February was a good month for auto sales, with automakers posting higher sales as buyers took advantage of incentives and President’s Day discounts. Toyota sales moved up 12 percent to 194,152 units, while Honda sales gained 4.2 percent. Hyundai sales were driven by consumer enthusiasm for crossover vehicles, gaining 15.8 percent for the month. Most […]
Lourenco Goncalves is well known for speaking his mind. As an unconventional thinker and investor, he has put himself, and his company, at the center of the changes that are transforming the steel industry—and not for the first time in his career. The Chairman, President and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc., will be a keynote speaker […]
Canadian pipe and tube company Nova Steel is returning to the U.S. with a $70 million investment in Delta, Ohio. Nova plans to construct two new tube mills in northwest Ohio in proximity to North Star BlueScope. The 250,000-square-foot facility will produce hollow structural sections and standard pipe. “We are very excited to be back […]
This report is based on data from LMC Automotive for automotive assemblies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The breakdown of assemblies is “Personal” (cars for personal use) and “Commercial” (light vehicles less than 6.0 tonnes gross vehicle weight rating, heavy trucks and buses are not included). In this report we will briefly describe light […]
“Transformational” is what Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves called the acquisition of AK Steel in remarks during the Q4 2019 earnings call Thursday. “With the acquisition of AK Steel, Cleveland-Cliffs becomes the most relevant supplier of steel to the automotive industry in the United States, fully integrated from iron ore in the ground to auto parts […]
By CRU Multi-Commodity Analyst Zanna Aleksahhina As of Feb. 19, the outbreak of coronavirus Covid-19 has killed more than 2,000 people, infected over 75,000 others, and put millions in self-isolation. Aside from the human tragedy, the virus poses a real threat to the Chinese economy. The automotive industry will be hit hard, and we expect […]
The office of the U.S. Trade Representative released a scathing report detailing what the U.S. believes is wrong with the dispute mechanisms of the World Trade Organization. In 174 pages, the department lays out the alleged failures of the Appellate Body to conduct business by “agreed rules.” “As detailed in this Report, the Appellate Body […]
Members of the New Democrat Coalition Trade Task Force are outraged that the report for the Section 232 investigation into auto imports has not been released and that the threat of tariffs continues to create economic uncertainty. The results of the investigation were submitted to President Trump in February 2019, but the report was never […]
Today, we are rolling out more of our agenda for the 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference. For more information and to register, visit: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel-Summit. STEEL: DEALING WITH THE VELOCITY OF CHANGE AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS Monday, August 24, 2020 10:00 – 5:30 Conference RegistrationGeorgia International Convention Center- South Lobby 10:00 – 10:50 CME Hedging Workshop 11:10 – […]
Today, we are rolling out more of our agenda for the 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference. For more information and to register, visit: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel-Summit. STEEL: DEALING WITH THE VELOCITY OF CHANGE AGENDA HIGHLIGHTS Monday, August 24, 2020 10:00 – 5:30 Conference RegistrationGeorgia International Convention Center- South Lobby 10:00 – 10:50 CME Hedging Workshop 11:10 – […]
NLMK USA saw sales decrease 14 percent to 470,000 metric tons during the fourth quarter of 2019. Revenue from the segment dropped 18 percent quarter-over-quarter to $322 million. Declines were attributed to softer demand and lower steel prices. NLMK Group noted weaker demand in energy, automotive and machinery segments and a 4 percent drop in […]
Automakers are being challenged to put their best vehicles forward in the fight against climate change. Europe’s new emissions regulations for passenger and light commercial vehicles went into effect as of Jan. 1 this year. Going forward, auto manufacturers selling cars in the EU will work toward a 15 percent reduction of CO2 emissions by […]
The Super Bowl is done, the Grammys are behind us, the Oscars selected a foreign film (Parasite from South Korea) for the first time as Best Movie. The Iowa caucus presented more questions than answers. Today is the New Hampshire primary and the first votes finally are being cast to see who the Democrats will […]
I spent the second half of last week in Tampa where I was the master of ceremonies for the 31st Tampa Steel Conference hosted by the Port of Tampa. John Anton, IHS Markit Director of Steel Analytics / Pricing and Purchasing Service, provided the key economic and steel forecast for the group. He told the […]
Automotive sales were up year-over-year for most automakers that reported data for January. Sales last month rose 1.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17.1 million vehicles, according to auto research firm Edmunds. Automotive sales declined 1.6 percent in 2019 to 17.1 million vehicles. Edmunds expects sales for 2020 to be flat, but […]
