The U.S. Department of Commerce released updated foreign steel import data for September and October yesterday, with the September figure down to 2.2 million tons and the October trend remaining over 3 million tons. Prior to this week, the September total was hovering around 2.7 million to 2.9 million net tons. Our October trend is […]
Trade measures by the U.S. are causing concern for the European steel market, according to a new report by the European Union steel association EUROFER. Steel imports are growing faster than domestic shipments by EU mills, according to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2018-2019. “Growth is stabilizing in EU steel markets, in line with […]
Ford Motor Co. is calling on the administration to resolve steel and aluminum disputes that will cost the company more than a billion dollars in annual profits this year and next. The Section 232 tariffs have pushed U.S. steel prices well above those of foreign competitors and higher than Ford was expecting. “U.S. steel costs […]
Harry Moser, president of the Reshoring Initiative, is a big supporter of the Trump administration and its trade policies. But when it comes to the Section 232 tariffs on steel imports, which have dramatically raised steel prices in the U.S., domestic steelmakers have gained at the expense of steel-consuming manufacturers downstream. “Overall, I am delighted […]
ArcelorMittal Dofasco will receive up to $38 million from the Canadian government towards a $156 million modernization project at its Hamilton facility. The money is part of a C$250 million (U.S. $191 million) fund set up to provide support to steel, aluminum and manufacturing companies impacted by tariffs resulting from the Section 232 measures imposed […]
The U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments on the World Trade Organization challenge by South Korea to U.S. safeguards imposed on imports of large residential washers in February 2018. The WTO established a Dispute Settlement Body panel on Sept. 26 following a request by South Korea in August. The European Union, China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, […]
Commerce has issued a preliminary affirmative determination in the countervailing duty investigation of steel propane cylinders from China. A preliminary subsidy rate of 42.77 percent has been assigned to Shandong Huanri Group and producers and exporters in the “all other” category. A preliminary rate of 145.37 percent has been assigned to TPA Metals and Machinery […]
The growth of the Chinese economy has slowed, but their steel production is growing almost three times as fast as the rest of the world. Once each quarter, Steel Market Update publishes the official statistics for Chinese GDP, industrial production, consumer price inflation and fixed asset investment. Many analysts don’t believe these self-serving Party figures, […]
In the last 12 months, the price of coking coal and scrap have continuously trended up, zinc has continuously trended down, and iron ore and pig iron have been erratic. Table 1 summarizes the price changes through November of the five materials considered in this Steel Market Update report. It includes the month/month, 3 months/3 […]
Premium subscribers to Steel Market Update receive reports on imports broken down into district of entry and source nation. This report takes the regional analysis to the level of product detail. Our intent is to report on HR and CR sheet in alternate months in the rationale that the finer the detail steel buyers have […]
Premium subscribers to Steel Market Update have access to reports on our website that break out the import tonnage into district of entry and source nation for six sheet and plate categories. SMU has now developed reports that drill down the HRC and CRC into product detail both nationally and for each district. We report […]
United Steelworkers in Canada are rejecting any plan by the U.S. to impose quotas on Canadian steel and aluminum imports. “Canada’s government must emphatically stand up for the Canadian steel and aluminum industries and thousands of families whose livelihoods are at stake,” said USW National Director Ken Neumann. “There is no justification for Canada to […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: As we approach the 2018 mid-term elections in a bit more than two weeks, I checked on the available data on voter attitudes toward the tariffs and trade policy. There is a lot of information […]
A strong economy and equally strong steel demand propelled Nucor Corp. earnings growth in the third quarter. Nucor reported earnings of $676.7 million in the third quarter, which included a non-cash impairment charge of $110.0 million related to its natural gas well assets. In comparison, second quarter net earnings were $683.2 and third quarter 2017 […]
Steel Dynamics announced record financial results for third-quarter 2018. Sales for the quarter totaled $3.2 billion for a net income of $398 million compared to prior-year third-quarter sales of $2.4 billion and net income of $153 million. “Our third-quarter 2018 income from operations of $532 million and adjusted EBITDA of $626 million were both record […]
