Late this afternoon, the U.S. Department of Commerce released their positive determination that Vietnam and China circumvented existing antidumping (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD) on cold rolled and corrosion resistant (galvanized/Galvalume) steels. This is a significant ruling and will create issues for some trading companies and steel buyers as the ruling goes back to November […]
Steel Market Update’s steel market indicators show improved trends in the November data. In our examination of data released in November, our view of the present situation is that 47.2 percent of the 36 indicators are historically positive with only 19 percent negative. The balance is within the band of historically normal. The total of […]
I am sitting in the airport in Fort Lauderdale waiting on my flight to Las Vegas. I am on my way to attend the HARDI annual conference. If you are planning on and would like to meet with me during the conference, you can email or text me. My email address is John@SteelMarketUpdate.com and my […]
The Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity agreed on a framework Thursday for collectively solving the world’s steel overcapacity problem. The 33 members worked together to develop specific policy recommendations using six agreed-upon principles to formulate solutions for bringing steel capacity in line with demand and reducing trade distortions. Notable is a new sharing of […]
I have been out of the office all day, so I apologize if my Final Thoughts this evening are less than inspiring… Our website designers have been busy working to resolve some of the bugs that arose when we updated our website over the weekend. The login issues have been resolved. We know there is […]
The U.S. Commerce Department has self-initiated an antidumping and countervailing investigation of imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from China. Normally, AD/CVD investigations are initiated by petitioners within the industry who allege dumping or subsidization of a product by one or more countries. Commerce may self-initiate an investigation whenever the Secretary determines a need exists […]
Detroit automakers met with Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Monday to express concerns about the U.S. proposal on NAFTA automotive rules of origin. General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne and Ford Motor Co. Executive Vice President and President of Global Operations Joe Hinrichs […]
Imports of tool chests and cabinets from China will likely be subject to countervailing duties once the International Trade Commission makes its final injury determination. The U.S. Commerce Department issued its affirmative final determination on Nov. 22, calculating final subsidy rates ranging from 14.03 percent to 95.96 percent. As a result of this decision, Commerce will […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce and its Secretary Wilbur Ross did something today that has not been done in the last 25 years–they self-initiated an antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) suit. In this case, it was against aluminum imports from China, but steel buyers should take note. The DOC already has a Section 232 […]
To our U.S. customers, welcome back from the long Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend with family and friends. Our website developers have been very busy working on our website going back to Wednesday of this past week. If you tried getting onto our website on Wednesday afternoon through Saturday afternoon, […]
Flat rolled steel service centers apparently do not have the luxury or ability to raise spot prices, even after two price increases by the domestic steel mills, according to the latest flat rolled steel market trends analysis by Steel Market Update (SMU). Last week, in SMU’s mid-November flat rolled analysis, one of the key areas […]
Flat rolled steel inventories ended the month of October in a balanced situation based on the Steel Market Update Apparent Excess/Deficit proprietary model, which is applied to the MSCI inventories and shipment data. U.S. steel service centers ended the month of September with +68,000 tons of excess inventories, based on the SMU model. Our forecast […]
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative has finally updated its summary of NAFTA objectives in response to pressure from the Senate Finance Committee to provide transparency regarding the negotiations. Ron Wyden (D-OR) put the confirmation of two deputy USTR nominees on hold until the updated objectives were made public. Wyden said the summaries are […]
This is the last Executive issue of Steel Market Update until Sunday evening. We will produce a Premium issue for our Premium clients tomorrow. Our offices will be open tomorrow (Wednesday) and closed on Thanksgiving Day. We will have limited coverage on the Friday following Thanksgiving. Our offices will return to normal staffing and hours […]
Twice per month, Steel Market Update (SMU) conducts an analysis of the flat rolled steel market and the trends that affect pricing, demand, etc. Each analysis is conducted via an email invitation to complete a questionnaire. SMU invites approximately 650 individuals who are active participants in the manufacturing, distribution, toll processing, trading and steel mill […]
