Category: South America

Carbon steel plate market participants suspect that this week’s modestly softer prices are the result of quietly negotiated prices between plate purchasers and mills.

With SMU Steel Summit starting in just a few days, I decided to go back and do a quick check on where things stand now compared to the week before Summit last year.

Is a pattern finally emerging in the post-Liberation Day tariff landscape?

Sheet and plate prices were flat or lower again this week on continued concerns about demand and higher production rates among US mills.

Prices remain subdued in US pig iron market, sources said.

The CRUmpi rose by 0.8% month over month (m/m) to 286.1 in August, following four consecutive months of decline. Scrap prices showed mixed trends across major regions, largely influenced by local supply-and-demand dynamics, government policies, and the relative strength of finished steel markets. US prices were stable while Europe and Asia saw price increases, but […]

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

Sources in the carbon and alloy steel plate market said they are less discouraged by market uncertainty resulting from tariffs or foreign relations, but are instead, eager to see disruption to the flat pricing environment.

What are our scrap survey participants saying about the market?

The administration continues to negotiate deals with US trading partners, and the reciprocal tariff program appears poised for further modification. This week, we focus on other important developments that may have received less media attention.

The volume of steel shipped outside of the country in June fell 3% from the prior month to 618,000 short tons (st), according to recently released data from the US Department of Commerce.

What the word "sideways" means can depend on where you sit on the procurement spectrum.

Since the last writing of this article, CME hot-rolled coil (HRC) futures have been largely steady and lifeless, though there’s been some brief bouts of intraday volatility.

Following January’s pre-tariff surge, imports have remained low since February compared to post-pandemic volumes

SMU’s Monthly Review provides a summary of our key steel market metrics for the previous month, with the latest data updated through July 31.

Current and future scrap sentiment indices declined this month, according to SMU’s latest ferrous scrap survey data.

Sheet and plate prices were either flat or modestly lower this week on softer demand and increasing domestic capacity.

The ferrous scrap market for August appears to be settling sideways as the threats posed to the market in July have not materialized.

Prices for four of the seven steelmaking raw materials we track were unchanged from late June through the end of July, while two increased and one declined. Collectively, these material prices rose 1% month over month (m/m), but are down 3% compared to three months ago.

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

ArcelorMittal expects less demand growth across most of the markets it operates in, including the US, because of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. But the Luxembourg-based steelmaker also thinks it stands to benefit from an increasingly regionalized world thanks to investments like the new EAF at its mill in Calvert, Ala.

Latin American steel producer Ternium delivered a solid performance in the second quarter of 2025. Performance was driven primarily by higher realized steel prices in Mexico, even as shipment volumes declined slightly across its regional portfolio.

The Trump administration has exempted Brazilian pig iron and iron ore from an aggressive "reciprocal" tariff ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline.

Sheet prices slipped again this week amid discounting from certain mills and ongoing concerns about demand.

Attorneys representing domestic petitioners and foreign respondent companies have been busy filing case briefings and making rebuttals as the corrosion-resistant steel unfair trade investigations begin to wind down.

The Brazilian pig iron community is playing defense ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline for a 50% US tariff on imports from the South American country. The moves indicate the Brazilian producers do expect the tariff to go into effect.

Is this just a severe case of the summer doldrums? Will demand improve in the fall, as it often does? Or has uncertainty around tariffs and the economy created a more lasting impact?

With 30 years of experience at Steel Dynamics, Barry Schneider reflects on the company and the state of the steel industry.

Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) executives called a 50% tariff on Brazilian pig iron “concerning,” but think tariffs will be a “mainstay” of trade agreements going forward.

Trade issues do not seem poised to leave the headlines anytime soon. And as recent developments show, the administration’s tariff policy remains ever-changing.