SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index has come off historical highs set during the late first and early second quarters 2017. However, buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel continue to be optimistic about the potential for their company to be successful in both the existing market as well as three to six months into the […]
A decision on Section 232 trade action is on hold until sometime after the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, this week. U.S. Department of Commerce officials have not announced a release date for the findings of the investigations on steel and aluminum imports and their impact on national security. The original due date was June 30th […]
President Trump heads to Hamburg, Germany, today for the G20 summit with trade deficits and steel dumping on his mind. Trump is expected to receive strong opposition on any attempt to use the Section 232 steel investigation as leverage to influence trade talks. G20 leaders have been critical of the White House’s casting of national […]
This is my gut feeling, my opinion based on what I have been reading and watching in the news like everyone else. The world is trying to figure out if President Trump is going to start a trade war and the first bullets are made with flat rolled steel, pipe and long products. I am […]
With the threat of a Section 232 decision in favor of the domestic steel mills looming over the market, Steel Market Update (SMU) has decided to take our Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral to Higher. It is our opinion conditions are in place to push flat rolled steel prices even higher from their current levels. […]
Steel Market Update received a question from a large service center group regarding the use of the Section 232 process on steel and whether the due diligence being done now could be used “down the road” and applied against another steel product. Here is the question we received and the response from trade attorney Lewis […]
We ended the month of June with a change in our Price Momentum Indicator from Neutral (we had moved from lower to Neutral earlier in the month) to Higher. With the expectation of Section 232 being implemented by President Trump, we feel prices have only one way to go, up. How long that will last […]
Metalforming companies are not expecting much change in business conditions in the next three months. The latest Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report indicates that only 34 percent of survey participants predict an improvement in general economic activity, while 58 percent predict no change. Orders are expected to be steady or slightly better in […]
The “will they or won’t they” drama around Section 232 and whether the Trump administration will place tariffs on steel imports is reaching a peak. The Department of Commerce is expected to announce its findings on the Section 232 investigation by the end of next week. According to CNBC, a draft of the report has been circulated […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) spoke with ferrous scrap executives about the outlook for the industry, not only looking at the upcoming negotiations with the steel mills for July shipments, but also the long-term view. The scrap industry is upbeat about its future as electric arc furnaces continue to take market share from integrated steel producers. […]
The following calculation is used by Steel Market Update to identify the theoretical spread between foreign hot rolled steel import prices (delivered to USA ports) and domestic (USA) hot rolled coil prices (FOB Domestic mills). We want our readers to be aware that this is only a “theoretical” calculation as freight costs, trader margin and […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures markets 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 […]
In early June, the price of zinc had nosed down to about $1.10 per pound, raising hopes among buyers of galvanized steel that the mills might consider rolling back their coating extras–the extras mills charge when applying zinc to cold rolled or hot rolled substrate to produce galvanized products. Those hopes were short-lived as the […]
We are seeing a strengthening in the resolve of the steel mills as most (but not all) steel buyers were reporting an attempt to take numbers up or to restrict orders by having mills move to an “inquire only” position. Even so, we continued to get some pricing at the lower end of our range […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) Publisher John Packard and Executive Editor Tim Triplett were in New York City over the past two days meeting with manufacturing companies, service centers, steel mills, trading companies and members of the financial community associated with the steel industry. We found the first words off of everyone’s lips were “what do you think […]
Last week, Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted an analysis of the flat rolled steel market trends. As part of that process, we asked the 100+ companies who responded to our inquiries if quotas or tariffs would be good or bad for their company. We found the majority of the mostly manufacturers and service centers responding […]
Ryerson Holding Corp., a processor and distributor of industrial metals, said end-market shipments to most sectors improved in the second quarter, particularly in commercial ground transportation and HVAC industries. Shipments also increased to the oil and gas sector, while a quarterly year-over-year decline was seen in industrial machinery and equipment, consumer durables, and food processing […]
,Good evening from New York City (or good morning if you are reading this in the AM). I have been in the city since Sunday evening meeting with manufacturers, service centers, trading companies, steel mills and some of the financial community. The conversations started with one word – Section – and then three numbers – […]
Last week, Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted one of our flat rolled steel market trends analyses as we surveyed manufacturing companies, service centers, steel mills, trading companies and toll processors. During the process, we inquired as to whether our respondents felt the newest round (and any more to come) of steel price increases were “justified.” […]
“Countries like China are clearly at fault for the decline of the North American aluminum industry,” said M. Robert Weidner, III, president and CEO of the Metals Service Center Institute, in written testimony to the Commerce Department on June 23. “China’s share of the world primary aluminum market rose from 10 percent in 2000 to […]
The Department of Commerce hearing Thursday on the proposed Section 232 for aluminum revealed the same big rift between supporters and opponents as in the steel industry. And for many of the same reasons, notably the effect on prices for downstream manufacturers and consumers and possible retaliation by global trading partners. Commenting on the proceedings, […]
The sentiment among buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel remains largely positive, according to Steel Market Update’s latest steel market analysis, although it has dipped a bit in the past month as the industry awaits a ruling on Section 232 and whether the government will further restrict steel imports on the basis of national […]
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 Lack of certainty in forecasting future HR business continues to create excess price volatility. Longer lead times along with slightly lower […]
Steel mill flat rolled lead times, which have generally trended downward this spring, my be showing early signs of lengthening, reflecting new strength in demand for domestic steel products. Mills were successful in collecting a price increase earlier in the month. Despite SMU data that shows service center inventories at “comfortable” levels, some distributors may […]
We saw mixed results this week as hot rolled prices rose a very modest $5, cold rolled was down $15, galvanized was up $10 and Galvalume remained the same even as the lower end dropped $10 per ton and the upper end rose $10 per ton. Definitely a mixed week as the market tries to […]
We are hearing reports from steel mills that their lead times have moved out and they have been able to collect some, if not most, of the $30 per ton price increase announced at the beginning of the month. Steel Market Update (SMU) is concerned as our research data is suggesting that service centers are […]
This afternoon there was a press conference in Washington hosted by the American Institute for International Steel. Many of the large press organizations attended the conference, and even though we were unable to personally attend, we did receive notes about the content and especially the questions that interested the press corps. There appears to be […]
The United States’ NATO allies are worried about the upcoming decision on the Section 232 investigation of steel imports and their impact on national security. European officials warn that restrictions on EU imports could add to the anti-American sentiment already building in Europe over Russian sanctions, the withdrawal from the Paris climate accord and President […]
I have a 4 a.m. wake-up call as Diana, Brett and I head for California to conduct our next Steel 101 workshop. We have a great class and we are looking forward to meeting new people, working with California Steel again and trying to stay cool as temps are suppose to be above 90 degrees […]
On Friday afternoon, Steel Market Update learned the U.S. Department of Commerce Section 232 briefings with Capitol Hill on steel remedies scheduled for Friday were cancelled. The reason for the cancellation, according to World Trade Online, was the lack of progress within the administration on its approach to the issue. The briefing was to have […]