SMU’s Community Chat webinar on Wednesday will feature veteran trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz. We’ll talk Section 232, the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) with the EU, and the changing global trade landscape. The free webinar begins at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT) on Wednesday, Nov 17. You can register right up to webinar time by clicking […]
Hot-rolled coil prices continue to slide. And galvanized base prices are holding more or less steady. What gives? Check out the slide below. The green line is galvanized base prices. The blue line is lead times. Prices are on the left-hand side of the slide. Lead times are on the right. Prices have been around […]
Earnings season is (mostly) done and dusted, so I’d like to turn your attention to another season: M&A announcement season. Bankers like to get deals done before Christmas. And I think there is a decent chance that any deals in the pipeline now are announced in the next month or so. Also, while spot prices […]
SMU’s Community Chat webinar on Wednesday will feature veteran trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz. We’ll talk Section 232, the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) with the EU, and the changing global trade landscape. The free webinar begins at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT) on Wednesday, Nov 17. More than 250 people have already registered. You can register […]
The U.S. and Japan have officially begun talks that could lead to an easing of Section 232 tariffs on Japanese steel and aluminum exports. Those negotiations are part of a broader bilateral discussion on ways to reduce excess steel- and aluminum-making capacity globally, most of which the U.S. says is driven by China. “The United […]
Algoma Steel posted record profits in its fiscal second quarter, and the Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker expects money to continue to pour in as high spot prices roll into 2022 contracts. The Sault Ste Marie, Ontario-based company also thinks that the traditional relationship between sheet and plate prices will be restored as infrastructure spending increases demand for […]
The board of Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Algoma has approved the construction of two new electric arc furnaces (EAFs) with combined steelmaking capacity of 3.7 million tons per year. The new EAFs are expected to come online in 2024 and to replace the Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based company’s blast furnaces and basic oxygen furnaces. “We believe […]
ArcelorMittal recorded it best quarterly earnings performance since 2008 in the third quarter as sharply higher prices offset lower shipment volumes. The shipment declines came partly because of weaker demand and order cancellations from the automotive sector, the company said. The automotive industry has struggled with various supply chain issues, most notably – but not […]
Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker Stelco posted the highest quarterly profits in its history in the third quarter on strong demand, high prices and increased shipment volumes. And the Hamilton, Ontario-based company predicted that the momentum would roll into the fourth quarter too. “Once again, our business has demonstrated our ability to take full advantage of strong market conditions […]
NLMK USA is in the middle of an approximately week-long planned outage at its steel mill in Portage, Ind., industry sources said. The outage at the electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill – also known as NLMK Indiana – began on Saturday night and is expected to be wrapped up this weekend. NLMK USA typically […]
Ternium is considering adding a new electric arc furnace to its operations in North America as well as downstream cold rolling and coating capability. That’s according to sources familiar with the matter and as indiciated in recent public comments from company executives. The most likely candidate for any new EAF would be Pesquería, Mexico – […]
Steel industry lobbying groups and trade unions cheered passage of the bipartisan House $1 trillion infrastructure bill – which experts estimate could result in millions of tons of new steel demand. The legislation devotes approximately $850 billion to steel-intensive infrastructure, according to estimates from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). The House vote, which occurred late […]
The House has finally passed a bipartisan infrastructure bill after months of wrangling not only among Republicans and Democrats but also among factions within the Democratic party. “American steel built this country, and the industry is now ready to get to work on rebuilding this country. Repairing and modernizing our national transportation system is essential […]
SMU’s next Community Chat webinar will feature veteran trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz. We’ll talk Section 232, the tariff-rate quota (TRQ) with the EU, and the changing global trade landscape. The free webinar begins at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT) on Wednesday, Nov 17. You can register by clicking here. Why should you listen? The […]
