Category: Features

Sheet prices remain on an upward trend. Many of you expect that to remain the case - assuming that the UAW strike doesn’t drag on much longer.

The US and European Union will continue trade talks on Friday, Oct. 20, according to a statement from the European Council.

A service center executive recently told me that the best way to make a fool of yourself was to try to predict what flat-rolled steel prices were going to do. He hadn’t expected that hot-rolled coil prices would rebound from less than $600 per ton ($30 per cwt) for some larger buyers to potentially more […]

The 2023 term continues a series of very eventful Supreme Court sessions, similarly to 2021 and 2022 terms.

The US steel market appears to have gone from despairing over the possibility of spot HRC prices slipping into the $500s per ton to worrying about spot availability – and in just a matter of 2-3 weeks.

A recap of SMU's Oct. 4, 2023, Community Chat featuring AGC chief economist Ken Simonson and his outlook for the construction markets.

Did the price increase announced by Cleveland-Cliffs last week stick? Yes, at least partially.

Steel prices continued to decline last month – a trend we’ve seen repeated since mid-April.

The 2023 NexGen Award winner Daniel Doderer may not consider himself a veteran of the steel industry yet, but he's eager to make his mark.

Will the sheet price hike announced by Cleveland-Cliffs (and quietly followed by at least some mills) stick?

Last week the World Trade Organization (WTO) held its periodic retreat for members to discuss the future of the organization.

ArcelorMittal said it expects to produce less steel than previously forecast in Brazil. Gerdau has hinted at potential layoffs as imports surge. The Brazil Steel Institute is asking the government to raise import levies to 25% from the existing 9.6%. Meanwhile, Mexico has applied levies to some steel imports.

The LME aluminum 3-month price was up 4.7% during the last week of the month to close September trading at $2,325 per metric ton – its highest price since early August. Several correlations appeared to have broken down in the short term given the weakness in the US stock market, a weaker copper price, and, critically, the resurgent dollar.

The latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members.

SMU's weekly survey reflects what people in the market are talking about. Lately, a popular topic has been the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike.

SMU's Current and Future Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices both increased this week despite the United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike expansion, based on our most recent survey data.

I didn’t see the Cleveland-Cliffs price increase coming on Wednesday. And I didn’t expect to see a target base price of $750 per ton ($37.50 per cwt) for hot-rolled coil. But I’ve since heard that other mills, even if they hadn’t publicly announced anything, had been quietly raising prices before Cliffs publicized its increase. Are […]

While lead times for sheet again had mixed movements this week, those for plate collapsed, according to SMU’s most recent market survey.

US President Joe Biden is set to meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel on Oct. 20 in Washington ahead of a deadline for an agreement on steel, according to a report in Reuters.

Sheet prices declined less than usual this week. Does that mean we’re nearing a bottom, or is it just a pause before the market moves lower yet again?

The drop in imports continued for the second straight month, in line with license applications and falling lower year on year (YoY).

Ken Simonson, chief economist for The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 11 a.m. ET.

Tom Conway, international president of the United Steelworkers (USW) union since 2019, has died at age 71.

We’ve been busier than usual lately covering two major events (in addition to our pricing and data services) – the potential sale of U.S. Steel and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike. Let’s review some possible developments in each. U.S. Steel Sale – Back in the Headlines We learned last week that Stelco had […]

Last week, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers gave a major speech challenging the views of anti-trade leaders, such as (but not limited to) Bob Lighthizer.

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has laid out a case for China’s failure to comply with its World Trade Organization (WTO) obligations, which it joined in 2001.

A big "thank you" to Wolfe Research and Timna Tanners for organizing a lunch in today in Chicago with a group of steel industry participants and investors.

When you think about the steel industry, steel mills and service centers are probably at the forefront. But there’s one specific component that often flies under the radar: graphite electrodes.

Deputy United States Trade Representative (USTR) Jayme White met on Wednesday with Mexico’s Under Secretary of Economy for Foreign Trade Alejandro Encinas, and discussed issues regarding the “surge” into the US of Mexican steel and aluminum imports.

US hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices fell further relative to imported product this week. Domestic hot band remains cheaper than offshore HRC as US tags continue to sink at a sharper rate than those overseas.