Total rolled steel imports declined by 15.0 percent, and sheet products by 17.3 percent, in the three months through January compared to the prior three-month period, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of federal Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) data. This month’s SMU report was delayed as we performed a major revamp of […]
Premium subscribers to Steel Market Update receive reports on imports with macro data broken down by product on the national level. SMU also provides reports that detail the import tonnage received by district of entry and source nation. This new report from SMU takes the analysis even further. Using U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) data, […]
A majority of metalforming companies surveyed in the February Precision Metalforming Association Business Conditions Report expect improvement in economic activity during the next three months. The latest report showed 97 percent anticipate better conditions going forward. “The Trump administration has shown strong leadership on important policy initiatives like tax reform and infrastructure, which give confidence […]
International trading companies are reacting to the report released by Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross recommending three options to protect the U.S. steel industry based on national security concerns. As we speak with trading companies here at the Port of Tampa Steel Conference, as well as traders located around the country, we are finding […]
The possible forthcoming Section 232 decisions on steel and aluminum imports have alarmed nations across the globe. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said he “wouldn’t be surprised if there were retaliations to the measures,” but perhaps he underestimated the negative response to his recommendations. Numerous countries have expressed concern for their own domestic markets, while others […]
The American Institute for International Steel, which represents foreign steelmakers, called the Commerce Department’s recommendations in the Section 232 report on steel imports “excessive and unnecessary” and warned of global retaliation that would push the U.S. and world toward a recession. AIIS Board Chairman John Foster issued the following statement on Monday: “The recommendations in […]
Tom Clarke is trying to make friends on the Iron Range. Clarke, owner of iron ore facilities Magnetation and Mesabi Metallics, sent letters to all the United Steelworker locals in the Iron Range pledging to unionize Mesabi Metallics and not to displace any other iron ore operations with his own. The Duluth News Tribune reports […]
In a press conference on Friday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said his Section 232 investigation has concluded that steel imports do pose a significant threat to U.S. national security and he is recommending three possible remedies to President Trump that call for tariffs or quotas on foreign steel. Those alternatives include: A global tariff of […]
The following article was written by trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz: The president has a lot of discretion regarding the nature of the import restrictions that he imposes. The Commerce recommendation gave the president three alternative recommendations: (1) across-the-board tariffs on all products from all countries (24 percent); (2) 53 percent tariffs on 12 leading countries […]
The following article was written by trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz: The president has a lot of discretion regarding the nature of the import restrictions that he imposes. The Commerce recommendation gave the president three alternative recommendations: (1) across-the-board tariffs on all products from all countries (24 percent); (2) 53 percent tariffs on 12 leading countries […]
The Commerce Department has found that unfair imports of steel products do indeed pose a threat to U.S. national security, and in a press conference on Friday revealed the remedies it has recommended to President Trump. The announcement of possible tariffs and quotas drew strong reactions from the marketplace. The Commerce recommendations include three options […]
Reaction by American trade associations and producers to Friday’s Commerce Department recommendations on Section 232 was mostly favorable and encouraged swift action. The Steel Manufacturers Association applauded the recommendations laid out by Secretary Wilbur Ross in the Section 232 steel report: “Secretary Ross has accurately concluded that steel imports threaten to impair our national security […]
Recommendations from the U.S. Commerce Department calling for potential tariffs and quotas on steel and aluminum imports under Section 232 elicited a strong global reaction including trepidation, anger and threats of retaliation. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said during a conference call Friday he wouldn’t be surprised if there were retaliations to the measures, adding that […]
Secretary Ross has released the 3 recommendations on steel made to President Trump. DOC has found that imports of steel products threaten national security and have made the following recommendations on steel. Remedy 1 – Global tariff on all countries of 24%, Remedy 2 – targeted list of 12 countries with tariff of 53%, all […]
Last week ended with a bang. Steel Market Update received an invitation to participate in a press conference as Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told the world that the DOC had found that imports of foreign steel negatively impact the steel and aluminum industries, which are necessary in the United States for national security […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Steel The HR futures prices continue to grind higher in the near dates but have been lagging in the latter half of […]
Reliance Steel and Aluminum Co. is seeing growing demand across all its product segments and expects that trend to continue through 2018. Reliance reported a strong fourth quarter with net sales up 15.3 percent year-over-year to $2.38 billion. Third-quarter sales were somewhat lower due to expected seasonality. Fourth-quarter shipments totaled 1,451,000 tons, up 6.3 percent […]
Tariffs are an option to stop steel dumping, said President Donald Trump at a bipartisan meeting of legislators this morning. “I want to keep prices down, but I want to make sure that we have a steel industry,” said Trump, according to a Bloomberg report. “Part of the options would be tariffs coming in. As […]
At a meeting with lawmakers this morning, President Donald Trump said imposing tariffs is an option for stopping the dumping of steel and aluminum into the U.S. “I want to keep prices down, but I want to make sure that we have a steel industry,” said Trump, according to a Bloomberg report. “Part of the […]
Distributors of galvanized steel products to the HVAC industry are concerned that steel prices could experience a correction once President Trump finally announces his decision on Section 232. “I fear that a lot of 232 is already built into the pricing, and if the [trade action] is less than people were expecting, we could see […]
Fifteen trade associations, representing more than 30,000 U.S. steel-using manufacturers and employing one million American workers, sent a letter to President Trump and other senior trade officials last night in advance of the meeting between the administration and legislators regarding Section 232. The letter warns that restrictions on basic steel imports will “adversely impact national […]
The Department of Commerce announced on Tuesday the initiation of new antidumping duty and countervailing duty investigations on imports of large-diameter welded pipe from Canada, China, Greece, India, Korea, and Turkey. Dumping margins were estimated by the petitioners at 50.89 percent for Canada, 41.04 percent for Greece, 120.84 to 132.63 percent for China, 37.94 percent […]
Does President Trump’s call for a “reciprocal tax” on imports from countries that impose higher tariffs than the U.S. give him cover for the dilemma he faces over Section 232? Speaking at a White House meeting with state officials and local executives on Monday to discuss his infrastructure plan, the president offered up some unexpected […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released license data through the first 13 days of February that “suggests” foreign steel imports could be at the lowest levels seens in many years. The trend is for imports to barely exceed 2 million net tons, almost one-third lower than the 3 million tons that were reported for January. […]
Fifteen trade associations, representing more than 30,000 U.S. steel-using manufacturers and employing one million American workers, sent a letter to President Trump and other senior trade officials last night in advance of the meeting between the administration and lawmakers regarding Section 232. The letter warns that restrictions on basic steel imports will “adversely impact national […]
This analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into the district of entry and the source country. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about regional import volumes are often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis is to describe in detail what is going on in a […]
Total rolled steel imports declined by 15 percent in the three months through January compared to the previous three-month period, August through October. Sheet product imports declined by 17.3 percent on the same basis, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of U.S. Department of Commerce data released Feb. 6. The data is reported within the […]
Both manufacturing companies and flat rolled steel service centers reported near unanimous support for higher spot pricing. In the process, it is Steel Market Update’s opinion the higher flat rolled and plate spot prices provided by the distributors also support the most recent steel price increase announcements by the flat rolled steel mills. Last week, […]
The American Institute for International Steel, which represents foreign steel producers, sent a letter to President Trump on Thursday on behalf of the 1.3 million people who depend on steel imports for their livelihoods. AIIS President Richard Chriss urged the administration not to impose new tariffs and quotas on imported steel products that would benefit […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Steel Increased HR futures buying this week reflects the slightly more bullish narrative in the domestic HR price expectations. Concern that lead times […]