Category: Features

Following significant recoveries in late August, SMU’s Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Indices tumbled this week.

I think all of us know that sometimes courtships go wrong. A misplaced word or deed and soon things can go sideways, and not in the prices sense. Such could be the case with Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel’s play for U.S. Steel.

Steel mill lead times shortened for both sheet and plate products this week, according to buyers responding to our latest market survey.

Steel Warehouse Chief Commercial Officer Marc Lerman will join Steel Market Update for a Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, Sept. 18, at 11 a.m. ET. You can register here. The live webinar is free for all to attend. A recording will be available only to SMU members.

We’re starting to see some impacts of the big trade case filed last week against imports of coated flat-rolled steel from 10 nations. Namely, we’ve heard that a range of traders have stopped offering material from Vietnam. An alleged dumping margin of nearly 160% will do that. Especially amid chatter of critical circumstances.

SMU’s steel price indices showed mixed signals for a second consecutive week. Our hot rolled, cold rolled, and plate price indices inched lower from last week, as the galvanized index held steady and Galvalume's ticked higher.

The Commerce Department said imports of Chinese pipe will continue to benefit from significant government subsidies if the US countervailing duty (CVD) order against them is allowed to expire.

Following June’s slump, the amount of finished steel entering the US market partially rebounded in July, according to SMU’s analysis of data from the US Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).

Ternium USA Inc. has requested a host of Section 232 tariff exclusions since the US reimposed the duties on Mexican steel earlier this summer. Domestic steelmakers, however, are pushing back.

Following May’s five-month low, US steel exports ticked higher in July, according to the latest US Department of Commerce data. The amount of steel exiting the country rose 6% month on month (m/m) to 818,000 short tons (st). This is back in line with trade levels seen in recent months.

The phrase “political football” has been tossed around a lot lately. (Pun probably intended.) For the humble journalists at SMU who thought the week following Steel Summit would prove a quiet one… the news cycle had other ideas

Domestic steel producers and the United Steelworkers (USW) union filed a barrage of trade cases last week. This is hardly news. Ever since the Commerce Department ruled that Vietnam is still treated as a nonmarket economy (NME) for antidumping purposes, many in the business expected new cases on the product that Vietnam excels at—“corrosion-resistant steel.” Nor is it a surprise that these cases roped in nine countries in addition to Vietnam: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. All these countries rank in the top ten exporters of corrosion-resistant steel to the United States. These petitions are a broadside against coated flat-rolled steel imports.

Domestic mills have alleged substantial dumping margins in the trade case targeting imports of corrosion-resistant steel.

In a candid fireside chat with SMU Senior Analyst/Editor David Schollert, Stelco’s CEO Alan Kestenbaum opened up about Stelco’s pending sale to Cliffs, his business strategy, outlook for the industry, and plans for the future. The chat took place on Tuesday, Aug. 24, at the 2024 SMU Steel Summit in Atlanta.

Global crude steel production fell by 4% month over month (m/m) in July, led by a major drop in Chinese output, which fell 9% m/m.

Sheet prices didn’t roar back after Labor Day. But steel market news sure came out of the gate strong (or maybe chaotically is the better way to put it). First, the nearly $15-billion proposed sale of U.S. Steel to Nippon Steel exploded into the news. And when I say exploded, I mean that all sides seem to be escalating things now.

US mills have filed or soon will file a sprawling trade petition against imports of coated flat-rolled steel from 10 countries. The petition seeks anti-dumping margins against Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Taiwan, Australia, and South Africa. It also seeks countervailing duty margins against Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Vietnam. That’s according documents dated Sept. 5 and addressed to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and International Trade Commission (ITC) Secretary Lisa Barton.

Trade is always front and center in an election year. And 2024 is no different. There is no shortage of issues, with questions like the sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel, potential cracks in the USMCA, and Chinese overcapacity dominating the headlines. But how do you distinguish between issues that might just last until November, and what are the crucial questions that could affect your business for years to come?

We had a wonderful time at last week’s Steel Summit Conference, seeing so many familiar faces and catching up with friends within the industry.

Alan Beaulieu, president of ITR Economics, presented the final keynote at last week’s Steel Summit conference

Welcome back from Labor Day, from Steel Summit, and from whatever fun you might have had over the long weekend. Personally, I enjoyed camping with friends and family near Starved Rock. No one starved, there were no major injuries, and we enjoyed the many splendors of Mystical Fire. (Speaking of which, does that have industrial uses? But I digress.)

Much like the classic EF Hutton commercial, when Barry Zekelman talks, people listen. Add in an audience at Steel Summit 2024… and people’s ears seem to perk up even more.

Domestic raw steel mill production eased last week but remains historically high, according to the latest release from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).

US manufacturing activity contracted for a fifth straight month in August, as reported in the latest release from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The Index has indicated contraction in the manufacturing sector for 21 of the last 22 months.

SMU’s Monthly Review provides a summary of important steel market metrics for the previous month. Our August report includes data updated through August 30th.

https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/sherrod-brown-casey-fetterman-biden-administration-level-playing-field-american-octg-industry

Steel Market Update will be taking time off in observance of Labor Day. We will not publish an issue on Sunday, Sept. 1, and our offices will be closed on Monday, Sept. 2. Our weekly pricing service will not be impacted. We will resume our regular publication schedule and our pricing service on Tuesday, Sept. […]

CANACERO's General Director Salvador Quesada Salinas shares his thoughts on the Mexican steel trade 'myth' and what US trade data really shows.

Nippon Steel and other Japanese steelmakers are lobbying for the Japanese government to limit imports of Chinese steel, according to a report in Reuters.

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.”