Contributor: Laura Miller

Barry Zekelman showed up to last Wednesday’s SMU Community Chat as his usual self: energized, blunt, and unapologetically bullish on the US steel industry.

The Office of the US Trade Representative has finalized a 25% Section 301 tariff on all goods imported from Brazil. Importantly for the US steel industry, pig iron has received an exemption from the tariff.

SMU’s July 10 Flat-Rolled Steel Survey results paint a picture of a steel market being squeezed from every direction. Tariffs are holding prices up and giving mills a clear advantage, while manufacturers and traders say the policy is pushing their costs higher.

Testimony at last week’s Section 301 hearing put Brazilian pig iron in the spotlight. Domestic steelmakers and Brazilian suppliers warned that proposed forced labor tariffs would hit a critical US input for which there is no domestic substitute.

The Commerce Department has opened a new Section 232 national security investigation of anthracite and metallurgical coal imports. The department is seeking detailed input from the industry on supply risks, import dependence, and potential national security impacts.

The latest data from Baker Hughes show that oil and gas drilling in the US was steady last week, while it tapered off further in Canada.

Steel mill lead times for flat-rolled steel this week remained extended at historical highs. Plate production times crept out further, while hot-rolled and cold-rolled (HR/CR) coil saw minor contractions.

AZZ President and CEO Tom Ferguson said the Texas-based coil coating and galvanizing company is off to a great start in its 2027 fiscal year.

Iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes picked up in June, and year-to-date shipments show improvement over last year.

Wire rod imports from Algeria face new countervailing duties (CVDs) in the US.

Talks of a potential joint venture between Atlas Tube and Maruichi USA have ended.

The investigation follows requests from US producers Nucor and Steel Dynamics.

Rebar imports from Algeria are now subject to stiff countervailing duties (CVDs).

Canada’s Varsteel Ltd. has acquired Acier Quebec-Maritimes Inc., a steel and aluminum service center in Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec.

Mexican steelmaker Talleres y Aceros SA de CV (Tyasa) has placed an order from Primetals Technologies for a twin vacuum degassing plant to be installed at its Ixtaczoquitlán mill in southeastern Mexico.

Wheeling-Nippon Steel Inc. announced a series of promotions across the West Virginia-based company.

The US manufacturing sector expanded in June but at a slower pace than the month before, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM) latest Manufacturing PMI Report.

Target Steel and Target Metal Blanking are expanding into Mexico.

North American steel buyers are navigating a market where demand is firming, but import activity remains cautious. Buyers reported mixed import activity in SMU’s June 26 flat-rolled steel buyers’ survey.

Hybar LLC broke ground Friday on its second rebar mill in Osceola, Ark., accelerating one of the fastest expansion runs the US long-products sector has seen in years.

“Ohio Strip Steel reflects who we are today and where we’re going,” the Dover, Ohio-based company said.

Consolidation continues in the HSS (hollow structural sections) sector, with two big deals announced just this month.

Domestic steelmakers told the Congressional Steel Caucus that strong trade enforcement and Section 232 tariffs continue to drive higher production, new investment, and facility restarts nationwide.

The company announced an investment of more than $90 million for its steel shop in Koppel, Pa., and its seamless pipe manufacturing plant in Ambridge, Pa.

The investment will install a new quench-and-tempering line at the facility, which manufactures seamless pipe and tube.

Mexico’s federal government is moving to implement its new steel-industry promotion pact. Officials held a high-level plenary session to align public procurement plans with domestic steel capacity.

South Korea has overtaken Canada as the top foreign supplier of steel to the US market.

Steel Dynamics Inc. expects to post higher sequential earnings in the second quarter, with “meaningfully higher” profitability from its steel operations.

Canada’s steel production dropped sharply in May, falling 15% year over year and running 14% lower year-to-date, according to Earth-i’s Savant Global Monitoring Index. May’s production was just under 900,000 metric tons.

U.S. Steel has selected Charlotte, N.C.-based Midrex Technologies to supply the direct-reduced iron (DRI) plant to its Big River Steel Works in Osceola, Ark.