, according to the Nikkei Asian Review. The plant will have an annual capacity of 400,000 tons and will service the Mexican auto industry, supplying steel for […]
Manufacturing activity expanded in the Fifth District in March, according to the latest survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The composite manufacturing index registered 22, surging from -4 to its highest level since April 2010. Shipments and new orders both jumped this month. The shipments index gained 38 points climbing to a reading […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel continue to smile when asked about their company’s ability to be successful both in the current market environment as well as looking out into the future three to six months. The result has taken the SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index higher and we are approaching record levels in […]