The steel industry enjoyed a profitable first half of 2018 due to a strong economy and tariffs on imports that drove up domestic prices. The welcome windfall prompted several companies to commit large investments toward expansion and modernization of their facilities. In all, about 31 million net tons of new steel capacity could potentially come […]
I have been traveling all day, so I have had limited exposure to the market today. For that matter, as I have mentioned on a couple of recent occasions, I have been almost entirely focused on the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. So, here are a few comments about the conference for those of you […]
Written by: John Packard, President & CEO, Steel Market Update Seven days to go… Seven days before the beginning of the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. I have spoken to almost every single speaker, interfaced with the CRU Events team in London as well as our SMU team. All is going as planned. […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: JSW Steel USA, an affiliate of a major Indian steel producer, is the first company to challenge the Section 232 steel product exclusion procedure. The company filed a lawsuit July 30 naming the Department of Commerce as the principal […]
JSW Steel (USA), Inc., is seeking relief from the Section 232 tariffs on the steel slabs it must import temporarily to supply its mill in Baytown, Texas. The U.S. arm of the India-based steel producer has filed a complaint against the U.S. alleging that the Commerce Department’s denial of JSW’s request for exclusion from the […]
Hoping to put an end to declining flat rolled prices, a handful of steelmakers announced $40 per ton increases today, effective immediately on unconfirmed orders. The Nucor Sheet Mill Group was the first to announce that it is increasing base prices on new orders of hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel by a minimum […]
There were many questions raised earlier this week about the announced new steelmaking and rolling capacities and whether those projects would indeed continue through completion. The questions came during various steel meetings held by analysts, steel mills, CRU and others in New York City. I participated in three events and found the question brought up […]
The steel industry is on the brink of a capacity boom as mills reinvest their record profits in dozens of mill additions and upgrades. What will that mean for steel supply and prices in the coming years? Who better to answer that question than the chief executives from four of North America’s leading steel producers—JSW […]
The steel industry is on the brink of a capacity boom as mills reinvest their record profits in dozens of mill additions and upgrades. What will that mean for steel supply and prices in the coming years? Who better to answer that question than the chief executives from four of North America’s leading steel producers—JSW […]
Registrations continue to grow for the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will be held on August 26-28, 2019. In the past 24 hours we added the following companies (those with an * means more than one person will be attending): North Star BlueScope Coated Products North America, Stelco*, Walker Magnetics, Leggett & Platt, Hannibal […]
We stuck in a couple of Premium level articles in tonight’s issue to give our Executive members an opportunity to review the level of detail we put into Premium products. With our new pricing we have exceptional membership levels on both Premium and Executive products, especially for those of you who would like to share […]
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 […]
The Bureau of Industry and Security today denied the exclusion exemptions for two mills: California Steel Industries and Evraz. At this point, we are expecting the NLMK USA and JSW USA exclusion requests to be denied as well. However, a trade attorney (not Lewis) suggested that we not move too fast with any proclamations. There […]
It’s Oscar night. I will try to keep my final thoughts brief. President Trump has delayed the increase in the Section 301 tariffs against China. The deadline was March 2, 2019. No new deadline has been set. However, President Xi of China will meet with President Trump in Florida in the later part of March. […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released new license data through the 19th of February and the trend for imports is at 2.6 million net tons (+/- 200,000 tons). Semi-finished steels continue to be the largest single product imported, with most being slabs heading to mills like California Steel, NLMK USA, JSW USA and ArcelorMittal Mobile. […]
A strong economy and record profits are stimulating expansion in the U.S. steel industry. Often crediting President Trump for “leveling the playing field” with steel imports, companies like U.S. Steel and Nucor are taking the opportunity to reinvest their windfall in new and upgraded facilities. Adding capacity in a world that is struggling with steel […]
There is a considerable amount of information/debate happening in Washington, D.C., Canada, Mexico, China and Europe regarding tariffs either in place or being threatened by the Trump administration. We included a press release in tonight’s issue that was sent out by Wilbur Ross of the U.S. Department of Commerce earlier this week. U.S. Trade Representative […]
Whether the mills succeed in collecting the $40 increase on flat rolled they announced in recent days depends a lot on how strong demand proves to be in the first quarter. Such price hikes are common in January as the mills anticipate a pickup in business following the seasonal slowdown in the fourth quarter. Service […]
The Steel Manufacturers Association would like to see the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement ratified by the three countries, even if it calls for a change to the tariffs. Speaking at a press briefing during SMA’s board meeting Thursday in Washington, SMA President Phil Bell said the modernized trade rules in the USMCA are an improvement on NAFTA. […]
Nope, I have not yet changed my position on the flat rolled market and where I am seeing momentum. Demand is good, sentiment is just “ok” for lack of a better term. I am seeing a little weakness in the plate market, but come on, the spread between plate and hot rolled is way too […]
Perhaps it’s because the year started out with so much promise that the end of 2018 seemed so uninspiring. On balance, most in the steel business would call 2018 a good year, some even a great year. But few look forward to 2019 with the same optimism and confidence they felt a year ago at […]
There is a “new domestic” steel minimill capable of producing 1.5 million tons per year of steel from scrap. On Friday, JSW USA restarted the electric arc furnace at the JSW Ohio steel plant at Mingo Junction and cast their first domestically produced slab. “The last month has been incredibly butt hard work,” said JSW […]
Over this weekend, Steel Market Update had two conversations with JSW USA President & CEO John Hritz. On Saturday, we spoke about the successful start-up of the electric arc furnace at their JSW Ohio steel mill in Mingo Junction. On Sunday, we spoke in more detail about JSW USA and the company goal of being […]
On Wednesday, Nov. 28, Steel Market Update, along with CRU, will conduct our first SMU-focused webinar. This webinar is available to all current member companies as well as our potential new customers. I will be leading the discussion on how SMU is seeing the current market situation, and a mid-term forecast will be provided by […]
JSW Steel USA broke ground Friday in Baytown, Texas, on what it claims will be the most technologically advanced electric arc furnace, slab caster and plate mill in the world. It will be the only melt and manufacture plate mill with a contiguous pipe mill in North America, the company said. Thanks to policies from […]
So far, I have found the CRU North American Steel Conference in Chicago today to be filled with some excellent speakers and topics. There has been a considerable amount of support for the policies of President Trump, especially with Section 232 tariffs and the handling of trade negotiations with China, Mexico and Canada. Perhaps panelist […]
JSW Steel plans to pump $500 million into its newly acquired Acero Junction steel mill in a two-phase investment. The first $250 million includes the cost of acquisition, the revamp and restart of the electric arc furnace and slab caster, and modernization of the hot strip mill. The second phase will be dependent “upon the […]
JSW Steel announced it will invest $500 million in its U.S. plate and pipe operations. The Baytown, Texas, facility will receive $150 million in upgrades and the rest will fund a new hot-end facility to make steel. Texas Governor Gregg Abbott signed an agreement with the company to provide a grant of $3.4 million. The […]
JSW Steel USA’s first-quarter FY 2018 sales more than doubled from a year ago. Revenue from operations totaled $58.67 million compared to $25.26 million in Q1 FY 2017. EBITDA was positive at $5.1 million after a loss of $5.45 million in last year’s corresponding quarter. The plate mill at the Baytown, Texas, facility produced 65,491 […]