Were you surprised by the price increases announced this week by the major mills? If you were, don’t feel bad. You were among the majority of steel buyers who could foresee no clear direction for steel prices. On Monday, Steel Market Update sent its market trends questionnaire to 650 steel buyers asking, among other questions, […]
Cold-drawn mechanical tubing imported from China, Germany, India, Italy, Korea and Switzerland was determined by Commerce to be sold below fair value. In its Nov. 16 preliminary antidumping determination, Commerce assigned dumping margins ranging between 5.10 percent and 186.89 percent. Commerce also found that “critical circumstances” exist with respect to Dalmine S.p.A. and Metalfer S.p.A. […]
“What if President Trump’s ultimate goal is to kill the World Trade Organization?” That was the question submitted by journalist Eduardo Porter in the New York Times last month. Porter’s question seemed even more to the point last week when President Trump accused the WTO of ignoring its own rules while the United States has […]
We asked a question about Section 232 in last week’s flat rolled steel market trends questionnaire. The question was, “Do you think President Trump will invoke Section 232 and add duties on steel imports early next year on national security grounds?” Relatively few steel buyers elected to answer this question, which either suggests they don’t […]
Despite all the uncertainty regarding possible trade action and steel prices, the Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index is holding steady, and at a higher level than last year. Steel buyers’ sentiment appears to have bottomed out in October and November and, in Steel Market Update’s opinion, is poised to pick up along with […]
The latest lead time data based on the Steel Market Update flat rolled steel survey—largely unchanged from two weeks ago–offers no clear indication of whether this week’s price announcements by three of the flat rolled steel mills will be accepted by the marketplace. SMU began collecting responses from steel buyers on Monday of this week, […]
Buyers of flat rolled steel report that most domestic steel mills are open to negotiating spot prices, especially on cold rolled and coated products, even though the major mills announced price hikes this week. About half of the respondents to this week’s Steel Market Update market trends questionnaire reported a mixed market, with some mills […]
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross pushed back at critics of the Section 232 investigation this week, saying steel-consuming businesses don’t “deserve” dumped steel. Associations such as the American Institute for International Steel and U.S. Chamber of Commerce assert that Section 232 restrictions on steel could lead to economic disaster for the steel supply chain, ports and […]
A dispute over OCTG dumping duties assigned by the U.S. on imports of Korean OCTG drew mixed conclusions from a World Trade Organization dispute panel. The WTO sided with South Korea on claims that the U.S. violated rules in the Antidumping Agreement regarding the calculation of fair value of OCTG. The panel determined that Commerce […]
Canada and Mexico will “come to their senses and make a sensible deal” for NAFTA, said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council on Thursday. Ross defended U.S. NAFTA negotiating tactics, saying Mexico and Canada have more to lose than the United States if the NAFTA agreement collapses. He called a […]
I have a feeling if I were to write a long drawn-out final thoughts article that our readers would shoot me… I think we have 16 articles in tonight’s newsletter – many of them top-line articles (price increases, MSCI data, Sentiment, Lead Times, Negotiations, Section 232, etc.). What you don’t know is we actually moved […]
The Commerce Department announced a preliminary finding of dumping in the investigation of metal tool chests and cabinets imported from China and Vietnam. The investigation was initiated by a petition from Waterloo Industries, in Sedalia, Missouri. The investigation covers all metal tool chests and cabinets, including top chests, intermediate chests, tool cabinets and side cabinets, […]
As I move around the flat rolled steel industry, communicating with manufacturing companies, service centers, traders and steel mills, I am receiving mixed messages about the market. A good example is the HARDI steel committee conference call that was held earlier today. HARDI wholesalers, the companies who supply the HVAC mechanical contractors in the building […]
Total rolled steel imports declined by 14.0 percent in the three months through October, compared to the three months through July. Sheet products were down by 12.6 percent on the same basis, based on final license data for October reported by of the U.S. Commerce Department on Nov. 7. The data is reported within the […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has been working on developing and then expanding a new steel service center flat rolled steel inventories analysis. We are providing a sample of the analysis, which will be available initially to Premium level customers, as well as those service centers that participate by providing data to Steel Market Update. If […]