Earlier today, I spoke to the RIPA/IPANA annual meeting about the steel industry, AD/CVD duties, Section 232 tariffs and a number of our proprietary products. No one fell asleep, which is always a good sign. I will be back in the office on Friday morning, and with the exception of one quick trip to CRU […]
Ford Motor Co. is calling on the administration to resolve steel and aluminum disputes that will cost the company more than a billion dollars in annual profits this year and next. The Section 232 tariffs have pushed U.S. steel prices well above those of foreign competitors and higher than Ford was expecting. “U.S. steel costs […]
Harry Moser, president of the Reshoring Initiative, is a big supporter of the Trump administration and its trade policies. But when it comes to the Section 232 tariffs on steel imports, which have dramatically raised steel prices in the U.S., domestic steelmakers have gained at the expense of steel-consuming manufacturers downstream. “Overall, I am delighted […]
ArcelorMittal Dofasco will receive up to $38 million from the Canadian government towards a $156 million modernization project at its Hamilton facility. The money is part of a C$250 million (U.S. $191 million) fund set up to provide support to steel, aluminum and manufacturing companies impacted by tariffs resulting from the Section 232 measures imposed […]
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland says it would be in the best interest of both Canada and the United States to lift tariffs the countries now impose on each other, but she offered no timeline on when that might occur. Responding to a press question yesterday on the prospects that the U.S. Section 232 […]
The U.S. Trade Representative is seeking comments on the World Trade Organization challenge by South Korea to U.S. safeguards imposed on imports of large residential washers in February 2018. The WTO established a Dispute Settlement Body panel on Sept. 26 following a request by South Korea in August. The European Union, China, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, […]
United Steelworkers in Canada are rejecting any plan by the U.S. to impose quotas on Canadian steel and aluminum imports. “Canada’s government must emphatically stand up for the Canadian steel and aluminum industries and thousands of families whose livelihoods are at stake,” said USW National Director Ken Neumann. “There is no justification for Canada to […]
Cleveland Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves is looking forward to the completion of the company’s HBI pellet plant in Toledo, Ohio. The project is on time and under budget and construction has begun on the 400-foot tower that will be completed by the end of 2019. Startup of HBI production is anticipated in mid-2020. The company […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: Three items of interest for today, which will be expanded upon as events warrant: WTO Disputes on Section 232 Tariffs—At least two WTO members (the EU and Norway) requested formation of a dispute settlement panel […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: As we approach the 2018 mid-term elections in a bit more than two weeks, I checked on the available data on voter attitudes toward the tariffs and trade policy. There is a lot of information […]
Gaurav Chhibbar is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this new role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategy for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Gaurav’s previous role, he was a Trader at Cargill spending time in Metal […]
A strong economy and equally strong steel demand propelled Nucor Corp. earnings growth in the third quarter. Nucor reported earnings of $676.7 million in the third quarter, which included a non-cash impairment charge of $110.0 million related to its natural gas well assets. In comparison, second quarter net earnings were $683.2 and third quarter 2017 […]
Steel Dynamics announced record financial results for third-quarter 2018. Sales for the quarter totaled $3.2 billion for a net income of $398 million compared to prior-year third-quarter sales of $2.4 billion and net income of $153 million. “Our third-quarter 2018 income from operations of $532 million and adjusted EBITDA of $626 million were both record […]
U.S. Steel and Nucor made their final rebuttals to tariff exclusion requests filed by Evraz NA and California Steel Industries for imports of steel slab. Evraz and CSI maintain that the slabs they require are not readily available in the U.S. Both U.S. Steel and Nucor argue that exclusions would undermine the president’s policy to […]
With the market sending mixed signals, distributors of HVAC products are keeping inventories lean as they wait to see if the price increase just announced by the steel mills gains any traction. “You can make a case for prices to go either way,” said one member of the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) […]
How long will the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports remain in place? There is no way to know for sure. But supporters, including various trade and government officials, make a strong case that the tariffs are likely to remain in force for some time to come. President Trump announced the 25 percent […]
How long will the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports remain in place? There is no way to know for sure. But supporters, including various trade and government officials, make a strong case that the tariffs are likely to remain in force for some time to come. President Trump announced the 25 percent […]
Canada will implement provisional safeguard measures on steel imports effective Oct. 25. Tariffs of 25 percent will be applied when products exceed the current average import level. The action is in response to Section 232 tariffs and quotas imposed by the United States on steel and aluminum. Canada hopes to avoid becoming a dumping ground […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: A question came up this week about production and changing tariff codes for products to avoid or minimize tariffs. Understanding options depends on the issue of how tariff classifications are changed through processing. And if […]
California Steel Industries, NLMK and Evraz have filed rebuttals to objections made by U.S. Steel, Nucor and AK Steel to their petitions requesting exclusions for steel slab imports necessary for production. The slab converters charge that domestic mills have misled Commerce in their objections, overstating the current availability of domestic slab and the capacity to […]
Demand for steel products has been strong and improving for much of the year, but the findings of Steel Market Update’s latest flat rolled and plate steels market trends questionnaire show that more companies see demand for their products declining than increasing under the current market conditions. However, when you view the graph below, you […]
Prices for secondary steel have followed the downtrend with prime, but to a lesser degree, report distributors of nonprime material. Finding enough material to meet customers’ needs remains a challenge, they say. Secondary steel is nonprime or excess material that did not meet the specifications for its original intended use, but is acceptable to other […]
Rolled product imports into the United States were down by 21.6 percent in September on a three-month moving average basis compared with the prior year, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of import license data. Figure 1 shows the tonnage of total rolled steel and semi-finished imports through September on a 3MMA basis. The […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Chief Market Risk Officer, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
The attitudes of steel buyers and sellers, as measured by this week’s SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index questionnaire, are slightly more optimistic than they were last month. The goal of the index is to measure how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful today (Current Index), as well as […]
U.S. Section 232 tariffs have cost Canada’s Essar Steel Algoma about $55 million from June through August, according to Brian Denega, court appointed monitor overseeing the Algoma restructuring. In addition, the company is required to post a tariff surety bond with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the amount of $5.25 million. “The U.S. Customs […]
I am back in the office, at least for a few days, trying to catch up on paperwork that has been piling up, as well as working on our SMU Service Center Inventories report. I hope to have our “Flash” report out on Sunday. The “Flash” report gives a snapshot of how the data is […]
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 […]
Priefert Manufacturing Co. is one of hundreds that have applied for exclusions from U.S tariffs on steel products they can’t source domestically. Priefert’s experience, much like so many others, is a case study in frustration. Based in Mt. Pleasant, Texas, Priefert is both a service center and a manufacturer of ranching equipment. The company filed […]
After months of contentious bargaining, the U.S. has reached a new trilateral trade agreement with Canada and Mexico to replace NAFTA. In last minute negotiations, Canada agreed to give the U.S. increased dairy market access while retaining the Chapter 19 trade remedy dispute settlement. The new treaty, to be called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), will […]