Economy
Global Steel Monitor to Provide New Way to Look at Steel Industry
Written by Sandy Williams
August 7, 2016
The Department of Commerce is initiating a new series of reports that detail steel trade flows around the world. The reports will provide a summary of steel activity in 20 countries that will enhance market intelligence for U.S. businesses. The reports will serve as the basis for a new Global Steel Trade Monitor to be fully implemented in 2017.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said in a statement, “The Obama Administration understands the impact of unfair trade practices on our steel industry, and has taken strong action to mitigate the effects of global excess capacity on our businesses, our communities, and our workers. The reports we are releasing today are in direct response to our industry’s desire for more comprehensive and transparent information about global steel trade trends, which will strengthen our companies and our government’s ability to address challenges facing this critical sector.”
Ten reports are currently available at www.trade.gov/steel/global-monitor.asp and another ten will be released soon said the Commerce Department. The series will be updated on a quarterly basis to reflect the latest data and market trends.
The Global Steel Trade Monitor will offer new data and functionality in two important ways according to the Commerce announcement.
1. The Monitor defines steel products consistently across countries and features graphical and data components. This will allow users to compare markets and objectively evaluate and react to market trends.
2. The reports will offer broad global steel data to inform the public about current trends in steel trade flows.
The Global Steel reports will cover production, steelmaking capacity, capacity utilization, apparent steel use, and trade. Reports will, where available, provide information about trade remedy actions taken on products.
As an example, in the current set of reports China ranks number one in production at 803.8 million metric tons, accounting for 49.5 percent of global production in 2015. The report illustrates the rankings in the graphic below.
“The Global Steel Monitor significantly enhances the scope of the Department’s monitoring and analysis of the steel sector, and confirms our commitment to provide the public with relevant trade data in this key industry,” said Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance Paul Piquado. “These new reports provide parties with an additional tool to analyze the market.”
Sandy Williams
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