Mexico
December 13, 2018
Written by Josh Spoores
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor
The steel sheet market in North America is starting the second half of the year off with the same primary trends seen in the past few quarters: rising prices due to strong demand and supply that continues to be affected by unplanned disruptions.
Members of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity (GFSEC) met in Wisconsin last week and unveiled an updated plan to combat market-distorting excess capacity. The Milwaukee Framework adds color to the 2017 “Berlin Principles.” It is also a positive step in the ongoing battle against global steel market distortions. However, the Framework is only a guidepost. It must be implemented correctly to make an impact as new problems loom.
The result comes after Mexico’s Ministry of Economy completed a five-year sunset review of the anti-dumping duty (AD) order on imports of hot-rolled (HR) sheet from Russia and Ukraine.
Mexico's Construcciones e Ingenierías Electromecánicas SA de CV (CIESA) has emerged as the leading bidder for the assets of bankrupt steelmaker Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) and its mining subsidiary Minera del Norte (MINOSA). The Michoacán-based engineering and construction company offered $1.4 billion in a court-supervised bankruptcy auction held Sept. 25.
Global raw steel production slowed for the third month in a row in August, according to the latest figures from the World Steel Association (worldsteel).
The phrase “Fortress North America” seems to resurface anytime US, Canada, and Mexico trade negotiations roll around. The idea of an economic Fortress North America burst onto the scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s in the lead up to NAFTA. In theory...