Editor’s note: The following commentary by economist Alan Beaulieu, president of ITR Economics, is excerpted from a recent blog, “A Good Day for Trade.” Beaulieu has been a popular presenter at several Steel Market Update Steel Summits and will speak once again at this year’s conference on Aug. 25 in Atlanta. Click here for more […]
Editor’s note: The following commentary by economist Alan Beaulieu, president of ITR Economics, is excerpted from a recent blog, “A Good Day for Trade.” Beaulieu has been a popular presenter at several Steel Market Update Steel Summits and will speak once again at this year’s conference on Aug. 25 in Atlanta. Click here for more […]
U.S. Steel reported a net loss of $680 million for the fourth quarter of 2019 and a loss of $642 million for the year, but counts the quarter a success by exceeding its previously lowered Q4 expectations. The steelmaker sees last year as one of notable strategic progress. Sales for the year totaled $12.9 billion, […]
By CRU Principal Economist Lisa Morrison and Economist Anissa Chabib, from CRU’s Economic Outlook CRU Economics ran its fourth annual survey to gauge our clients’ expectations of economic conditions for 2020. We elicited responses across CRU’s full product portfolio and received information from 182 clients, working in 41 different countries. This feature presents the results […]
It’s Super Bowl Sunday! I will try to keep my comments short so we can all enjoy the game and worry about the steel markets in the morning. On Thursday and Friday of this past week I was in Ponte Vedra, Fla., as I was speaking to the Steel Manufacturers Association. The SMA are the […]
Demand is looking good for the steel industry this year, especially in the construction sector, said panel members on the Steel Manufacturers Association media call today. Dave Sumoski, Nucor Executive Vice President – Merchant and Rebar Products, noted that construction is a major area for Nucor. The market for steel bar is very strong with […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The presidential proclamation announcing new tariffs on “derivative” steel and aluminum articles was published in the Jan. 29 Federal Register (85 Fed. Reg. 5281). There are two Annexes that detail the products covered by the new tariffs: 1. “Aluminum […]
SSAB Americas posted a loss of $23 million (-222 million SEK) for the fourth quarter of 2019 due to lower realized steel prices and maintenance costs associated with a planned outage in Mobile, Ala. Heavy plate demand was good in the first half of the year, but weakened in the fourth quarter due to inventory […]
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says that tariffs on imports of autos and parts are still on the table, refuting claims that the deadline has passed to impose such measures under Section 232. After Commerce delivered its report on the national security implications of imports of foreign autos to the administration, the president had 180 days […]
The benchmark price for hot rolled steel dipped by about $20 last week to an average price of $590 per ton, according to Steel Market Update data. Despite the small decline, most of the steel buyers responding to SMU’s latest market trends questionnaire believe prices still have upward momentum. Let’s look at the data for […]
Steel Dynamics reported record steel shipments of 10.8 million tons and net sales of $10.5 billion in 2019 for the company’s second-best sales performance. Steel fabrication also set a yearly record with shipments of 644,000 tons, and almost doubled its operating income from 2018. Sales declined 11 percent to $11.5 billion from the record high […]
I have been spending time looking at market momentum, lead times (real, not from our survey), who is buying and who is not (and why), and what the market should be concentrating on over the next couple of months (not just today). I am going to start with comments I got from a couple of […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Erik Hedborg, Principal Economist Lisa Morrison, Principal Analyst Josh Spoores and Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Iron Ore Market Outlook In a recent insight series, CRU highlighted some of the challenges facing the three U.S. iron ore producers, Cleveland-Cliffs, U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal. The location of the mines and pellet plants […]
Steel and aluminum producers agree that lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles are better for the environment—but that’s where the consensus ends. In letters to the editor published recently by Automotive News, the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Aluminum Association wielded dueling studies to support their claims that theirs is the material of choice to […]
As we worked through pricing data this week, it was evident that much of the spot buying has occurred over the past couple of months. In our HARDI steel conference call this morning, those on the call who reported their inventory levels told the group they were either carrying inventories that were higher than normal […]