This afternoon, Steel Market Update spoke with James Banker, Jr., Executive Vice President of NLMK USA, about two topics. First, the slab conversion agreement between NLMK USA and Allegheny Technologies Inc. Second, we spoke about NLMK not following the $40 per ton price increase announced by the other domestic steel mills. We will discuss both […]
U.S. Steel and Nucor made their final rebuttals to tariff exclusion requests filed by Evraz NA and California Steel Industries for imports of steel slab. Evraz and CSI maintain that the slabs they require are not readily available in the U.S. Both U.S. Steel and Nucor argue that exclusions would undermine the president’s policy to […]
The flat rolled mills announced a price hike last week. This was at the same time Steel Market Update sources were advising of $38.00/cwt ($760 per ton) out of more than one domestic steel mill. The increase, announced initially by Nucor, was seen as an attempt to dry up the sub-$800 offers and put a […]
Earlier today, the U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest foreign steel import license data for September and October. Based on our analysis, the import trend for October continues to be much higher than we would have anticipated. We are looking at the month trending over 3 million net tons. The biggest reason for the […]
With the market sending mixed signals, distributors of HVAC products are keeping inventories lean as they wait to see if the price increase just announced by the steel mills gains any traction. “You can make a case for prices to go either way,” said one member of the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) […]
How long will the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports remain in place? There is no way to know for sure. But supporters, including various trade and government officials, make a strong case that the tariffs are likely to remain in force for some time to come. President Trump announced the 25 percent […]
How long will the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports remain in place? There is no way to know for sure. But supporters, including various trade and government officials, make a strong case that the tariffs are likely to remain in force for some time to come. President Trump announced the 25 percent […]
Apparent steel supply remained high in August, coming in at 9,828,339 net tons, according to government data released late last week. This is the third highest level of the year, just a hair under the April figure (9,829,298 tons), and both being about 100,000 tons under the March high (9,935,479 tons). Apparent steel supply is […]
Canada will implement provisional safeguard measures on steel imports effective Oct. 25. Tariffs of 25 percent will be applied when products exceed the current average import level. The action is in response to Section 232 tariffs and quotas imposed by the United States on steel and aluminum. Canada hopes to avoid becoming a dumping ground […]
The International Monetary Fund, which updates its World Economic Outlook each April and October, has made a downward revision to its forecast for global GDP growth in 2018 and 2019. On Oct. 9, the IMF published the following: “The latest World Economic Outlook report projects that global growth will remain steady over 2018–19 at last […]
Imports of other metallic coated sheet have declined in all regions in 2018. Each month, Steel Market Update produces an import analysis by region for two of the six flat rolled product groups (HRC, CRC, HDG, OMC, CTL plate and coiled plate). This month, the focus is on coated products. The intent of these regional […]
The Great Lakes region has received the greatest volume of hot-dipped galvanized sheet imports so far in 2018. Each month, Steel Market Update produces an import analysis by region for two of the six flat rolled product groups (HRC, CRC, HDG, OMC, CTL plate and coiled plate). This month, the focus is on coated products. […]
International Monetary Fund economists forecast global economic growth of 3.7 percent for 2018-19, 0.2 percentage point below their forecast six months ago. While still positive, the expansion has become less balanced and may have peaked in some major economies, the IMF reported in its October World Economic Outlook. Excerpts from the WEO report below clearly […]
Yesterday, Nucor announced a $40 per ton ($2.00/cwt) price increase on all flat rolled products they produce. The increase was to take effect immediately on all “spot” orders. On paper, the increase announcement does not impact contract pricing. However, steel buyers are advising Steel Market Update that the reason behind the Nucor announcement was two-fold: […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: A question came up this week about production and changing tariff codes for products to avoid or minimize tariffs. Understanding options depends on the issue of how tariff classifications are changed through processing. And if […]