The chairman of Mexican steel producer Altos Hornos de Mexico SAB was arrested on Tuesday in an anti-corruption probe, resulting in the freezing of AHMSA accounts and a possible disruption to steel production in Mexico. The investigation involves the sale by AHMSA of an idled fertilizer plant in 2014, allegedly worth $50 million, to oil […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Asked a Steel Market Update reader: Why are U.S. prices now so far below China’s tariff-adjusted prices? The short answer is that Chinese exports to the U.S. are subject to antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVDs) totaling more than […]
SMU contributor Gaurav Chhibbar is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Gaurav’s previous role, he was a trader at Cargill spending time in […]
Editor’s note: John Packard is on vacation. A year into President Trump’s policy of imposing extra import duties to offset a U.S. trade imbalance, public opinion on the impact of tariffs remains divided, with few seeing an economic benefit, according to the latest Monmouth University Poll conducted last week. A majority of those responding expect […]
A $700 million expansion at North Star BlueScope may be in jeopardy, according to some financial analysts who point to new challenges for the mill now that the Section 232 tariffs have been removed from Canada and Mexico. Softening hot rolled coil prices and higher cost inputs are expected to pressure U.S. steel spreads. The […]
Editor’s note: John Packard is on vacation. It appears many steel buyers are holding off on purchases while they wait to see if imports resume from Canada, Mexico and Turkey now that President Trump has reversed himself on the Section 232 tariffs. “Lead times are stagnating/shortening and the mills are in full negotiation mode,” said […]
Industry sentiment has seen a gradual slide since registering +78 in January 2018 and the trend is continuing, if not accelerating. Declining steel prices and disappointing demand in some sectors appears to be weighing on the attitudes of many industry executives. Generally speaking, SMU’s Steel Buyers Sentiment Index reflects an industry that is still fairly […]
Now that the U.S. borders are open to tariff-free steel from Canada and Mexico, and lower-tariff steel from Turkey, can the market expect a flood of imports in the coming weeks and months? And what will that mean for steel prices? Last week, the Trump administration removed the 25 percent tariff on steel imports from […]
Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) plans to increased steel production by 30 percent now that U.S. tariffs have been eliminated. The year-long Section 232 measures caused a 25 percent drop in AHMSA’s steel production and $300 million in lost revenue, said AHMSA President Alonso Ancira Elizondo. As orders from the U.S. fell due to the […]
Steel prices declined yet again this week with some hot rolled offers falling below the $600 per ton level, according to Steel Market Update data. The market will be watching intently in the coming weeks to see if imports from Canada and Mexico add to the downward price pressure, now that President Trump has removed […]
Major steel producers in the U.S. had hoped the president wouldn’t blink on the Section 232 tariffs on Canada and Mexico—but he did—in an apparent effort to clear the way for passage of the new North American free trade agreement. Now the mills are supporting the administration’s demand that steel trade in North America be […]
U.S. steel imports are trending a bit lower in May after a significant jump in April, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of Commerce Department license data. With about 10 days left in the month, it appears May imports will approach 2.7 million tons, down from approximately 2.9 million tons in April. May imports are […]
Like everyone else in the steel industry, members of the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) are wondering what will happen to supply and prices now that the Trump administration has lifted the Section 232 tariffs on steel imports from Canada and Mexico and cut in half the tariffs on steel imports from Turkey. […]
Rail transport is a critical link in getting steel to market. With domestic mills cranking out steel at more than 80 percent of their capacity, are the railroads struggling to keep up? “People assume our business should be booming, but it’s not as straightforward as one would think,” said JR (Jim) Schaaf, Group Vice President […]
On Friday, May 17, President Trump concurred with findings by the Commerce Department that imports of automotive vehicles and parts threatened to impair national security. As a result, the President directed the U.S. Trade Representative to pursue negotiation of agreements with the EU and Japan, and any other country the Trade Representative deems appropriate, to […]
The Trump administration has cut the U.S. tariffs on steel imports from Turkey in half, trimming them from 50 percent back to 25 percent where they were originally set last August. In a statement on Friday, the White House noted that imports of steel into the U.S. declined by 12 percent overall last year, and […]
So, I don’t even need to be in the office to know what question(s) I am going to be asked all this week. Now that President Trump has removed the Section 232 tariffs from Canada and Mexico (without a quota, but instead a promise of no surge), everyone wants to know how this will affect […]
The agreement to terminate Section 232 tariffs on Canada and Mexico and all retaliatory tariffs was welcomed by many industry associations. As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in his announcement remarks on Friday, it was “pure good news.” “On behalf of the membership of the CSPA, we thank the Government of Canada for its significant […]
The U.S. has agreed to lift steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexico and Canada, removing a major roadblock to the ratification of the new North American trade agreement. The Section 232 tariffs, imposing a 25 percent tax on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum, have been in place just over one year. The tariffs […]
The Washington Post reports that the U.S. has agreed to lift steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexico and Canada in 48 hours in return for tougher measures to prevent Chinese steel from entering the U.S. via Canada or Mexico. According to sources, the agreement does not include previously discussed quotas for the two North American […]
Although not a disaster, steel demand has fallen short of expectations so far in 2019, contributing to the downtrend in steel prices. The benchmark price for hot rolled steel has declined by double digits since the beginning of the year. Steel Market Update’s canvass of the market over the past week reveals that many service […]
Flat rolled steel prices continue to be under pressure even though mill capacity utilization rates continue to be above 80 percent. However, our own analysis of the flat rolled markets has been showing a steady decline in lead times, which suggests weakening order books. One thing those involved in the steel industry need to be […]
I have moved from our Steel 101 workshop in Iowa to Minnesota where I met with a large flat rolled service center this afternoon. The service centers are consistently reporting to SMU that the domestic steel mills are just plain producing too much steel. With scrap down and the marginal cost to produce a hot […]
Steel Market Update is sharing this Premium content with Executive-level members in this issue. For more information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, email info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Rolled product imports declined by 24.4 percent in April year over year on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. This early look at April’s import volume is based […]
President Trump could decide this week whether to extend the Section 232 tariffs to imports of vehicles and auto parts. May 18 is the deadline for the president to act on the Commerce Department report submitted back in February. As with the steel industry, the administration has argued that a strong automotive industry is essential […]
Opponents of the proposed Section 232 tariffs on imports of autos and auto parts have won at least a temporary reprieve. On Friday, President Trump announced that he will wait six months before reconsidering the tariffs to give the U.S. Trade Representative time to negotiate new agreements on automotive trade with Europe and Japan. In […]
There is no more debate, service centers are moving off inventories at deeper discounts to their end customers than they did just a few weeks ago. The lower spot prices to service center customers were captured during the Steel Market Update flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis conducted this past week. As you […]
More than 40 percent of respondents to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this past week said they are confused by the current steel market and price direction. Judging by their comments, it’s unclear to many why steel prices are declining at a time when the economy is so strong, imports are down and the […]
Data in Steel Market Update’s Steel Buyers Sentiment Index continues to trend more pessimistic with Current Sentiment hitting its lowest reading in two and a half years. Industry executives appear less optimistic in light of declining steel prices, uncertain demand and contentious negotiations with U.S. trading partners. The goal of the index is to measure […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Friday marks a turning point in the “trade war” between China and the United States. A widely expected breakthrough in negotiations was supposed to happen this past week, when the Chinese Vice Premier brought a trade delegation over […]