The U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index, a quarterly analysis of freight volumes and spending, fell 4.0 percent in the fourth quarter after gaining a total of 10 percent in the second and third quarters. Both volumes and spending dropped during the quarter due to weaker economic activity and impacts from the international trade market. The […]
John Packard is traveling… The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak in China a global public health emergency earlier today. Six patients in the United States have been confirmed as infected by the potentially deadly virus…so far. Makes those seasonal sniffles you’re feeling even more disconcerting, doesn’t it? And what does it mean for […]
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says that tariffs on imports of autos and parts are still on the table, refuting claims that the deadline has passed to impose such measures under Section 232. After Commerce delivered its report on the national security implications of imports of foreign autos to the administration, the president had 180 days […]
Steel imports into the United States in 2019, totaling 27.9 million tons, showed a decline of 17.3 percent versus 2018, and were at their lowest level since 2010 as the economy was recovering from the recession. Finished steel imports of 21.0 million tons were down 18.1 percent for the year. Finished steel imports held a […]
The Department of Commerce announced the affirmative final determinations in the antidumping duty and countervailing duty investigations of imports of fabricated structural steel from Canada (AD only), China and Mexico, and a negative final determination in the CVD investigation of FSS from Canada. Canada and Mexico have been assigned antidumping rates of 6.7 percent and […]
U.S. gross domestic product had positive growth in every region of the country in each of the first three quarters of 2019, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data. The BEA reports GDP by state and region on a quarterly basis. This data is released several weeks after the national report. The latest data was […]
The South Central region of the U.S. created the most jobs in the fourth quarter of 2019, with the Pacific in second place, based on government employment data. Fourth-quarter regional employment data by state was released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday. The state data follows and confirms the employment situation that […]
Steel buyers sentiment continued to improve through mid-January with Steel Market Update’s Current Sentiment Index registering +63, its highest reading since November 2018. Sentiment has been on the rise since October when it hit a low of +26, its most pessimistic reading since June 2013. (Historical low was in March 2009 when it hit -85.) […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: On Friday, President Trump issued another proclamation on steel and aluminum. This time, the proclamation imposes tariffs on selected “derivative” products made from steel and aluminum. I was reminded of the movie “The Monster that Devoured Cleveland,” which […]
On Thursday I provided some of the feedback I was getting from those involved in both the sales and purchasing of flat rolled steel into the North American markets. The comments continued to flow in and here are a couple more that I found interesting: The general manager of a service center provided these insights […]
I have been spending time looking at market momentum, lead times (real, not from our survey), who is buying and who is not (and why), and what the market should be concentrating on over the next couple of months (not just today). I am going to start with comments I got from a couple of […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg, Principal Economist Lisa Morrison, Principal Analyst Josh Spoores and Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Iron Ore Market Outlook In a recent insight series, CRU highlighted some of the challenges facing the three U.S. iron ore producers, Cleveland-Cliffs, U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal. The location of the mines and pellet plants […]
Acknowledging that “it’s a lot easier to sell steel when the price is going up,” distributors of steel products to the HVAC sector reported strong sales in the first month of the new year despite galvanized base prices that have risen by about $130 in the past 12 weeks to the current $800 per ton. […]
Finished steel imports into the United States are trending down a bit in January, compared with December imports and the 12-month moving average. Based on Commerce Department import license applications in the first two weeks of January, the U.S. is on track to import around 1.47 million tons of finished steel this month. That’s roughly […]
By CRU Analyst Chris Bandmann, from CRU’s Steel Long Products Monitor Europe: Germany has not seen any significant snowfall yet this winter, and these mild conditions had the potential to support the continuation of construction activities. Construction companies entered their holidays regardless, however, and steel demand has settled into a seasonal low point. Even so, […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive-level members. For more information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Crude oil production set another all-time record in the U.S. in October, but the rig count continues to decline. On Jan. 3, oil prices surged briefly on news of […]
Looking back on 2019, it’s difficult to assess the success of Trump’s tariffs. A case for their effectiveness can be made either way. Judging by one measure, imports, it certainly appears the tariffs did their job. The American Iron and Steel Institute estimates that total steel imports declined by approximately 17.9 percent in 2019 to […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Challenges to the Section 232 steel tariffs are intensifying lately. The cases raise issues going to the heart of the Section 232 import restrictions. Here is a summary of the court cases to watch: AIIS—challenging the constitutionality of […]
In January, we have replaced the British pound in this report with the Vietnamese dong in recognition that Vietnam is now a much bigger player in the global steel market than is the UK. The U.S. dollar has strengthened against 13 of the 16 steel trading nation currencies in the last three months. In this […]
By CRU Senior Cost Economist Ross Cunningham, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service The oil market in 2020 started with a bang—multiple in fact, over the skies of Baghdad. On Jan. 3, U.S. missiles killed Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani and four others. Iran vowed “severe revenge” and on Jan. 8 fired missiles at air […]
The Senate voted its approval of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement in a sweeping 89-10 bipartisan vote on Thursday. The trade agreement now goes to President Trump for signature. The Canadian parliament is expected to follow suit, allowing the USMCA to be implemented later this year. The final agreement adds language addressing the internet, digital services and […]
Apparent U.S. steel supply slipped to 8.4 million net tons in November, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute and U.S. Department of Commerce. November supply is now at a three-year low, the lowest seen since November 2016 when supply was 8.1 million tons. Apparent steel supply, a proxy for demand, is […]
The wind energy industry received a boost from a U.S. spending bill approved in December. The bill extends energy tax credits for wind, solar and other green energy projects to 2024. Due to the extension, IHS Markit is now expecting a boom rather than a decline for the industry in 2020. The extension increased the […]
December’s licensed import volume for rolled steel products was the lowest since December 2009. Year over year, total rolled product imports in December were down by 27.8 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This follows the 27.4 percent decrease in November, 17.7 percent decrease in October and 15.5 percent decline in September on […]
Premium subscribers to Steel Market Update have reports available on our website that break out the import tonnage into district of entry and source nation for six sheet and plate product categories. This report takes the total national tonnage of hot rolled and breaks it down into product detail. Using U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) […]
Using U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) data, Steel Market Update has taken the import tonnage of cold rolled sheet and broken it down into coil and leveled, then our report breaks out four thickness ranges and identifies how much was full hard, annealed and high strength. Through November 2019, of the total cold rolled sheet […]
As the laws of economics have proven time and again, supply and demand will determine whether steel prices continue to rise in 2020. Demand is set by the marketplace; supply can be controlled by producers. Steel Market Update canvassed the market this week, asking readers: Has enough flat rolled capacity been removed to keep prices […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: We are now in the third year of the steel tariffs. On Jan. 11, 2018, the Department of Commerce transmitted its report and recommendations to President Trump. The president was waiting for the document, which gave him power […]
By CRU Analyst James Campbell, from the Steel Sheet Products Market Outlook 2019 was a bad year for the steel industry. Prices and margins collapsed and, outside of China, demand contracted. However, the combination of a new restocking cycle and reduced output in many markets allowed producers to raise prices and margins at the end […]
Following the recent attacks in Iran, President Trump has imposed new sanctions on Iran including targeting 13 Iranian steel and mining companies. Additionally, sanctions will be imposed on three Seychelles-based entities, aluminum and copper companies and the Liberian-flagged and Chinese-owned vessel Hong Xun, known to transport metal products. “We are also designating Iran’s largest metals […]