Category: Features

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.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects, including steel prices, demand levels, sheet prices abroad, inventory, the UAW strike, and what people are talking about in the market

North American auto assemblies saw its best total year to date in August, and its best mark in nearly five years, driven by a 32.8% jump in total assemblies vs. July’s output.

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. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available free to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about the outlook […]

US light-vehicle (LV) sales rose to an unadjusted 1.33 million units in August, up 12.8% vs. year-ago levels, while domestic LV sales fell 4.5% month-on-month.

Sheet prices fell again this week, this time not on fears of a United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike but on the actual thing.

Flat Rolled = 54.1 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 61.2 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel inventories eased back in August with stronger shipments. At the end of August, service centers carried 54.1 shipping days of supply, according to adjusted SMU data, down from 56.1 shipping days of supply […]

Steel Market Update’s Steel Demand Index remains in contraction territory despite marginal improvement, according to our latest survey data.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) strike that started Friday leaves the Detroit 3 automakers—and it’s union-represented workers—in uncharted territory.

Trade policy moves create great ironies sometimes. I often write about these ironies when the US acts against the interests of the country as a whole by protecting certain industries from international competition. But the US is not alone, especially in recent years as the World Trade Organization and the international geopolitical order have been […]