Tag: china

Renewable energy infrastructure, including wind turbines, solar farms, and electric-vehicle charging stations, requires substantial amounts of steel. The domestic steel industry, with its capacity to produce world-class steel with the world’s smallest carbon footprint, should be at the forefront of this supply chain. Yet the United States is increasingly importing steel from abroad to meet its renewable energy needs.

The US and Mexico announced measures on Wednesday to prevent tariff evasion and protect North America’s steel and aluminum industries.

Three steel trade groups and United Steelworkers (USW) union held an event on Capitol Hill urging action on strengthening legislation against unfair trade.

Steel trade associations applauded the introduction of the “Prove It Act” into the House of Representatives on Monday.

Following April’s eight-month high, May represents the second-lowest export rate of the year, only greater than January’s 771,000 st level.

The volume of steel shipped into Vietnam more than doubled in May to 1.1 million (mt), with China’s share above 70%, according to customs’ statistics. In the first five months, Chinese imports were more than 4.7 million mt, an increase of 91% year on year.

It’s been a slow start to the week as far as news goes, something you’d expect ahead of a shortened Independence Day week. That said, it’s not as if transactions have completely ground to a halt. (Prices continue to drift lower.) And while news might be slow, rumors of low-priced deals, price hikes, and trade cases seem to have filled that void.

Antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVDs), in place for more than twenty years on imports of hot-rolled (HR) steel from six countries, are up for their fourth sunset review.

The Congressional Steel Caucus have expressed concern regarding the US government’s potential trade status change for Vietnam.

Low global sheet demand continued to weigh on prices around the world this week. In the US, mills were forced to remain aggressive to secure orders during this period of demand weakness. And compounded by recent new capacity ramp-ups, has forced US hot rolled (HR) coil prices down closer to levels seen in offshore markets. […]

The Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA) has lauded Canada’s decision to launch an investigation into China’s unfair trade practices in electric vehicles (EVs). However, the association hopes the government will go even further and extend the investigation into other sectors.

A press conference at a Cleveland-Cliffs mill in Ohio touched upon several topics, including the unfair trade practices of Mexico and China and Nippon Steel’s proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel.

We have heard ominous warnings about a flood of Mexican steel threatening the US market. It's the kind of rhetoric that gets thrown around often with little regard for the facts. The reality is that the Mexican steel surge is simply not happening, and the US steel industry has consistently maintained a significant trade surplus in finished products with Mexico. In 2023 alone, this surplus exceeded $3 billion.

The chairman of a large American steel company called for Mexico to be dropped from USMCA at a steel industry conference last week. This follows earlier calls from members of Congress to reinstate Section 232 duties on Mexico. How did we get to this point?

Global steel output rose 6% from April to May, and is now at the highest rate seen since March 2023, according to World Steel Association’s (worldsteel) latest release.

Steelmaking raw material prices have generally declined over the past month according to SMU’s latest analysis.

Demand has remained persistently weak across the globe for sheet steel, weighing on prices. US HR coil prices fell the furthest this week as high-volume, low-priced deals were transacted as mills looked to fill order books and competed with one another amid relative demand weakness. Meanwhile, European prices were also down due to low demand […]

Please enjoy this roundup of recent news from the aluminum industry from our colleagues at CRU. EU to hit Chinese electric cars with tariffs up to 48% The European Commission notified carmakers on June 12 that it would provisionally apply additional duties of 17-38% on imported Chinese EVs from next month. The duties will be […]

As the scrap market for June settles at lowered levels, let’s look at the situation for exports of ferrous scrap from the US East and Gulf coasts. Despite declines in the North American ferrous markets over the last two months, export prices have remained range-bound within a tight trading window. After a brief decline last […]

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.

Total steel exports rebounded 6% in April, rising to 842,000 short tons (st) according to the latest US Department of Commerce data.

Let’s start by asking this: Were the proclamations that Nucor’s published index prices would drift lower with the reality of a bear market for flat rolled ultimately a bit premature with the benefit of hindsight?

Germany's Speira is investing €40 million (USD$43.3 million) for additional recycling capacity to drive the transformation of its Rheinwerk facility and achieve a total saving of up to 1.5 million metric tons (mt) of CO2 per year at the site, it was announced today.

When you step out of the airport in Phoenix in June, the heat tends to focus your mind. I was in town to attend the Steel Manufacturers Association/Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) annual meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz. The desert locale with palm trees, swimming pools, and the obligatory high-powered air conditioning was fitting for 2024. Between the presidential election and the geopolitical situation, things have definitely been heating up.

As the US slides further into protectionism as the solution for our trade problems, a solution that will put us in a position to succeed in the growing economic battle with China is yet to be discovered. The tariffs on China, which President Biden doubled down on, are not working—at least if the goal to out-compete China and other growing economies. China is not our only problem. But it is our No. 1 challenge right now, in geopolitics, potential hostilities, and economics. EVs are a sign of this challenge.

Hot-rolled coil prices are known for their volatility. There are a variety of hedging strategies industry players have used to manage it, one of them being the use of HRC futures. However, some have been hesitant to dip in their toe, and their money, in futures and have preferred other approaches.

Steel sheet prices across most regions of the world were little changed this week. European buyers remain cautious regarding their outlook towards end-use demand and largely remained out of the market. A similar trend was seen across Asia, although skepticism on real estate stimulus measures in China led to w/w price falls. In the US, […]

The US OCTG Manufacturers Association (USOMA) announced that the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency made an initial affirmative determination of duty evasion practices.

The Biden administration recently announced tariffs on several products from China, including steel and aluminum. There has been much rejoicing over this move and there has been a great deal of support from the steel industry. 

Steelmaking raw material prices have moved in different directions over the past month, according to SMU’s latest analysis.