Negotiations between steel mills and buyers have loosened considerably as the mills appear significantly more willing to negotiate spot prices than at any other point this year. Every two weeks, in a proprietary poll, SMU tracks how buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel represent the mill negotiation position. According to respondents to this week’s […]
The numbers 201, 232 and 301 are getting a lot of headlines recently. They are sections under three U.S. laws that President Trump has used to impose tariffs on a variety of goods and countries. Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 was used to place tariffs on imports of washing machines and solar […]
NAFTA talks are continuing this week with the contentious sunset clause under discussion. The topic has not been revisited in recent discussions as negotiators from the U.S. and Mexico tried to close less volatile chapters of the agreement. The sunset clause that would put a termination date on the agreement has been rebuffed by […]
The following report is normally provided to data providers and Premium level members of Steel Market Update: Steel Market Update began collecting flat rolled and plate inventories information from our participating service centers beginning on Monday of this week. The following is our “Flash” report, which is derived from at least 50 percent of the […]
With 58 percent of the service center data providers reporting, Steel Market Update is seeing inventories trending lower. Our “flash” report has inventories at 2.5 months of supply–down from 2.7 months of supply reported at the end of July. Of those reporting, 43 percent said their inventories are lower than the previous month. About 35 […]
The next workshop we have scheduled after the SMU Steel Summit Conference is our new Steel 201: Introduction to Advanced High Strength & Other New Steels. This will be a unique workshop in many ways. We will have two tours, one of the Research and Innovation Center (RIC) at AK Steel (which is also where […]
Most steel buyers are keeping inventory levels steady or even lower believing that, with steel prices so high, the risk is to the downside for the rest of this year. As one steel executive commented: “We are running inventories lean based on the elevated cost and our opinion that there is a greater chance for […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: News reports abound on U.S. companies that are hurting as a result of the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum and the China Section 301 tariffs. Today, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: • Turkey Tariffs– President Trump tweeted on Friday that he “authorized a doubling of Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum with respect to Turkey as their currency, the Turkish Lira, slides rapidly downward against our very […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: While attending and giving a presentation to the SMU Steel Summit conference in Atlanta on Monday, word came that the U.S. and Mexico had reached a tentative deal on a revised trade agreement. President Trump […]
In June 2018, 12,751,000 people were employed in manufacturing and 7,242,000 in construction. Construction employment has grown by 4.4 percent in the last 12 months, while jobs in manufacturing have increased by 2.6 percent. In the last three months, however, manufacturing employment has gained almost twice the number of jobs as construction, according to Steel […]
A major aluminum company has requested that Canada be exempt from Section 232 aluminum tariffs so that it can import alloy from its Canadian mills. Alcoa has three smelting facilities in Canada and three in the United States, as well as other global locations. The Baie-Comeau facility in Quebec produces specialty aluminum in 24-inch slabs, […]
As many of you are aware, I receive numerous questions on the steel, steelmaking and commodity markets on an almost daily basis. I endeavor to answer the questions that I am able as quickly as I can. Those questions asked that fall outside of my wheelhouse, I will try to locate someone who can help. […]
Are imports of semifinished steel a threat to U.S. national security? Apparently, that depends on the political environment at the time. The controversy over the Trump administration’s Section 232 tariffs is not a new debate. Restrictions on steel imports were on the table in 2001 during the Bush administration. Contrary to today, the Commerce Department […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: Things are hectic these days. While the House has gone on recess until after Labor Day, the Senate is taking a mere two weeks off. Before taking their shortened break, the Senate passed the Miscellaneous […]
Earnings week for the steel industry revealed trade was foremost on the minds of steel executives. The steel mills expressed their approval of the administration’s tariff action that has boosted steel pricing and, along with higher demand, earnings for the second quarter of 2018. • U.S. Steel Corp. CEO David Burritt was a strong advocate […]
Steel Market Update has a NEW steel training workshop that is meant for both those new to the industry as well as those who have been in the industry for some time and would like a deeper pool of knowledge about the industry. The workshop is called Steel 201: Introduction to Advanced High Strength & […]
A reminder that Steel Market Update readers, as well as those who have attended a past SMU Steel Summit or a training workshop, have a unique opportunity to participate in a webinar about the North American steel market conducted by our parent company, CRU. The webinar entitled, “Mid-Year Update on the North American Steel Market,” […]
Will the World Trade Organization survive the current tumultuous trade environment where protectionism is supplanting cooperation? Some ambassadors to the WTO say that reform must happen soon or the multilateral system will collapse. “The world trading system is broken. The WTO is broken. There’s no reciprocity left,” said White House chief economic advisor Larry Kudlow […]
Some quick comments I received as I moved around the market today talking about steel prices: JSW Ohio (Acero Junction mill) just got in 50,000 tons of slabs and is in the market. Credit issues are becoming an issue for companies as their customers are reaching their limits sooner due to the high cost of […]
It is hard to believe that we are now under 30 days until the start of the 2018 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We have eclipsed our most optimistic goal having reached 805 registrations late last week. With 29 days to go (and fingers crossed there are no hurricanes this year), you can expect 820-850 people […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: Finally, a good day? President Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker met Wednesday at the White House and issued a joint statement on their agreement to negotiate reductions in barriers between the U.S. and […]
I understand from steel buyers there are some mills looking for business – especially on galvanized. There has been some very minor slippage ($10/ton) with some mills’ base pricing. Not enough to drive numbers lower than what we published on Tuesday. There are some service centers getting aggressive with coated steel spot pricing to their […]
The president-elect of Mexico is urging President Trump to restart NAFTA negotiations, warning that a protracted delay will harm investment in the region. “In the matter of trade, I think it is worth making an effort to conclude the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. I think that prolonging the uncertainty could slow […]
It’s a beautiful day here in Minnesota, and here I am looking out the window at a wonderful lake. Yet, I’m working all day. Oh well… We did a quick analysis of the attendees registered for our conference. I thought potential attendees might be interested in what was discovered: 44% – Manufacturing Companies35% – Service […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: The tariff story is getting broader and more complex. I will focus today on the lawsuit filed by the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) and two of its members challenging the constitutionality of Section […]
Have China and other nations taken advantage of the United States on the trade front? Nearly three of four respondents to last week’s Steel Market Update market trends questionnaire believe that is true and they support President Trump renegotiating the “bad trade deals” of the past. However, at the same time, only 20 percent of […]
Lead times, especially on hot rolled steel, have continued to gradually shorten over the past couple of months, according to Steel Market Update’s latest market trends data. Lead times for hot rolled now average just above five weeks, for cold rolled a bit less than seven and a half weeks, for galvanized a bit more […]
Negotiations between steel mills and buyers may have turned a corner as the mills appear significantly more willing to negotiate spot prices than at any other point this year. “We’re sensing that some of the steel mills have holes in their August order book for hot rolled coil,” one steel pipe executive told Steel Market […]
Let’s up the ante to $500 billion. That’s what President Trump is proposing in tariffs against virtually everything China exports to the United States. “I raised $50 billion, and they matched us. I say, ‘You don’t match us. You can’t match us, because otherwise, we’re always going to be behind the eight ball,’” said Trump […]