Canada is stepping up its efforts to convince the Trump administration to lift the Section 232 restrictions on steel and aluminum. After meeting with Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley earlier in the week, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland appealed to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Saturday for help in removing the tariffs. “We spoke a […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: On Friday, President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2019, the spending bill that averts a second government shutdown. The legislation, which funds government operations through Sept. 30, 2019, essentially keeps spending at fiscal 2018 levels, but […]
Olympic Steel reported record sales for the fourth quarter and full-year 2018. The metals service center saw net sales jump 29 percent in 2018 to $1.7 billion on higher year-over-year volume and higher average prices in all three of its report segments. Operating income more than doubled in 2018 to $57.1 million, up from $24.0 […]
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 […]
NLMK Pennsylvania says it is the “poster child for tariffs,” paying more than $160 million in duties for the steel slabs it utilizes at its operations. “I can’t imagine anybody paying more money in tariffs than we have,’’ said Bob Miller, NLMK Pennsylvania president in a recent comment to the Sharon Herald. NLMK Pennsylvania relies […]
As President and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute, Tom Gibson is the front man for an industry whose views are not always the most popular. Gibson will be a keynote speaker at Steel Market Update’s 2019 Steel Summit, scheduled for Aug. 26-28 in Atlanta. This will be Gibson’s first speaking engagement at […]
As President and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute, Tom Gibson is the front man for an industry whose views are not always the most popular. Gibson will be a keynote speaker at Steel Market Update’s 2019 Steel Summit, scheduled for Aug. 26-28 in Atlanta. This will be Gibson’s first speaking engagement at […]
The following op-ed in support of steel tariffs, published last week by Alabama’s AL.com, was written by Thomas Gibson, president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute. Gibson will be a keynote speaker at Steel Market Update’s 2019 Steel Summit, scheduled for Aug. 26-28 in Atlanta. This will be Gibson’s first appearance at […]
Earlier this week I was at the Port of Tampa Steel Conference as I was asked to be the master of ceremonies, and I also moderated the two main panels on Wednesday morning. Both panels dealt with trade issues with the primary focus being on the Section 232 tariffs on steel. The Port of Tampa […]
A recently published report by the U.S. International Trade Commission concerning the import of large diameter welded pipe from China and India had mixed results regarding injury to domestic producers. The Commission made a final affirmative determination of injury in the antidumping investigation of LDW line pipe from China, but voted to terminate the accompanying […]
Steel Market Update’s Steel Buyers Sentiment Index has seen little change since the beginning of the year as the market seeks a sense of direction. While still well within the “optimistic” range, the index has been on a downward trajectory for months. SMU is consistantly seeing both our Current Sentiment Index as well as our […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Section 232 tariffs are increasingly in the news. Today, I describe two issues that are central to the prosperity (and in many cases the survival) of steel-using manufacturers. Exclusions With the end of the government shutdown, the exclusion […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Section 232 tariffs are increasingly in the news. Today, I describe two issues that are central to the prosperity (and in many cases the survival) of steel-using manufacturers. Exclusions With the end of the government shutdown, the exclusion […]
Sales at NLMK USA fell 15 percent from third- to fourth-quarter 2018 on expectation of lower steel prices. Shipments dropped 500,000 metric tons from 590,000 tons, sequentially. The decrease in shipments, combined with a 3 percent decline in average price, led to sales falling 17 percent to $500 million. On a yearly basis, NLMK USA […]
Rolled product imports increased by 4.5 percent in January, calculated as a three-month moving average (3MMA) year over year. This early look at January’s import volume is based on Department of Commerce license data (see explanation below). Beginning in January 2018, we expanded this import analysis to include all major steel sectors: sheet, plate, longs […]
Section 232 tariffs propelled ArcelorMittal to its best results in nearly 10 years, the company reported to analysts and investors today. The 25 percent tariffs on steel imports helped drive up steel prices, adding to company revenue from its U.S. assets. Average steel selling price in North America rose 15 percent year-over-year. Net income for […]
By CRU North America Steel Analyst Ryan McKinley Since Section 232 tariffs have come into force, U.S. wire rod prices have increased more than other markets. As a result, domestic PC strand (prestressed concrete steel strand) producers have seen costs increase, inviting more competition from abroad. Higher Prices Affecting Competitiveness Rising U.S. domestic wire rod […]
The European Union has initiated new safeguard measures on steel imports to replace provisional ones introduced in July 2018. The measures are designed to protect the steel industry in the EU from excessive imports diverted there as a result of the Section 232 tariffs in the United States. An investigation into the potential increase of […]
One constant I am hearing during my phone and email conversations is that January was a good month for shipments and February has started out strong. The construction community is pleasantly surprised, and I really have not heard anyone say business is bad in any market segment. One of the mills pointed out that much […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Congress started the year in international trade by introducing bills to limit presidential authority to order import restrictions. There are two significant pieces of legislation in the House and one in the Senate. I will briefly summarize the […]
By CRU Principal Economist Lisa Morrison The partial U.S. government shutdown, which began on Dec. 22, 2018, lasted 35 days and is the longest shutdown in U.S. history. President Trump decided to re-open the government until Feb. 15 to allow time for additional negotiations regarding the border security issues. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that […]
Metalforming companies are concerned that higher prices for steel and aluminum in the U.S. are hindering business competition. More than half of metalforming companies surveyed by the Precision Metalforming Association are expecting little change in business conditions during the next three months. The January survey found that 57 percent expect no change (compared to 49 […]
Pointing to the temporary reprieve from the longest government shutdown in American history, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce calls on Congress and the administration to work together to keep the government open. “Our nation simply cannot afford another shutdown. Our message to Washington’s leaders is simple: do your jobs so Americans can do theirs,” wrote Chamber […]
Two manufacturing associations came out with opposing views on Wednesday to a new bill that would limit presidential power for the execution of trade measures under Section 232. The Bicameral Trade Authority Act of 2019, introduced in the House and Senate, would require congressional approval before the president could take trade actions, like tariffs and […]
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 […]
U.S. Steel’s full-year net earnings nearly tripled from 2017 to 2018, but company executives were disappointed in fourth-quarter results for the Europe and tubular segments. Net earnings for the year totaled $1.1 billion compared to $387 million for 2017. Adjusted EBITDA was $1.76 billion compared to $1.15 billion a year ago, including $1.25 billion generated […]
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. […]
We have many new members as well as those on trials of our newsletters and website. I want to take a couple of minutes and explain what “final thoughts” means as it relates to this newsletter and Steel Market Update in general. Since I first started writing the Steel Market Update newsletter, I wanted a […]
AK Steel announced that it will permanently close its Ashland Works facility in Kentucky by the end of 2019. The blast furnace and hot end operations were idled in 2015, but AK Steel continued to operate a single hot-dip galvanizing coating line. Ashland’s 330,000 tons of loaded production will be transferred to other units in […]
A bill limiting the president’s authority to impose tariffs under the auspice of national security will be introduced in Congress next week. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) will introduce a bill that would require the president to obtain approval from Congress before imports could be restricted under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. […]