South Korea is pushing for “swift consultations” with U.S. trade officials about Section 232 following the negotiation of a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) with the European Union, according to local media reports. Seoul is concerned that the deal with the EU – which will allow approximately 3.6 million short tons of steel into the U.S. duty […]
BlueScope Steel plans to acquire U.S. ferrous scrap recycler MetalX LLC for $240 million. MetalX is the leading scrap supplier to North Star BlueScope, the Australian steelmaker’s electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill in Delta, Ohio. The deal is expected to close by the end of December, BlueScope said in a press release. MetalX operates […]
United Steelworkers (USW) members at ArcelorMittal’s tube plant in Shelby, Ohio, have been on strike since midnight on Sunday, according to local media reports. That’s when a four-year labor contract between the Luxembourg-based steelmaker and USW Local 3057 expired. Sticking points in contract talks include time off over holidays as well as pension and health […]
United Auto Workers (UAW) members at John Deere have again rejected a tentative labor pact agreed to by union and company negotiators. Approximately 55% of UAW members voted to reject the proposed six-year labor agreement. Only 45% voted in favor of it. That’s a better reception than the one received by an initial tentative contract […]
Japan wants a waiver from the current Section 232 regime following the U.S. negotiating a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) with the European Union. The issue came up during a virtual meeting between U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Koichi Hagiuda, head of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, on Thursday, Nov. 4. Minister Hagiuda “strongly […]
JSW Steel (USA) Inc. has launched the second phase of a $260 million project aimed at refurbishing its plate mill in Baytown, Texas. The upgrades will allow the Baytown mill to better compete in on- and offshore wind tower, agriculture, construction and storage tank markets as well as in other sectors for which surface finish […]
U.S. Steel has resumed production at its Big River Steel electric arc furnace (EAF) sheet mill in Osceola, Ark., following a two-week maintenance outage last month, a company spokeswoman said. The outage had commenced on Oct. 10. SMU has updated its EAF status table to reflect the change. Big River Steel has annual capacity of […]
U.S. mill CEOs generally praised the tariff rate quota (TRQ) agreement reached with the EU. But they stressed that enforcement would be key to its success. The United Kingdom, Japan and countries that have hard quotas – such as South Korea – are places that come to mind when one thinks of where a deal might […]
U.S. Steel has completed or has nearly completed two blast furnace outages, a company spokeswoman confirmed. But furnaces that have been idled will remain so, the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker’s top executive said. U.S. Steel has completed an approximately one-week outage on the B blast furnace at its Granite City Works outside of St. Louis, the spokeswoman […]
The tariff-rate quota, or TRQ, replacing Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imported from the European Union will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, per details of the agreement released by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR). A 25% tariff will be still applied after the quota limit – 3.3 million […]
Algoma Steel Group Inc. and Triple M Metal LP have formed a joint venture – ATM Metals Inc. – to source prime scrap and other iron units for the Canadian flat-rolled steelmaker. The tie up between Triple M, one of North America’s largest private scrap recyclers, and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based Algoma comes as the latter is […]
We’re all on the same price roller coaster, and that’s true whether we’re talking steel, plastic or wood. But we’re not all on the same car – and so your impression of the market might be vastly different if you’re in the front car instead of the back one. That’s the impression I got while speaking […]
The U.S. and the European Union (EU) could reach a deal that would lead to the removal Section 232 tariffs from steel imports from the trade bloc as soon as this weekend, according to sources familiar with the matter. The two sides would most likely agree to a tariff rate quota, or TRQ, which would replace […]
Evraz steel sales dropped in the third quarter as a strong showing from its North American operations only partially offset weaker demand as well as logistics and maintenance issues in Russia. The sales drop in Russia resulted in part from a slowdown in the local construction market. It also stemmed from bad weather and difficulty […]
Domestic mills plan to announce higher zinc coating extras as soon as this week, according to market participants. The higher coating extras would be effective Jan. 1, 2022, they said. At least two domestic mills have also confirmed that extras will move higher. Zinc is used to make galvanized products. It prevents rust. Zinc prices […]
I thought I’d be writing today that Steel Market Update had switched all its steel pricing momentum indicators to lower. But what you think should happen and what reality serves up are sometimes very different things. Hot-rolled coil prices continued to fall – they’re down $25 per ton compared to last week. That’s not a surprise. […]