Category: South America

November steel exports tumbled 15% from October to the lowest monthly export rate since July 2020.

Steel imports remain weak in November and December according to recently released final US Commerce Department data. Many of the sheet and plate products we follow slipped to multi-year lows.

US steel imports have fallen sharply under the new 50% Section 232 tariff regime. Jerry Richardson, general director of CSN LLC, discussed on an SMU Community Chat this week how the market is now structurally tighter and more volatile than at any point in the past decade.

The volume of steel shipped outside of the country increased 11% from September to October 2025 to a seven-month high of 662,000 short tons (st), according to recently released data from the US Department of Commerce.

The US Department of Commerce has officially published the anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders on corrosion-resistant steel sheet imports, the final step in the trade case originally filed more than a year ago. At the same time, Commerce also revealed it is allowing some CORE imports into the country without paying the AD or CVDs.

Following August’s modest 4% uptick, the volume of steel shipped outside of the country slipped 8% in September to 594,000 short tons, according to recently released data from the US Department of Commerce.

According to recently finalized US Commerce Department data, US steel imports tumbled to a near five-year low in September

The situation has altered in the Brazilian pig iron market since our last update on Nov. 13. At the time, we reported things were at a standstill for sales to US-based steelmakers.

The Latin American Steel Association (Alacero) has chosen Máximo Vedoya as its new president. 

The latest Baker Hughes rig count report showed oil and gas drilling improved in both the US and Canada in the first week of November.

Latin American steelmaker Ternium SA is increasing its stake in Brazilian flat-rolled steel producer Usiminas.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday had a much-anticipated meeting. Is it only a hiatus in the trade war, or did it really change the situation? I suspect the former, I but hope for the latter.

The pig iron market in Brazil saw some activity last week that could present some additional options to producers there, but at lower price levels.

Gerdau’s North American profits rose in the third quarter, boosted by a decline in imports due to Section 232 steel tariffs.

CRU analysts break down their top takeaways from CRU's 31st Annual Ferroalloys Connections Summit, held Oct. 19-21 in Miami.

Ternium closed the third quarter with steady shipments and improving margins. But trade policy uncertainty and subdued demand in Mexico weighed on the Latin American steelmaker’s results.

In dollar-per-ton terms, US product is on average $141/st less than landed import prices (inclusive of the 50% tariff). That’s down from $148/st last week.

Nucor entered the fourth quarter with clear forward momentum: stronger-than-expected results, solid sheet and plate demand, and construction progress on a major new mill that should add capacity next year.

NEMO Industries CEO talks cost and reasoning behind a $3-billion pig iron project in Louisiana.

SMU digs into the vault to look back at an old survey, and to tell what exciting things are still to come.

US buyers want to drop pig iron prices to levels commensurate with the decline in prime scrap in their domestic market. Prime price shed $20 per gross ton (gt) in September and another $20/gt in October.

World crude steel output declined for the fourth-consecutive month in September, slipping 3% from August to an estimated 141.8 million metric tons (mt), according to the latest figures from the World Steel Association (worldsteel).

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. pointed to signs of recovery in its third-quarter earnings report on Monday. Improved automotive volumes and a better product mix drove sequential gains, but the steelmaker’s financials continue to bled red.

US domestic sheet prices have remained rangebound in recent weeks as supply tightness met weak demand. Demand for steel produced in the US increased among some Mexican industrial buyers....

Musings on decarb, tariffs, and technology, and where it might be leading.

The World Steel Association (worldsteel) Short Range Outlook for global steel demand predicts that 2025’s steel demand will clock in at the same level as in 2024. In its October report, the Brussels-based association stated that this year’s steel demand will reach ~1,750 million metric tons (mt). The organization forecasts a 1.3% demand rebound in 2026, pushing […]

Usually, I write about steel in this column because, well, we’re Steel Market Update. But before I get to steel, I want to give a shoutout to my colleagues at Aluminum Market Update (AMU) – SMU’s new sister publication.

SMU spoke with a large channel in Brazil who confirmed his company sold a cargo of 50,000 metric tons (mt) to a US buyer at $383/mt FOB Brazil. That's down $12/mt from the last cargo sold in September.

Gerdau is repositioning its North American business to capitalize on a sharp shift in steel trade flows driven by elevated tariffs across the US, Canada, and Mexico.

A recent IIMA meeting in Brazil shows how the US and much of the rest of the world are operating in parallel realities.