By CRU Economist Frank Eich and CRU Research Analyst Clifton Hoong As addressing climate change has become an increasingly urgent political priority, policy makers have been keen to develop the available tool kit to address this challenge. Within that tool kit, carbon pricing plays an important role as it has been identified as one of […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. completed the acquisition of Merfish United, a master distributor of tubular building products, from One Equity Partners, a middle market private equity firm, effective Oct. 1. “We are excited to welcome Merfish United to the Reliance Family of Companies and to broaden our focus on adjacent business opportunities beyond traditional metals […]
The paralyzing blows from the semiconductor chip scarcity haven’t just been limited to automakers. Supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, and logistical constraints have been decimating the domestic manufacturing sector at a similar clip, as detailed in a recently released white paper by a coalition of four major manufacturing associations. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturing […]
Steel prices gradually declined through the month of September, following one full year of increasing prices. Hot rolled steel prices decreased $35 per ton ($1.75 per cwt) throughout the month, with the SMU index averaging $1,920 per ton ($96.00 per cwt) as of last Tuesday. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator was adjusted to neutral the […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz While Section 232 has gotten a lot of attention in the last few years, the antidumping and countervailing duty laws have been the mainstay of protecting domestic industries from steel to aluminum to solar panels to auto parts for many years. In the runup to the 2020 election, the Commerce […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz The Section 232 tariffs are uppermost on people’s minds again, according to questions I’m getting from readers. My view is that the tariffs (and quotas and “monitoring”) have remained because of politics and the lack of ideas for reconciling the irreconcilable. We need a policy that protects domestic steel (and […]
By CRU Aluminum Advisor Greg Wittbecker Aluminum prices touched a 13-year high last week, flirting with $3,000 per metric ton on the LME. That throwback to 2008 is not a coincidence, corresponding to the last time that primary aluminum supply-demand balances were as tight as they are in 2021. In the period 2006 to first […]
By Stephen Williamson, CRU Research Manager, Aluminum Aluminum prices continue to flirt with $3,000 per metric ton on the LME. While off a bit, now at $2,866, recent upsets in the market make price volatility the norm in the near term. Energy curtailments in China exacerbate not only global aluminum supply but also silicon (Si) […]
By Stephen Williamson, CRU Research Manager, Aluminum As in last week’s report, aluminum prices continue to flirt with the $3,000 per metric ton mark on the LME, $2,908/t as of this writing. However, this apparently steady price range belies a torrent of market activity. The protracted energy curtailments in China continue to cast doubt on […]
Prices for four of the seven steelmaking raw materials tracked in this SMU analysis decreased over the last 30 days. Through Sept. 17, iron ore prices stumbled 21% in one month’s time, busheling scrap prices declined 12%, pig iron prices fell 11%, and shredded scrap prices declined 3%. Coking coal prices jumped 49% in that […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz The announcement last week that the U.S. would work to provide secret technology to Australia for that country to build and operate nuclear-powered submarines turned heads in the United States, but blew minds in France. The nuclear sub deal also terminated a $66 billion deal for France to supply diesel-powered […]
Olympic Steel Inc. has sold its Detroit operations to Canadian flat-rolled metal processor and distributor Venture Steel Inc. for $58.4 million in cash. The Cleveland-based service center said the final sale price would be higher once working capital adjustments were taken into account. The deal will allow Olympic to reduce debt, give it more flexibility […]
By CRU Senior Economist Henry Hao and Principal Economist Alex Tuckett, from CRU’s Global Economics Outlook Since China rolled out the “three red lines” policies, China’s second-largest developer China Evergrande (EG) has grown to be the most indebted with more than RMB1.97 tn of liabilities. Market investors are concerned that Evergrande will collapse and default […]
Editor’s note: Steel Market Update is please to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Producer prices expanded further in August, albeit at a slower rate. The gains continued, however, maintaining the historic climb for the index and subcategories for final demand, which have […]
By CRU Aluminum Advisor Greg Wittbecker Steel and aluminum are vigorous competitors, but share a common plight, supply chain woes. Just-in-time manufacturing, lean manufacturing, vendor-managed inventory…we all know the buzzwords that have shaped the way both the aluminum and steel supply chains have operated for several decades. Since the Global Financial Crisis, the primary aluminum market […]
