Infrastructure is finally getting some attention again, despite and because of the cornavirus. Congress and the White House are calling for an infrastructure bill to be included in the fourth COVID-19 relief package. “With interest rates for the United States being at ZERO, this is the time to do our decades long awaited Infrastructure Bill,” Trump […]
Domestic raw steel production plunged by nearly 10 percent in the week ending March 28 as the coronavirus took a toll on the economy and steel demand, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute. Steelmakers have announced a series of furnace idlings in the past few weeks that took an estimated 5 million tons of […]
Business remains surprisingly strong for wholesalers who sell galvanized steel products to the HVAC sector, considering the devastating impact of the coronavirus on the economy. In a conference call this morning, members of the Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) said the construction industry has dodged the worst of the virus’ effects so […]
John Packard is taking some time off… By most readings of the government guidelines, steel is considered an “essential” industry during this virus crisis. Mills that produce steel products, and by extension service centers that distribute them, are critical to getting the economy back on track. For some steel-consuming sectors, however, their “essentialness” may be […]
A battle is brewing among legislators, manufacturers and steel producers regarding whether tariff measures should be suspended on imports under Section 301 and Section 232 during the coronavirus crisis. Republican members of the Senate Finance Committee urged President Trump to ease tariff restrictions during the pandemic. In a letter on March 25, the committee exhorted […]
Raw steel production saw its third weekly decline of 1 percent or more, taking the mill capability utilization rate below 80 percent for the first time since mid-December 2019 as the coronavirus crisis begins to affect steel demand. Production for the week ending March 21 totaled 1,852,000 net tons, for a utilization rate of 79.4 […]
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) is urging the Trump administration to identify the steel manufacturing sector and its workers as “essential” when drafting and enforcing shelter-in-place orders and other directives in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “As the Secretary of Commerce determined in 2018, steel is important to national security well beyond obvious […]
Weekly raw steel production saw its second decline of 1 percent or more in the week ending March 14, suggesting that the coronavirus may be affecting steel demand. Production last week totaled 1,878,000 net tons with the mills operating at 80.5 percent of their capability. That’s down 25,000 tons or 1.3 percent from the prior […]
Mill shipments of sheet products in January were the highest since August 2019. This analysis is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import-export data from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC). This month we are producing a new report for long products and will follow this […]
Demand for long products declined by 3.5 percent in the three months through January, but rebar was up by 9.6 percent. This analysis is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import-export data from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC). It summarizes total steel supply by product […]
U.S. raw steel production in January rose to a 10-month high at 8,439,441 net tons, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington. January production was above the 2019 average of 8,061,679 tons and up 1.8 percent compared to the same month last year. The last time production was this high was March 2019 […]
Apparent U.S. steel supply jumped to 9.5 million net tons in January, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute and U.S. Department of Commerce. January apparent supply is now on the high-side compared to the last few years, a nice recovery from November’s three-year low and other late-2019 lows. Apparent steel supply, […]
Raw steel production in the week ending March 7 totaled 1,903,000 net tons with the mills operating at 81.6 percent of their capability. That’s down 20,000 tons or 1.0 percent from the previous week when capacity utilization was at 82.5 percent. The current week’s production is a 0.5 percent decrease from the same period last […]
Thomas Gibson, president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute, will retire this fall. A search for his successor begins immediately. Gibson has led AISI since September 2008. Under his leadership, the institute successfully advocated for legislation to strengthen the trade laws against unfair trade practices and level the playing field for steel […]
Raw steel production increased in all five regions of the country in the week ending Feb. 29, totaling 1,923,000 net tons, up 1.2 percent from the prior week and raising the mills to a healthy average utilization rate of 82.5 percent. The current week’s production represents a 0.3 percent increase from the same period last […]
The American Institute for International Steel suffered another setback in its constitutional challenge of the Trump administration’s use of Section 232 tariffs to restrict steel and aluminum imports on the basis of national security. In a ruling on Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the claim by AIIS that the “non-delegation doctrine” makes it […]
Domestic mills won back market share from imports in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Even though the steel market contracted by 1.9 percent in 2019, shipments by U.S. mills to domestic locations increased by 2.9 percent as imports declined. Table 1 shows 13 years of history of total steel supply to the U.S. market in short […]
Raw steel production in the week ending Feb. 22 totaled 1,901,000 net tons, a small 0.3 percent decrease from the prior week. The average mill utilization rate of 81.5 percent has fluctuated within a narrow +/-1 percent range since the beginning of the year and remains at a healthy level for the mills. Production last […]
While America’s integrated steel producers are investing millions in R&D to reduce harmful emissions from their steelmaking process, the nation’s minimill steel producers have already claimed the high ground for environmental stewardship. Integrated mills and their blast furnaces heat iron ore and coking coal at high temperatures to produce high-quality virgin pig iron and steel. […]
Raw steel production in the week ending Feb. 15 totaled 1,907,000 net tons, a small 0.4 percent increase from the prior week to a strong mill utilization rate of 81.8 percent. Production last week was down 0.5 percent from the same period last year, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute. Adjusted year-to-date production through Feb. […]
Based on our analysis of 10 economic indicators, the decline in manufacturing slowed in February’s data. This report summarizes 10 data streams that describe the state of U.S. manufacturing in general and the steel industry in particular. We have reported on most of these separately in our Steel Market Update publications, and therefore will be […]
In three months through December, demand for total rolled products declined by 6.1 percent. This Premium analysis by Steel Market Update is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import-export data from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC). It is meant as a more in-depth look compared […]
Apparent U.S. steel supply increased to 8.8 million net tons in December, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute and U.S. Department of Commerce. While up over the previous three months, December supply remains low compared to the last two years. Last month we reported that November supply was at a three-year low, […]
Raw steel production in the week ending Feb. 8 totaled 1,899,000 net tons, a small 0.8 percent decline from the prior week, but still a healthy mill utilization rate of 81.4 percent. Production last week was down 0.9 percent from the same period last year, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute. Adjusted year-to-date production through […]
U.S. raw steel production in December rose 2.9 percent to 8,037,650 net tons, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington. December production was below the 2019 average of 8,061,679 tons and down 2.5 percent compared to the same month last year. Broken down by production method, 5,682,920 tons (70.7 percent) were produced by […]
By CRU Prices Analyst Estelle Tran, from CRU’s Bulk Ferro Alloys Monitor The steel market got a stronger than expected start to the year, lifting year-to-date U.S. steel mill capability utilization to 82.1 percent—the highest level since May 2019, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. The Institute for Supply Management reported that the […]
With January in the record books, domestic steelmakers have managed to keep their raw steel production at a healthy 82 percent of capacity or better for the entire first month of the year, outpacing the rate in the beginning of 2019. Production in the week ending Feb. 1 totaled 1,914,000 net tons for a utilization […]
As advanced as steelmaking has become, producing steel is still an inherently carbon- and energy-intensive process. Steel mills in the United States and the rest of the world find themselves in the crosshairs of the many environmental and political groups now calling for dramatic steps to reduce harmful air emissions and slow the pace of […]
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada-Agreement was signed into law by President Trump on Wednesday. The signing clears the way for Canada to begin the ratification process that is likely to be concluded in March. The president called the agreement the “largest, fairest, most balanced, and modern trade agreement ever achieved.” “Everybody said this was a deal that could […]
Domestic steelmakers kept their their raw steel production rate above 82 percent of their capability in the week ending Jan. 25. Production totaled 1,919,000 net tons for a utilization rate of 82.3 percent, down a slight 0.5 percent from the previous week but up 2.6 percent compared with the same week last year, reported the American […]