The thought is we could well see a pull-back of the Section 232 tariffs by the end of the year. Steel industry executives seem to be leaning in that direction (even though they are lobbying to keep the 232 tariffs) and talking about what is next for the industry. The topic most likely to be […]
Don’t forget to tune into SMU’s next Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, May 26, at 11 a.m. ET with Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) President Philip K. Bell. Bell will speak about the U.S. steel industry’s low carbon profile compared to steelmakers abroad – and its efforts to reduce carbon emissions even further. He will […]
Don’t forget to tune into SMU’s next Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, May 26, at 11 a.m. ET with Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) President Philip K. Bell. Bell will speak about the U.S. steel industry’s low carbon profile compared to steelmakers abroad – and its efforts to reduce carbon emissions even further. He will […]
Steel Market Update surveys readers each week to monitor market sentiment. The prevailing view on key issues this week: record high steel prices still have room to run; the high prices have not cut into demand yet; repealing Section 232 on imports from the EU is a questionable move; and inflation poses a threat to […]
Steel Market Update surveys readers each week to monitor market sentiment. The prevailing view on key issues this week: record high steel prices still have room to run; the high prices have not cut into demand yet; repealing Section 232 on imports from the EU is a questionable move; and inflation poses a threat to […]
A coalition of U.S. steel industry lobbying groups and the United Steelworkers (USW) union want the Biden administration to keep Trump-era Section 232 tariffs and quotas on imported steel in place. The groups say the tariffs – rolled out in March 2018 on national security grounds – are necessary for the survival of the domestic […]
“We are focused on availability more than price.” This morning Steel Market Update participated in a very subdued galvanized steel conference call with members of the Heating, Air-conditioning, Refrigeration, Distributors International trade group. HARDI members are wholesalers who supply the mechanical contractors doing work on residential and commercial construction jobs. The key takeaway I got […]
“We are focused on availability more than price.” This morning Steel Market Update participated in a very subdued galvanized steel conference call with members of the Heating, Air-conditioning, Refrigeration, Distributors International trade group. HARDI members are wholesalers who supply the mechanical contractors doing work on residential and commercial construction jobs. The key takeaway I got […]
Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) President Philip K. Bell will be the featured speaker for the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, May 26, at 11 a.m. ET. Bell will speak about the U.S. steel industry’s low carbon profile compared to steelmakers abroad – and its efforts to reduce carbon emissions even further. He will […]
Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) President Philip K. Bell will be the featured speaker for the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, May 26, at 11 a.m. ET. Bell will speak about the U.S. steel industry’s low carbon profile compared to steelmakers abroad – and its efforts to reduce carbon emissions even further. He will […]
The United States and the European Union have begun negotiations that could lead to the removal of Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the continent, according to market participants and a joint statement from the two sides. The official trigger of the talks: U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo […]
Will the Section 232 tariffs be modified in some way in the near future? That is what U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai appeared to suggest during testimony before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday. Tai told the committee that the Biden administration seeks a better tool for addressing trade than the 1962 Trade Expansion Act. […]
Could the U.S. steel industry be looking at 50 million tons of new demand in the next few years? That’s one way of calculating how much steel might be required if a $1-trillion infrastructure package passes Congress and is signed into law. Infrastructure spending of $1 billion equals 50,000 tons in steel demand, according to a […]
Could the U.S. steel industry be looking at 50 million tons of new demand in the next few years? That’s one way of calculating how much steel might be required if a $1-trillion infrastructure package passes Congress and is signed into law. Infrastructure spending of $1 billion equals 50,000 tons in steel demand, according to a […]
“It’s a miserable boat, but at least we are all in this together.” Large manufacturing company A new hole in the boat today…NLMK USA lost their Farrell, Pa., hot strip mill for one to two weeks. Price becomes irrelevant when your customers need product and there is nowhere else to go. That is what one […]
