Steel Mills
CSI: Slabs Should be Exempt from Section 232 Tariff
Written by Tim Triplett
March 6, 2018
California Steel Industries (CSI) is calling for President Trump to exclude semi-finished steel from the 25 percent tariff he is expected to impose on steel imports under Section 232.
CSI is a “slab converter” mill, relying almost entirely on imported slab as feedstock to produce coil steel sheet and electrical resistance welded (ERW) pipe. Because steel slabs are not consistently available in the United States, nor are they produced anywhere in the western U.S., CSI buys its slabs primarily from Mexico, Brazil and Japan. The company is the largest customer by tonnage of the Port of Los Angeles, importing more than 1.5 million tons of slabs annually. It supplies finished steel products to hundreds of manufacturers and distributors, supporting thousands of jobs across the western U.S.
Placing tariffs on slabs may run counter to President Trump’s goal of protecting American steel jobs. The slabs are critical to the health of converters such as CSI, as well as integrated steel mills, which supplement their production needs with imported slabs. Imported slabs represent about 6.3 percent of total steel demand in the U.S. There was no surge of imported slabs in 2017.
“So, imported slabs are not part of the problem, but part of the solution, particularly in the western U.S.,” said CSI President and CEO Marcelo Botelho Rodrigues. “Our model allows us to maintain our operations in California and comply with the strict environmental regulations of our home state.”
Rodrigues noted that there have never been unfair trading cases filed against slab imports. “We are for fair trade, and the international slab market in which CSI participates has no problems in that area,” he said. “Furthermore, we do not buy slabs from China.” On the other hand, he said, CSI was a key participant along with industry peers as a plaintiff in numerous antidumping and countervailing duty cases against unfairly traded finished sheet and pipe products.
Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest in Steel Mills
Ternium swings to Q3 loss, eyes 2026 recovery
Ternium closed the third quarter with steady shipments and improving margins. But trade policy uncertainty and subdued demand in Mexico weighed on the Latin American steelmaker’s results.
Algoma’s losses widen in Q3 as tariff troubles continue
Algoma Steel’s net loss more than quadrupled in the third quarter on trade woes and its EAF transition. Separately, the company announced a change in leadership, as CEO Michael Garcia will retire at the end of the year.
Cliffs, POSCO announce MoU for ‘transformative’ partnership
Cleveland-Cliffs on Thursday said it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with POSCO to forge a strategic partnership, one Cliffs bills as "transformative."
Cliffs touts steel stamping solution to replace aluminum in automotive
Cliffs said it successfully completed a defect-free trial production of exposed steel parts using aluminum-forming equipment in collaboration with an unnamed OEM,
Nucor navigates mixed flat-rolled markets with strategic muscle
Nucor entered the fourth quarter with clear forward momentum: stronger-than-expected results, solid sheet and plate demand, and construction progress on a major new mill that should add capacity next year.