Contributor: Laura Miller

Private equity firm SCF Partners announced it has acquired American Piping Products (APP), a pipe and tube distributor headquartered in Chesterfield, Mo.

Worthington Enterprises reported higher fiscal first-quarter sales and earnings while citing rapidly growing data center demand and continued tightness in the steel market.

Metalformers’ optimism softened in the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) September Business Conditions Report.

SMU’s latest Flat-Rolled Steel Buyers Survey shows that in a tight US market marked by long lead times, low inventories, and rising prices, foreign products continue to gain the interest of domestic buyers.

The Commerce Department has found high dumping rates of Chinese tin mill products in the US market.

In the trade case investigating subsidized wire rod imports from Algeria, the Commerce Department set final subsidy rates and officially issued the countervailing duty (CVD) order.

The US Department of Commerce has raised the anti-dumping duties (AD) on imports of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from Vietnam.

A new player is emerging in the grain-oriented electrical steel (GOES) space. Flux Steel Works announced plans to renovate and reequip a former ATI specialty steel plant in Louisville, Ohio, to produce GOES.

Service centers and manufacturers on the Sept. 15 HARDI Sheet Metal and Air Handling Council call described a tight, seller-driven market. Lead times are long, deliveries are late, inventories are thin, imports are down, and demand is strong, causing a shortage of galvanized material. SMU regularly joins the council’s meetings to discuss the galvanized sheet market. Participants — members of Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) — are wholesalers, service centers, distributors, and manufacturers who buy or sell galvanized steel.

Manufacturing activity in New York state continued to expand in September, but at a slower pace than in August, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s latest Empire State Manufacturing Survey.

Six qualified bidders have emerged for the assets of bankrupt Altos Hornos de México (Ahmsa) and its Minosa mining assets.

The Commerce Department has issued its preliminary countervailing duty (CVD) determination in the trade case investigating tin mill products from China.

Long steel producers are seeking to raise prices for merchant bar quality (MBQ) products.

US steel imports increased 7.8% in July and, based on US Department of Commerce license data, rose even higher in August.

Carolina Heavy Steel is set to establish heavy steel processing, fabrication, and coating operations in Ridgeville, S.C.

Totten Tubes has opened a new facility in Cedar City, Utah. The steel tubing distributor and processor, based in Azusa, Calif., recently celebrated the facility’s grand opening.

Domestic mill shipments slipped from June to July, according to the latest data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted not to sunset anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVDs) on imports of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from a handful of nations.

Ohio-based GrafTech International announced it will raise graphite electrode prices by at least 30%. The increase is effective immediately for all open commercial negotiations, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on US goods have drawn support from Canadian steel producers and labor groups. Meanwhile, US manufacturers and trade officials are calling for renewed negotiations as the dispute adds costs and uncertainty to cross-border supply chains.

The US Department of Commerce has made a preliminary subsidy determination in the trade case targeting imports of oil country tubular goods (OCTG), while also postponing the initial decision in the dumping portion of the case.

The US Department of Commerce has adjusted the countervailing duties on cold-rolled steel products from Korea. In the final results of an administrative review of the 2023 calendar year, Commerce assigned subsidy rates of 1.28% for Hyundai Steel and 3.64% for Posco. These differ slightly from the previous rates of 2.21% for Hyundai and 1.47% for Posco. Last year, South Korea sent 87,928 metric tons of cold-rolled sheet to the US, according to US import data. Year-to-date shipments through July are 56,331 mt.

The Commerce Department believes notable dumping and illegal subsidies would continue if import duties on welded line pipe from Turkey and Korea were allowed to expire.

Mexico has formally opened an anti-dumping investigation into imports of cut-to-length steel plate from Japan. Mexico’s Ministry of Economy launched the trade case after a complaint by Grupo Acerero (GASA). GASA, a San Luis Potosi-based steel producer, alleges price discrimination and injury to the Mexican industry, according to the announcement in Mexico’s Official Gazette of the Federation. The case targets hot-rolled, uncoated, non-coil carbon steel plate in sheet form, at least 4.75 mm thick and 600 mm wide.

GrafTech International Ltd. plans to permanently close its graphite electrode manufacturing facility in Monterrey, Mexico. The closure will happen in phases, with production expected to end early in the second quarter of 2027.

Vehicle affordability pressures are limiting growth in vehicle volumes, according to Mark Strand, deputy chief economist at Cox Automotive. SUVs, fleet activity, and aftermarket work could support steel demand, he told the audience last week at Steel Summit 2026 in Atlanta.

The latest ISM Manufacturing PMI registered 54.6% in August, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The reading was just one percentage point lower than in July.

Business cooled off in Chicago in August, falling into contraction territory for the first time since April, according to the latest Chicago Business Barometer reading.

Data center construction is supporting US nonresidential construction activity and steel demand, according to Eric Gaus of Dodge Construction Network.

Tight steel availability and lean inventories are increasing pressure on US service centers, according to speakers on a service center panel on Wednesday, August 26, at the SMU Steel Summit 2026.