Category: Features

“Unless the administration actually gets serious about levelling the playing field… for consumers of steel, then everything they've done on the steel side is useless."

Most steel buyers responding to our latest market survey report that domestic mills are willing to talk price to secure new orders. Mill negotiability has continued to rise across all sheet and plate products we track, now at some of the highest levels recorded since late 2024.

SunCoke Energy has purchased Phoenix Global, a metals and mining services company, for $325 million.

Coated sheet imports from Vietnam face steeper anti-dumping duties after Commerce recalculated the rates due to ministerial errors.

I sort of expected big news last Friday and over the long, Memorial Day weekend. Because that's become more the norm than the exception for steel this year. Sure enough, Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday afternoon that he had given his blessing to a “partnership” between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel. And then over the weekend we had market moving new on tariffs, this time involving the EU.

Total US mill output rebounded last week to the highest rate recorded since last September, according to raw production figures released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).

The European Union is fast-tracking trade negotiations with the US in the hope of avoiding the 50% tariffs threatened by President Trump.

The US government could acquire a stake in U.S. Steel as part of Nippon Steel’s $14-billion deal for the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker, according to various media reports. The Trump administration sees Washington, D.C., acquiring a “golden share” as part of the deal, according to an article in Kyodo News on Tuesday. This would give the US […]

New developments emerge in the Nippon/USS CFIUS review.

Oil and gas drilling activity declined in both the US and Canada this week, according to Baker Hughes.

Trump threatens EU with 50% tariff starting June 1.

We're going to have to wait a bit longer for the final outcome of the Nippon/USS deal.

Steel Market Update will be taking time off in observance of Memorial Day.

Global raw steel production dipped from March to April, according to the latest release from the World Steel Association.

The CFIUS report is in, but what it contains remains unknown.

Here are highlights of what’s happened and a few things to keep an eye on this upcoming week.

According to our latest analysis, prices for four of the seven steelmaking raw materials we track increased from April to May. However, select materials saw a collective 1% decline month over month and are down 4% compared to three months ago.

Metallus shuffles the management deck with new appointments.

Zekelman is known for his straight talk. And his company is one of the largest steel buyers in North America. So he’s got a better eye than most on steel market developments.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.

Sure, demand isn’t as good the market had hoped it would be earlier this year. But assuming it doesn’t fall of a cliff, buyers will have to restock at some point. And that might give domestic mills enough leverage to raise prices again.

Following three weekly increases, domestic mill output edged lower last week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).

Nippon Steel could build a new domestic U.S. Steel mill with a total investment of $4 billion.

While I would anticipate market sentiment to pivot and improve if all the questions around tariffs were answered, that still leaves us with a few other factors.

Go beyond the classroom with a behind-the-scenes mill tour at SMU’s next Steel 101 – an immersive, expert-led introduction to steel production and market dynamics.

International trade remains at the forefront of President Trump’s agenda, especially as new negotiations and investigations continue to be announced.

Commerce began a review of five producers/exporters: NLMK Verona; Officine Technosider; F.A.R. Fonderie Acciaierie; Ferriera Valsider and Metinvest Trametal.

The period under review is Jan. 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2022.

The US Commerce Department has provided the final results for the countervailing administrative review of certain corrosion-resistant steel products (CORE) from South Korea.

SMU’s Buyers’ Sentiment Indices resumed their downward trend this week, erasing the modest recovery seen two weeks ago.