Category: Features

September marked the lowest month for steel imports so far this year, according to preliminary Census data released by the Commerce Department.

Domestic raw steel production recovered for the third consecutive week last week, according to the latest figures released from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). While up, output remains near one of the lowest rates recorded across 2024.

Last month I traveled to Sweden to the CRU Steel Decarbonisation Summit in Stockholm. I wanted to see if the European take on decarbonization was broadly different from what we are talking about here in the US.

We all know the American news cycle moves pretty fast. Viral today, cached tomorrow. So it is with the US presidential election on Tuesday, Nov. 5. People have election fatigue. They've moved on to other things like planning holiday parties, debating Super Bowl hopefuls, or even starting to look forward to our Tampa Steel Conference in February.

Earlier this month, Nippon Steel announced that it is applying for subsidies under the Japanese government’s Green Transformation Promotion Act to expand the company’s electric furnace steelmaking capabilities and to convert from blast furnace to electric furnace operations. As we have said before, transitioning from blast furnace- to electric furnace-based steelmaking is a good thing […]

SMU’s latest steel buyers market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the pricing and analysis tab and look under the “survey results” section for “latest survey results.” Past survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, or if […]

US drill rig activity remains near multi-year lows, hovering within a narrow range over the last five months. Canadian counts have stabilized in recent weeks but remain near some the highest levels recorded in the past seven months.

SMU’s Current Sentiment Index suggests steel buyers are still optimistic about their businesses’ ability to succeed in today’s market, though their confidence has significantly declined compared to recent months.

In this Insight piece, CRU economists explore the possible economic effects of Trump's and Harris' agendas.

U.S. Steel plans to increase sheet prices by at least $30 per short ton (st). That's something we haven't seen for a while.

More than nine out of every 10 steel buyers polled by SMU this week reported that mills are flexible on prices for new orders. Negotiation rates have been strong since April and on the rise since early September.

Mill lead times have declined on both sheet and plate products this week, according to steel buyers responding to our latest market survey,

The US Department of Commerce is conducting annual administrative reviews of antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders on certain imports of steel pipe and tube.

Join SMU for a Community Chat next Wednesday featuring Lewis Leibowitz, a veteran trade attorney and one of our most-read columnists. The webinar will be on Oct. 30 at 11 am ET. It’s free to attend. You can register here

SMU's hot-rolled (HR) coil price slipped this week to $685 per short ton (st) on average. We also adjusted our sheet momentum indicators to lower for the first time since July.

Steelmaking raw material prices strengthened for all but one product in October, a change in pace compared to recent months, according to SMU’s latest analysis.

The Canadian government announced a remission process for businesses for recently announced tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum products and electric vehicles .

While up over the week prior, domestic raw steel mill production remains near one of the lowest rates recorded this year.

When a mapmaker constructs a map, it’s always to the contours of the land. Or sea. That is, the mapmaker doesn’t say, “Look, these rocks really don’t belong here, so I’m not going to include them in the harbor map.” Uncharted rocks, sink ships (along with loose lips).

China’s burgeoning exports are causing major angst all over the world. In the US, the increases are spawning calls for more restrictions on China, some of which might work a bit, but will likely cause more harm than good for the world at large.

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has decided to conduct full sunset reviews of 23-year-old anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) on hot-rolled (HR) steel imports.

US rig counts continue to hover near multi-year lows, a trend observed since July. Canadian activity remains strong, just a few rigs shy of a seven-month high.

On Friday, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) voted to continue the trade case investigation of corrosion-resistant (CORE) steel imports from 10 trading partners.

We had an October surprise here at SMU on Wednesday. I was working from the CRU office in Pittsburgh, and the internet connection briefly went out. As luck would have it, that happened smack in the middle of a live Community Chat webinar. Fortunately, my colleague David Schollaert stepped in, Zekelman Industries CEO Barry Zekelman rolled with the punches – and the show went on. Could there be any more October surprises in store for us and for the steel market?

The volume of finished steel entering the US market declined in August from July, according to SMU’s analysis of data from the US Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Referred to as ‘apparent steel supply,’ we calculate this monthly rate by combining domestic steel mill shipments and finished US steel imports and deducting total US steel exports.

Domestic steel champion Barry Zekelman joined SMU to discuss the latest issues impacting the US steel market.

The latest SMU Community Chat webinar reply is now available on our website to all members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the community tab and look under the “previous webinars” section of the dropdown menu. All past Community Chat webinars are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the webinar replay, or if your company […]

Prices, demand, inventories, evolving market events... What are buyers and sellers of steel talking about this week?

We just wrapped up another Steel 101 workshop, easily the most hands-on industry workshop on steelmaking and market fundamentals, in this humble opinion. Last week on Tuesday and Wednesday, SMU’s Steel 101 was held in Starkville, Miss.

August now represents the second-highest monthly shipment rate recorded in the last two years, just below the 2.16 million units rate recorded in June.