By CRU Aluminum Advisor Greg Wittbecker China has been wrestling with inflationary tendencies in its aluminum market for some time: Spot Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) high aluminum is at $3,516 per ton; that compares to $2,139 a year ago and $1,849 five years ago. The Chinese State Reserve Board (SRB) is releasing part of its […]
The prices contractors pay for construction materials continued to increase in August, while many firms reported struggles to get those materials delivered on time, according to an analysis of government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. AGC urged Washington officials to address the challenges affecting the entire supply chain and driving the price escalations. […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. David has over 20 years of trading experience in financial markets and has been active in the ferrous futures space for over eight years. You can learn more at www.thefeldstein.com or add him on twitter @TheFeldstein and on Instragram at #thefeldstein. Since Aug. […]
There’s a good chance the Section 232 tariffs on steel imports from the European Union could be replaced by a tariff rate quota (TRQ) as soon as November as a result of trade talks now under way between officials from the U.S. and EU. The EU is strongly opposed to the Trump-era “national security” tariffs […]
Ryerson has acquired Specialty Metals Processing (SMP) as it looks to expand its value-added offerings and its presence in the stainless arena. Stow, Ohio-based SMP toll processes stainless steel, aluminum, titanium and nickel alloy products for specialty markets such as aerospace, Ryerson said. It also offers expertise in buffing, grinding and polishing, the Chicago-based service […]
Prices for four of the seven steelmaking raw materials tracked in this SMU analysis decreased over the last 30 days. Through Sept. 1st, iron ore prices stumbled 18% in one month’s time, pig iron prices fell 11%, shredded scrap prices declined 4%, and zinc prices decreased 2%. Busheling scrap prices remained flat month over month, while aluminum prices rose […]
Steel prices continued to climb through the month of August, marking one full year of increasing prices. Hot rolled steel prices increased $45 per ton ($2.25 per cwt) throughout the month, with the SMU index averaging $1,935 per ton ($96.75 per cwt) as of Tuesday. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator remains unchanged since the August 2020 adjustment to higher, indicating prices […]
New orders, production and prices grew in August, while employment contracted and supply backlogs expanded, said the Institute for Supply Management in its August 2021 Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The Manufacturing PMI rose 0.4 percentage point in August to 59.9%, edging higher and indicating expansion in the overall economy for the 15th consecutive month […]
By CRU Aluminum Advisor Greg Wittbecker The fundamentals in the aluminum market are continuing to tighten as we complete the third quarter. Growing Deficit in 2021 Driven by Chinese and Canadian Production Excursions CRU has substantially increased the size of the global deficit for 2021, moving it from a 240,000-ton surplus to a deficit of 1,180,000 […]
I was pleased to see many of you this past week in Atlanta at the SMU Steel Summit. It is certainly one of the largest (and most significant) steel conferences in the United States. This year was a first – a hybrid conference, with about 800 in-person attendees and 300 virtual. I doubt it will […]
Electric vehicle (EV) sales have gotten a big boost from President Biden’s pledge to reduce harmful CO2 emissions. And the Biden administration’s infrastructure bill now under debate in Congress, which includes $7.5 billion in funding for a nationwide network of EV charging stations, could go a long way toward reducing the “range anxiety” that is […]
Two of the steel industry’s most respected analysts delivered a reality check to the market on Monday during SMU’s Steel Summit in Atlanta. Record-high steel prices enjoyed by steelmakers and distributors for the past year “can’t last,” they declared. Simply put, supply-demand fundamentals indicate that prices are due – indeed overdue – to drop significantly in the next […]
By CRU Principal Economist Alex Tuckett, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service, Nov. 18 The world economy is facing multiple headwinds. Supply-chain problems continue to hold back industrial sectors and elevate inflation. Meanwhile, an energy crisis is adding to the pressure on manufacturers and consumers. On the demand side, the biggest risk remains the Chinese […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. plans to expand into the scrap market – and is creating a new division for that purpose, the company’s top executive said. The scrap division – Cleveland-Cliffs Services – will be spearheaded by Keith Koci, Cliff’s chief financial officer. More details about the venture will be made available in early September, Cliffs Chairman, President and […]
We are seeing (again) the disruption that unexpected news can bring. Just when we thought we were out of the woods (no pun intended), we see a resurgence of hospitalizations from COVID, the fall of Afghanistan, perhaps the unluckiest country in the world, a major earthquake in Haiti, perhaps the second unluckiest, and a hurricane […]