The following article is normally shared with just our Premium level members. Steel Market Update (SMU) has a proprietary product whereby we analyze the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) carbon flat rolled shipments and inventories at the end of each month. Based on our model, we come up with a number indicating whether service center […]
As I wander around the industry talking to buyers and sellers of steel I am always asking and listening for the signs of change. These are “warnings” to my ears and I heard one earlier today that needs to be pursued further and I think we will have the opportunity to do so at our […]
Last week Steel Market Update conducted our mid-August flat rolled steel market trends analysis. For those new to our newsletter, we invite approximately 600 people representing about 550 companies to participate in our bi-monthly questionnaire. Our normal response rate is 100 to 150 people. Last week’s mix was 44 percent service centers, 43 percent manufacturing […]
The following Steel Buyers Basics article was originally written by Mario Briccetti, CEO of Briccetti and Associates and an instructor for Steel Market Update (Steel 101 & Custom Training). If you would like to learn more on this subject Mr. Briccetti will be at our Steel Summit Conference on the 29th through the 31st of […]
I expect the next seven days will be quite hectic in my life and those of our SMU team as we make final preparations for the 2016 Steel Summit Conference. I will actually be traveling to Georgia on Wednesday and will work from there until the conference has concluded. We do have a few spots […]
SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index Twice per month, Steel Market Update surveys the flat rolled steel industry. One of the proprietary products which is derived from that expansive survey is the SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index. Sentiment is defined as how buyers and sellers feel about their company’s ability to be successful both in the […]
In our last issue of Steel Market Update we wrote about lead times shrinking as being one of the reasons why we adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator. We cited published lead times by NLMK USA and Nucor Berkeley as examples of the changes we were seeing and discussing with steel buyers. This week we conducted […]
Based on the results of our flat rolled steel market trends survey that Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted all week, steel mills are receptive to negotiate steel prices on some products and less so on others. We are seeing the mills being fairly aggressive on hot rolled price negotiations with 83 percent of our survey […]
The USITC issued a final determination today that the U.S. industry is materially injured by the import of heavy walled rectangular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Korea, Mexico and Turkey and that the products from Turkey are sold in the U.S. at less than fair value and subsidized by the Turkish government. Antidumping […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained negative this week for the fifth consecutive week, following a 28 week long positive streak. MoMo is a trailing indicator and shows the relationship between the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the previous 12-week average […]
We are 10 days away from the start of our Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. This will be our 6th conference and it will be the best attended conference by a wide margin. When we began the planning process my most optimistic goal was to get 400 attendees. We had 280 attendees at our 5th […]
For the past nine weeks, Steel Market Update (SMU) has had our Price Momentum Indicator at Neutral. A neutral rating means the market is either in transition or does not have enough momentum to push steel prices in one direction or another. Earlier today SMU adjusted our indicator to “Lower” from Neutral which is a […]
I heard this evening that Turkish hot rolled for September shipment was recently booked at an average price of $25.50/cwt CIF, Duty Paid ($510 per ton). Latest offer on Mexican hot rolled $26.50/cwt ($530 per ton) and cold rolled at $31.50/cwt ($630 per ton). The hot rolled numbers make sense and are reasonable against domestic […]
The Canadian International Trade Tribunal has renewed its dumping finding against China, Brazil and Ukraine and its subsidy finding against India in regards to the import of hot rolled steel sheet and strip. The CITT decision extends antidumping and subsidy duties another five years. In a press release from Essar Steel Algoma, applauding the decision, […]
Steel Market Update is celebrating our 8th Anniversary. People ask me how I can do what I do on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis? After all, I have been doing this over the past 8 years when most people my age would be thinking of slowing down and planning for their retirement. I […]
Mexican steel association CANACERO welcomed antidumping duties placed on galvanized sheet steel and wire rod imported from China and Taiwan. The Mexican Ministry of Economy placed duties of up to USD$0.563 per kilogram on galvanized sheet from China and Taiwan and USD$0.49 per kilogram on wire rod from China. Said CANACERO in a statement: “Unfair […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained negative this week for the fourth consecutive week, following a 28 week long positive streak. MoMo is a trailing indicator and shows the relationship between the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the previous 12-week average […]
Another round of antidumping duties was imposed on hot rolled steel products on Tuesday, August 9, but this time from the Commerce Ministry of India. India slapped duties of hot rolled flat products of alloy or non-alloy steel from China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia. The duties range between $474-557 per tonne. Duties of […]
On Wednesday morning I received a couple of emails regarding our newsletter that I would like to share with our readers: “Your newsletter is solid. Lots of real information and educated analysis. Great job. See you soon in Atlanta. Best, Lourenco Goncalves” Mr. Goncalves is the CEO of Cliffs Natural Resources and he and I […]
Korean steel producer POSCO said it will take action against antidumping and countervailing duties imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce last week on exports of hot-rolled steel. Countervailing duties of 57.04 percent were levied against POSCO while competitor Hyundai Steel, and all other Korean producers, received duties of 3.89 percent. A POSCO official called […]
We thought now would be a good time to revisit each of the antidumping and countervailing duty trade suits to report exactly where each one stands at this time. We are reaching the point where most will be through the entire process with the last step being the ITC (International Trade Commission) final determination. As […]
We thought now would be a good time to revisit each of the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty trade suits associated with flat rolled steel or plate to report exactly where each one stands at this time. We are reaching the point where most will be through the entire process with the last step being […]
I did trade emails with trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz regarding the International Trade Commission (ITC) commissioners. I wanted to know if the new president of the United States could make wholesale changes with the commissioners and change the balance of the rulings being made on steel trade cases and others. Mr. Leibowitz told us, “The […]
There were some surprises on Friday afternoon when the U.S. Department of Commerce came out with their final determinations regarding antidumping and countervailing duties on hot rolled steel. Perhaps the biggest surprise was saved for POSCO out of Korea and the joint venture partner with US Steel on USS/POSCO mill in California. The UPI mill […]
On Friday the U.S. Department of Commerce announced their final determination findings on hot rolled steel dumping margins and countervailing subsidy rates for Brazil, South Korea, Australia, Turkey, Japan, United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In the article above we reproduced the press release provided by the Commerce Department. In this article we are going to […]
The US International Trade Commission voted Friday to reverse the suspension of the Section 337 investigation into the imports of carbon and alloy steel products from China. The investigation was initiated on June 2, 2016 following a complaint filed by US Steel Corp alleging price fixing, theft of trade secrets and false designation of origin […]
The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to expedite its five-year (“sunset”) review concerning the antidumping duty order on hot-rolled flat-rolled carbon-quality steel products from Russia. As a result of the vote, the Commission will conduct an expedited review to determine whether revocation of the order would be likely to lead to continuation or […]
My opinion is that we will need to watch foreign hot rolled offers this week. There are a couple of countries (including Korea) that were scheduled to come out with new HR pricing this week. Will the final determination ruling by the US Department of Commerce have any impact on prices? We also will need […]
According to the results of our latest flat rolled steel market trends analysis survey, as steel prices flatten out and lead times begin to come back in, flat rolled steel buyers and sellers are slightly less enthusiastic about their company’s ability to be successful in both the existing market environment as well as 3 to […]
Earlier this week we began our early August flat rolled steel market trends analysis. The process began with invitations going out to approximately 570 steel executives in the manufacturing, service center/wholesaler, trading company, steel mill and toll processing communities. The invitations are purposely heavily weighted toward manufacturing and service center/wholesalers as those two segments purchase […]