We will begin conducting our mid-November flat rolled steel market survey on Monday. If you receive an invitation to participate, please take a few moments to click on the button in the message, which will take you to our questionnaire. The questionnaire shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to complete. If you would like […]
The expectation, even among the naysayers, is there will be a bounce in flat rolled prices once lead times reach the end of December and into the New Year. The expectation is that the domestic steel mills will raise prices in the coming days. We have heard rumors that the first mill to move may […]
Republican legislators are too worried about passing tax legislation to stand up to Trump on NAFTA, reports Inside U.S. Trade. Although legislators are receiving heavy pressure from the business community to stop the president from withdrawing from NAFTA, behind closed doors Republicans say they won’t publicly intervene due to possible negative consequences from the White […]
The termination of U.S. Steel Corp.’s Section 337 transshipment claim was upheld by the U.S. International Trade Commission on Nov. 1. U.S. Steel alleged in its false designation of origin claim that Chinese steel companies misrepresented the country of origin in paperwork in order to evade U.S. antidumping and countervailing duties. The seven respondents (Baosteel […]
I am in Chicago this evening having conducted a shortened version of our Steel 101 workshop at the FABTECH conference. We had a good group of people who were totally unaware of Steel Market Update and, in many cases, were attending to gain more knowledge about the steels their company uses. We had energy people […]
Twice per month, Steel Market Update (SMU) conducts an analysis of the flat rolled steel markets and trends associated with those who buy and sell hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, Galvalume and steel plate. One of the key areas we review is how steel service centers are handling spot pricing to their end user customers. […]
Is another mill price hike likely? Nearly 60 percent of respondents to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire earlier this week said they do expect the steel mills to make another price announcement this month before the Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 23. The other 40 percent are doubtful. Following are some of their comments: · […]
The fifth round of NAFTA negotiations will be Nov. 17-21 in Mexico City, but contentious U.S. proposals are making a compromise between the three trading partners problematic. The U.S. has proposed a sunset clause, rules of origin tipped in favor of the U.S., restrictions on government procurement and elimination of dispute settlement mechanisms, none of […]
Some quick final thoughts this evening – I will be traveling tomorrow (Monday) to Chicago to attend FABTECH and to teach a mini-version of our Steel 101 workshop (they call it Steel 101: Mill to Fabricator) on Tuesday afternoon. John Eckstein and I will be in Room 502B in McCormick Place, and the workshop is […]
The real news coming out of this week’s flat rolled steel market trends analysis is the jump in the SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index when looking at the index as a single data point, as opposed to a three-month moving average, which is our preference. Measured as a single data point, the average among those […]
After price increase announcements, it is important to follow steel mill lead times (and other keys) as a way of seeing if the increases are being seriously considered by steel buyers. The farther and faster lead times move out, the more support for the price increases announced by the domestic steel mills. Steel Market Update […]
According to the buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel, the domestic steel mills are willing to negotiate spot steel prices. The percentages of those reporting the mills as willing to negotiate has shrunk, but continues to be well above 50 percent. This is a bit of a surprise considering the price announcements made in […]
Another reminder that mill metallurgist and Steel 101 instructor John Eckstein and I will be in Chicago next week for FABTECH 2017. We will be conducting a mini-version of our Steel 101 workshop during the expo. Our workshop will be held in the McCormick Place Convention Center in room 502 B on Tuesday, Nov. 7, […]
Steel market indicators look good in the October data, but the trends took a turn for the worse. In the data released in October, 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 are within the band of historically normal. […]
Nearly as disturbing as the steel imports themselves are repeated delays in promised trade relief, say steel industry executives, who find themselves doing business in a state of “perpetual uncertainty.” While there is no official confirmation from the Department of Commerce, SMU’s sources have confirmed reports that the Commerce Department has again delayed a preliminary […]
Market economy status for China is out of the question, according to a 205-page memo from the Commerce Department. The detailed memorandum, published on Oct. 26, was released just days before President Trump is to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and in close timing with a preliminary AD/CVD determination against China regarding imports of […]
We began sending out our sponsorship package to last year’s sponsors and will send it out to previous years sponsors as well as those who have expressed an interest in becoming a sponsor or exhibitor. We have a limited number of sponsors and already have commitments from Pacesetter, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Magic Coil […]
As we approach the end of October, SMU wanted to update our readers on the flat rolled inventory information we have been collecting from the steel service centers in the United States. At the end of July, we began gathering the number of months of supply being held at a select number of service centers. […]
We did a quick check of lead times at a number of domestic steel mills on Friday of this past week. This is what we learned: Steel Dynamics Industries (SDI) – Butler, Ind. HR – closed for November production Pickled – closed for November production CR – closed for November production HRG – 11/20 (4 […]
If the Trump administration restricts steel imports under Section 232, it will open the United States to a host of retaliatory measures by other nations and will do little to address the root cause of the problem, which is China, argues the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS), a trade group representing foreign steel producers. […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) will begin our next flat rolled steel market trends survey at 8 AM ET tomorrow (Monday). If you receive an invitation, please take a few moments to click on the button in the message and fill out our questionnaire. Most people are able to get through the process in less than […]
Twice per month, Steel Market Update conducts an analysis on the flat rolled steel market. Our focus is on pricing and price direction, demand, inventory management, international steel, buyers’ sentiment, service center spot price direction, mill lead times and negotiations, and more. We have been conducting our market analysis going back to late 2008. The […]
We are three months away from our Mobile, Ala., Steel 101 workshop and we are sold out. Having said that, I would recommend that if you want to attend, add your name to our wait-list. You can do that on our website by clicking on the registration link; after you are advised that the workshop […]
Last week, Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted one of our flat rolled steel market trends analyses, sending invitations to 655 executives associated with the manufacturing, steel distribution, steel mills, trading companies and toll processor segments of the industry. The majority of respondents completed the questionnaire prior to the ArcelorMittal USA price increase announcement. One of […]
Trucking associations in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico issued a joint statement on Monday supporting an updated NAFTA agreement. The North American truck-transported trade supports tens of thousands of jobs and generates billions in revenue annually, said the statement from the American Trucking Association (ATA), Cámara Nacional del Autotraporte de Carga (CANACAR), and the Canadian […]
The Mario Briccetti article entitled: “Steel Buyers Basics: Kobe Steel Problems and How to Avoid Them” prompted a number of comments. The comments all came from other Steel 101 instructors who spent their careers working for steel mills either in sales or in quality/metallurgical positions. We should have an interesting discussion between our instructors at […]
The following is an editorial from The Detroit News published on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017. You can go to the original article by clicking here. One of the things President Donald Trump likes to boast about — and has a right to — is the performance of the economy since he took office in January. […]
SMU Note–The Kobe Steel scandal regarding falsifying test certifications has had a ripple effect. Steel Market Update asked those responding to our flat rolled steel market trends questionnaire if the Kobe scandal is raising some concerns that other mills may cut corners with testing and falsify documentation. Twenty-nine percent of our respondents had concerns. From […]
Two popular appliance manufacturers, Samsung and LG, are facing potential quotas and tariffs on imports of their products to the United States. Earlier this month, following a global safeguard petition by Whirlpool, the U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously in a Section 201 investigation that a surge of large residential washer (LRW) imports was injuring […]
We have an article in tonight’s newsletter from Mario Briccetti that I want to make sure is not misconstrued as a criticism of the domestic steel mills. The Kobe Steel violation of trust by certifying test results for tests that were not conducted has created some unease here in the United States. It is Steel […]