“It’s a miserable boat, but at least we are all in this together.” Large manufacturing company A new hole in the boat today…NLMK USA lost their Farrell, Pa., hot strip mill for one to two weeks. Price becomes irrelevant when your customers need product and there is nowhere else to go. That is what one […]
Pressure is building on the Biden administration to provide relief for numerous manufacturing companies in the U.S. that say Section 232 tariffs are making supply chain problems worse. The Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users, the National Foreign Trade Council and other steel and aluminum users collaborated on a May 6 letter to President […]
Record-high steel prices result not from Section 232 tariffs or industry consolidation but instead from uniquely strong supply-demand fundamentals, Cleveland-Cliffs’ top executive said. And an ambitious infrastructure package would go a long way toward keeping those fundamentals, and the resulting investment in the domestic steel industry, stronger for longer, he suggested. “We in this country […]
Record-high steel prices result not from Section 232 tariffs or industry consolidation but instead from uniquely strong supply-demand fundamentals, Cleveland-Cliffs’ top executive said. And an ambitious infrastructure package would go a long way toward keeping those fundamentals, and the resulting investment in the domestic steel industry, stronger for longer, he suggested. “We in this country […]
2021 SMU Steel Summit Conference Revised Agenda as of May 9, 2021 The 2021 SMU Steel Summit Conference will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center on Aug. 23-25. The convention center is conveniently located next to the Atlanta International Airport (ATL). The center and the hotels surrounding it are at the first stop […]
2021 SMU Steel Summit Conference Revised Agenda as of May 9, 2021 The 2021 SMU Steel Summit Conference will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center on Aug. 23-25. The convention center is conveniently located next to the Atlanta International Airport (ATL). The center and the hotels surrounding it are at the first stop […]
The ISM Manufacturing Report on Business came in lower than expected in April. The PMI dipped four points to a reading of 60.7% as both the new orders and production indexes edged downward to 64.3% and 62.5%, respectively. A score above 50, however, indicates expansion, which means demand continued to improve in April. Fabricated metal […]
Hot rolled steel prices have been on the rise since last August and hit a new record of $1,440 per ton this week as nine-week lead times have tightened supplies and made spot tons scarce. Can steel prices possibly continue rising for the rest of the year? Chris Shipp is convinced steel prices have a […]
Metalforming companies are optimistic about business conditions for the next three months, but are concerned about longer lead times for steel and other materials. In the April 2021 Business Conditions Report by the Precision Metalforming Association, 56% of participants expect improvement in economic activity in the next three months compared to 50% in March. Only […]
Downstream metals M&A is back, and it could be bigger than ever – or at least as big as it’s been since the last metals super cycle in 2006-08, according to one investment banker. Deal volume in the metals service center and processing sectors was good in early 2020 and “cratered” following the COVID-19 outbreak. But […]
Olympic Steel CEO Rick Marabito is very bullish on the metals market, comparing the industry to a baseball game that’s just getting started: “I think we are in the first couple of innings of a really good market and cycle,” he said during Wednesday’s SMU Community Chat. Despite material shortages and supply disruptions, manufacturing is […]
Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais (Usiminas) is set to bring an idled blast furnace back online in June at their Ipatinga plant in Brazil’s southeastern state of Minas Gerais, according to Steel Market Update sources. Back in April 2020, Usiminas idled the #1 and #2 blast furnaces due to lower demand resulting from widespread closures and […]
Hot-rolled coil lead times at some mills are well into June, so steel buyers have to ask themselves now whether a year-long upswing in prices is sustainable. In short, can hot-rolled coil prices continue their record run upward? First a Look Back at Where We’ve Been Steel Market Update’s average hot-rolled coil price was $1,340 […]
Former President Donald Trump overstepped his powers when he extended Section 232 tariffs to downstream products such as steel nails, a trade court ruled. The U.S. Court of International Trade made the decision on Monday, April 5, in favor of the plaintiff in the case, PrimeSource Building Products Inc., and against the defendant, the United […]
Imports of flat-rolled steel jumped to their highest levels in nearly two years in March on increased shipments of coated products. The upswing included not only hot-dipped galvanized steel but also “other” metallic coated products, a category that includes material such as Galvalume. All told, the U.S. was licensed to import 800,789 metric tonnes of […]