Licensed data for November was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on December 4th. At SMU we perform a detailed analysis of this data, an explanation of our methodology is given at the end of this write up. Total rolled product licensed imports in the single month of November […]
AISI and eight other steel associations met with government officials in Paris on December 1 to present arguments against granting China Market Economy status. The press release from AISI follows: PARIS – The American Iron and Steel Institute, the Steel Manufacturers Association, the Canadian Steel Producers Association, CANACERO (the Mexican steel association), Alacero (the Latin […]
US Steel Corp is realigning its flat-rolled operations and management as part of its Carnegie Way transformation. The flat-rolled facilities will report through three consolidated commercial entities: Automotive Solutions, Consumer Solutions, and Industrial, Service Center and Mining Solutions. “The commercial entities have worked to position our company to be best-in-class in innovation, customer service and […]
SMU contributing writer, Peter Wright, evaluates the oil and gas industry on a monthly basis for Steel Market Update. Energy markets are large users of hot rolled as well as pipe and tube steels. The energy market’s slowdown is one of the key reasons why the domestic steel industry has slowed this year. Figure 1 […]
The Department of Commerce announced on Wednesday the initiation of AD and CVD investigations of imports of circular welded carbon-quality steel pipe from Pakistan. AD investigations were initiated on imports of the same products from Oman, the Philippines, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. The products in question are welded carbon-quality steel pipe and tube, of […]
Canadian shipments for all steel products in the month of October were 422,400 net tons, a decrease of 6.5 percent from the month before and decrease of 18.3 percent from October 2014. Inventories at the end of the month stood at 1,355,300 tons, down 7.3 percent from last month and down 12.3 percent from the […]
(From AISI, Nov. 10, 2015) A report released today concludes that treating China as a market economy in antidumping investigations would “severely damage the NAFTA steel industries and harm NAFTA economies.” The study, comprised of three economic analyses, was conducted by leading economists from Capital Trade Incorporated in Washington, DC; the Centre for Spatial Economics […]
Olympic Steel reported a net loss of $600,000 for third quarter but managed to expand gross margin 21.2 percent, compared to Q3 2104, despite pressure on pricing and volume. Olympic lowered operating expenses by almost $20 million so far in 2015 as well as lowering debt by a total of $60 million. Sales volume decreased […]
License data for October was updated on November 3rd through the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department. At SMU we perform a detailed analysis of this data, an explanation of our methodology is given at the end of this write up. Total rolled product licensed imports in the single month of October were […]
The American Iron and Steel Institute, the Steel Manufacturers Association, the Canadian Steel Producers Association, CANACERO (the Mexican steel association), Alacero (the Latin American steel association), EUROFER (the European steel association,) Instituto AcoBrasil (the Brazil Steel Institute), the Specialty Steel Industry of North American and the Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports today released a […]
The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) released shipment and inventory data for the month of September from their member companies earlier today. Service centers shipped 3,260,800 tons during the 21 days available to ship during the month. This equates to a daily shipment rate of 155,276 tons of all steel products combined. Shipments were down […]
Canadian shipments for all steel products in the month of September were 451,600 net tons, an increase of 5.5 percent from the month before but a decrease of 8.7 percent from September 2014. Inventories at the end of the month stood at 1,462,000 tons, down 5.7 percent from last month and down 3.3 percent from […]
Steel Market Update received the following letter to the editor from David Phelps, past president of the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS): John, after now over 35 years of watching the steel market and all its ups and downs, I have developed at least some non-infallable thoughts about market ups and downs. Your October […]
Licensed data for September was updated on October 6th through the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department. The SMU publishes several import reports ranging from this very early look using licensed data to the very detailed analysis of final volumes by district of entry and source nation which is available to our […]
The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) released August distributor shipment and inventory data on Wednesday of this week. Total steel inventories remained essentially unchanged in August compared to July as the daily shipping rate declined by 3.8 percent. The biggest declines in shipments were attributed to carbon plate (-14.8 percent), structurals (-3.9 percent) and carbon […]
