The next few months are going to be a wild ride (in my opinion). There appears to be a cascading “Gray Swan” event in process prompted by Section 232 and expectations associated with 232, which now are for Trump to announce a 24 percent tariff on all steel products and let the chips fall where […]
President Trump is favoring a 24 percent global tariff on steel imports, according to sources reported by multiple media outlets. Trump’s pick for Section 232 aluminum trade restrictions is a 10 percent tariff on all aluminum imports. The rumors are contrary to analysts’ expectations of a more targeted tariff on imports. Broad-based tariffs are likely […]
President Trump is favoring a 24 percent global tariff on steel imports, according to sources reported by multiple media outlets. Trump’s pick for Section 232 aluminum trade restrictions is a 10 percent tariff on all aluminum imports. The rumors are contrary to analysts’ expectations of a more targeted tariff on imports. Broad-based tariffs are likely […]
In 2017, the domestic steel market contracted by 0.5 percent, but domestic shipments were up while imports were down. Table 1 shows 11 years of history of total steel supply to the U.S. market broken down into shipments from domestic mills and imports, excluding semi-finished. The hot rolled steel market totaled 106.4 million tons in […]
President Trump has made no official announcement about his plans for Section 232, leaving the steel market to speculate on last week’s Commerce Department recommendations. The majority of respondents to this week’s Steel Market Update market trends questionnaire are guessing he will come up with his own solution to combat unfair imports. The Commerce recommendations […]
Ironically, the Department of Defense is among the least enthusiastic about the Section 232 investigations into the impact of steel and aluminum imports on national security. After reviewing a draft of the Section 232 report last year, the DoD determined that trade restrictions proposed by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross would “unnecessarily vex U.S. allies.” The […]
New rules requiring electronic logging devices (ELDs) to monitor drivers’ hours behind the wheel are having the predicted effect on the market, disrupting trucking operations, igniting fierce competition for trucking capacity and sharply raising freight rates. Under the complicated hours of service regulations that took effect Dec. 18, drivers can work no more than a […]
Grant Aldonas believes Wilbur Ross “ill-served the president” when he released Section 232 recommendations that don’t address the real issues: curbing global steel overcapacity and dealing with Chinese illegal business practices. A keynote speaker at this year’s Port of Tampa Steel Conference, Aldonas should know what he is talking about. As a former Undersecretary of […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Director of Risk Management, 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 […]
Ternium has extended its agreement to supply steel slabs to AM/NS Calvert for an additional 12 months, until December 2020. During Ternium’s fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO Daniel Novegil said Ternium Brazil will deliver the remaining 3.5 million metric tons of slab in annual increments of 1.2 million tons per year instead of 2.0 million tons […]
NLMK USA’s fourth-quarter sales and shipments dropped 3 percent from the third quarter due to expected seasonality. Sales totaled $410 million on shipments of 550,000 metric tons. Prices in the fourth quarter were flat due to uncertainty surrounding the pending Section 232 investigation. For full-year 2017, NLMK USA sales increased 21 percent from 2016 to […]
Canadian steel mill Stelco held its first earnings call since becoming a publically held company and reported stellar results for the fourth quarter. The company, formerly owned by U.S. Steel, presented a strong balance sheet, no debt and no legacy liabilities. Revenue for the quarter increased 45 percent from a year ago to $452 million. […]
When the pressure begins, and the cooking surface gets “hot,” that is when you have to be at your best, most nimble and anticipate problems. USS/POSCO announced new prices late yesterday. We have not heard from California Steel Industries (CSI) on what they are going to do regarding pricing. We have heard from their customers […]
International trading companies are reacting to the report released by Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross recommending three options to protect the U.S. steel industry based on national security concerns. As we speak with trading companies here at the Port of Tampa Steel Conference, as well as traders located around the country, we are finding […]
The possible forthcoming Section 232 decisions on steel and aluminum imports have alarmed nations across the globe. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said he “wouldn’t be surprised if there were retaliations to the measures,” but perhaps he underestimated the negative response to his recommendations. Numerous countries have expressed concern for their own domestic markets, while others […]