Once one of the largest corporate giants in the United States (if not the world), United States Steel (USS) continues to shrink its workforce as demand for its products shrink. SMU has learned that an unknown number of white collar workers have been advised that they will be losing their jobs. USS Spokesperson Courtney Boone […]
An investigation into dumping and subsidizing of hot rolled steel plate imports from India and Russia was been initiated by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal on Sept. 9. The investigation follows a preliminary determination of dumping and subsidization from the Director General of the Trade and Anti-dumping Programs Directorate at the Canada Border Services Agency […]
This data is normally reserved for our Premium members, but we wanted to give our Executive readers a view of what a Premium subscription includes. This is one of many additional data points available to our Premium level members. Licensed data for August was updated on September 4th through the Steel Import Monitoring System of […]
With three direct flat rolled trade cases plus various suits affecting pipe and tube and oil country tubular goods, keeping track of all of the important dates can be mind-numbing. Especially when critical circumstances are alleged or extensions are requested (and we have seen both already in the CORE suit). We asked trade attorney Lewis […]
The Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) reported July steel service center shipments and inventory data for the month of July. Expectations had been running high that shipments would decent for the month and that inventories, which had been dropping over the past six months, would continue that trend. Unfortunately, 2015 is turning out to be […]
Net imports equals imports minus exports. We regard this as an important look at the overall trade picture and its effect on demand at the mill level. Figure 1 shows that net sheet product imports on a three month moving average (3MMA) basis in June continue to be more than double that which existed before […]
There are so many dumping suits being filed at the same time that it is difficult to keep track of the various dates as to when actions will be taken either by the US Department of Commerce of the US International Trade Commission (ITC). There are 5 major groups of suits which affect the flat […]
The Department of Commerce announced on August 11 the initiation of an antidumping investigation into imports of heavy walled rectangular welded carbon steel pipe and tubes from Korea, Mexico and Turkey and a countervailing duty investigation of imports from Turkey. The petition for the investigation was brought forth by Atlas Tube (a division of JMC […]
Pipe and tube manufacturers have been struggling to stay afloat as oil prices continue to depress demand from the energy industry. Northwest Pipe Company, headquartered in Vancouver, is among those companies posting a loss for second quarter. The Tubular Products segment of Northwest Pipe saw sales from operations decrease 61.3 percent year over year to […]
Licensed data for July was updated on August 4th through the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department. Steel Market Update publishes several import reports ranging from this very early look using licensed data to the very detailed analysis of final volumes by district of entry and source nation which is available to […]
A unfair trade case was filed by US pipe and tube producers on Tuesday against makers and exporters of heavy-walled rectangular steel pipes and tubes from South Korea, Mexico and Turkey. The product in question is commonly called “structural tubing” and is used in construction, transportation and farm applications. The alleged dumping margins filed by […]
There seems to be more inaccurate analysis published on this subject than on any other that we track at Steel Market Update. For example on Saturday AMM reported that, “US steel service center shipments improved in June compared with the previous month ——-.” At a superficial level this statement is correct, but as an analysis […]
Based on Steel Market Update (SMU) analysis of the recently released MSCI service center inventory and shipment data, total service center carbon steel shipments decreased by 178,700 tons in May to 3.126 million tons. Shipping days at 20, were two less than in April. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments increased from 150,200 […]
Licensed data for May was updated on June 9th through the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department. The SMU publishes several import reports ranging from this very early look using licensed data to the very detailed analysis of final volumes by district of entry and source nation which is available to our […]
Based on Steel Market Update (SMU) analysis of the recently released MSCI service center inventory and shipment data, total service center carbon steel shipments decreased by 201,800 tons in April to 3.305 million tons. Shipping days at 22, the same as March. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments decreased from 159,400 in March […]