The American Institute for International Steel, which represents foreign steelmakers, called the Commerce Department’s recommendations in the Section 232 report on steel imports “excessive and unnecessary” and warned of global retaliation that would push the U.S. and world toward a recession. AIIS Board Chairman John Foster issued the following statement on Monday: “The recommendations in […]
The first advice I have for steel buyers is don’t panic. Nothing has been announced on 232 yet. Someone mentioned to me this evening that in reality the president hasn’t made a bad decision yet (I am going to ignore Russia – just talking about business related issues). Section 232 may be the first, but […]
In a press conference on Friday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said his Section 232 investigation has concluded that steel imports do pose a significant threat to U.S. national security and he is recommending three possible remedies to President Trump that call for tariffs or quotas on foreign steel. Those alternatives include: A global tariff of […]
The following article was written by trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz: The president has a lot of discretion regarding the nature of the import restrictions that he imposes. The Commerce recommendation gave the president three alternative recommendations: (1) across-the-board tariffs on all products from all countries (24 percent); (2) 53 percent tariffs on 12 leading countries […]
The following article was written by trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz: The president has a lot of discretion regarding the nature of the import restrictions that he imposes. The Commerce recommendation gave the president three alternative recommendations: (1) across-the-board tariffs on all products from all countries (24 percent); (2) 53 percent tariffs on 12 leading countries […]
The Commerce Department has found that unfair imports of steel products do indeed pose a threat to U.S. national security, and in a press conference on Friday revealed the remedies it has recommended to President Trump. The announcement of possible tariffs and quotas drew strong reactions from the marketplace. The Commerce recommendations include three options […]
Editor’s note: In this letter to the editor, former International Trade Commission Chairman Daniel Pearson comments on the Commerce Department’s Section 232 recommendations released on Friday. Thanks to Steel Market Update for sharing the DOC’s distressing recommendations. All of them look to me as if they would tighten supplies and raise prices significantly. The United States already […]
Reaction by American trade associations and producers to Friday’s Commerce Department recommendations on Section 232 was mostly favorable and encouraged swift action. The Steel Manufacturers Association applauded the recommendations laid out by Secretary Wilbur Ross in the Section 232 steel report: “Secretary Ross has accurately concluded that steel imports threaten to impair our national security […]
Recommendations from the U.S. Commerce Department calling for potential tariffs and quotas on steel and aluminum imports under Section 232 elicited a strong global reaction including trepidation, anger and threats of retaliation. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said during a conference call Friday he wouldn’t be surprised if there were retaliations to the measures, adding that […]
Secretary Ross has released the 3 recommendations on steel made to President Trump. DOC has found that imports of steel products threaten national security and have made the following recommendations on steel. Remedy 1 – Global tariff on all countries of 24%, Remedy 2 – targeted list of 12 countries with tariff of 53%, all […]
Last week ended with a bang. Steel Market Update received an invitation to participate in a press conference as Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told the world that the DOC had found that imports of foreign steel negatively impact the steel and aluminum industries, which are necessary in the United States for national security […]
Steel prices have been on an upward trajectory since October, but are likely to change direction by this summer, predicts John Anton, director of steel analytics for IHS Markit. Anton is scheduled to make another appearance as a panelist at Steel Market Update’s premier event, the 2018 Steel Summit Conference, set for Aug. 27-29 at […]
Steel prices have been on an upward trajectory since October, but are likely to change direction by this summer, predicts John Anton, director of steel analytics for IHS Markit. Anton is scheduled to make another appearance as a panelist at Steel Market Update’s premier event, the 2018 Steel Summit Conference, set for Aug. 27-29 at […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Steel The HR futures prices continue to grind higher in the near dates but have been lagging in the latter half of […]
Reliance Steel and Aluminum Co. is seeing growing demand across all its product segments and expects that trend to continue through 2018. Reliance reported a strong fourth quarter with net sales up 15.3 percent year-over-year to $2.38 billion. Third-quarter sales were somewhat lower due to expected seasonality. Fourth-quarter shipments totaled 1,451,000 tons, up 6.3 percent […]