While shipping and supply chains have always been subject to wars, pirates, privateers, geopolitical issues, and natural disasters, it seems that “it’s been busier lately when it comes to dealing with significant supply chain disruptions,” according to logistics expert Anton Posner.
Last week, steel consumers prevailed in a rare victory over US petitioners in trade cases on tin mill steel products. The US International Trade Commission (ITC) voted 4—0 that Cleveland-Cliffs, the sole remaining domestic producer of tin mill products (used to make containers such as “tin cans”) was neither injured nor threatened with injury by imports of competing products from Canada, China, and Germany. Imports from South Korea were found to be “negligible,” and the investigation on Korean imports was terminated.
The Tampa Steel Conference is just a few days away. Here are some topics I’m looking forward to learning more about during the proceedings on Monday and Tuesday. For starters, we’ll have about a month of 2024 under our belt when we convene on Sunday. How does that compare to what we thought the start of the year would look like? And what’s the outlook for the balance of the year?
The 35th Annual Tampa Steel Conference starts in just a few days. As one of the premier domestic steel conferences, it’s the perfect way to kick off 2024. It’s not too late to register if you haven’t already done so, but make sure to book now!
We’re just a week away from the 35th annual Tampa Steel Conference! It’s one of the premier domestic steel conferences and the first can’t-miss event of 2024. If you haven’t already registered, there is still time but make sure to book now!
With the aluminum industry assembled in Nashville, Tenn., for the Aluminum USA 2023 conference, word was breaking of a tentative deal between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Ford.
An unusual clash of powerful forces is in full swing over tin mill products. An antidumping petition was filed against eight countries in January of this year, while an anti-subsidy petition was filed against imports of tin mill products from China at the same time.
An unusual clash of powerful forces is in full swing over tin mill products. This flat-rolled steel product is used to make “tin cans” that hold a huge array of food products and other metal containers sold throughout the world. Tin mill products are generally made from cold-rolled steel that is coated with tin or […]
Canada will no longer accept imports of Russian aluminum and steel, Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Canada, announced on March 10. “Through regulatory amendments under the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations, the importation of all Russian aluminum products, such as unwrought aluminum, aluminum sheets, and finished products including containers and other […]
Despite the economic concerns that lowered consumer sentiment towards the end of 2022, aluminum products demand has held up throughout the first three months of the year. A slowdown from the frenetic post-pandemic pace is apparent. Overall, though, both rollers and extruders comment that conditions are better than expected. The new order index as released […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Thais Terzian, Analyst Anton Perevezentsev, and Research Analyst Rosy Finlayson On February 6-7, a series of devastating earthquakes struck several provinces in southeastern Turkey and northwestern Syria, leaving thousands dead and many injured. The quakes also resulted in a massive destruction to the infrastructure of both countries. The first quake measured […]
In our column of Nov. 4, we updated you on the progress that Novelis and Steel Dynamics (SDI) were making on executing on their planned two mills. Since that time, nothing has really changed. That perhaps is profound in and of itself, in that we have nothing new to tell you about the status of […]
BNSF Railway is thinking of a master plan. The Class I freight railroad announced on Oct. 1 its plans to invest more than $1.5 billion into a master-planned inland facility in Southern California. Named Barstow International Gateway, BNSF’s new hub location will be approximately 135 miles northeast from the Ports of Long Beach and Los […]
East coast ports are currently battling crippling congestion, a problem that will likely not wane as we approach peak cargo season. To avoid west coast congestion, many importers have diverted shipments eastward. Unfortunately, the same challenges followed. As excess containers stack up, the port of New York and New Jersey has resolved to implement a […]
Backward physical integration comes to the aluminum rolling industry SDI’s decision to “jump the fence” and enter the aluminum rolling sector was, in and of itself, blockbuster news. However, the repercussions on the aluminum scrap market may be even more profound. CRU has argued for some time that the big aluminum rolling mills would eventually […]
In my last lessons learned article, I began to answer a question posed to me regarding what I felt were the most important lessons I have learned over the course of my 45-year career in the steel industry. I wrote about honesty as being the simple answer and many of you have contacted me to […]
In my last Final Thoughts article, I began to answer a question posed to me regarding what I felt were the most important lessons I have learned over the course of my 45-year career in the steel industry. I wrote about honesty as being the simple answer and many of you have contacted me to […]
Kaiser declares force majeure due to an inability to secure its required magnesium Kaiser Aluminum, which operates a major aluminum can sheet rolling mill in Warrick, Ind., declared force majeure on July 8, citing its inability to obtain enough magnesium to sustain its production. Kaiser’s mill specializes in the production of food container and beverage […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group The First Movers Coalition (FMC) was launched in November 2021 at COP26 as a public-private partnership to decarbonize hard to abate sectors. At that time, the 25 founding members of FMC targeted eight sectors where innovative technology would need to be applied to effect change. The sectors of initial […]
The Port of Los Angeles reported its busiest January ever, and data from port operations suggests the backup of container ships off the coast may be easing. The port processed 865,595 Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in January, a 3.6% increase compared to last year. It was the highest volume in the port’s 115-year history and […]
U.S. Steel Corp. is beginning a search for a new chief financial officer after the resignation this week of Senior Vice President and CFO Christine S. Breves, who will continue to serve as Executive Vice President-Business Transformation while the company seeks her permanent replacement. “Christie’s deep knowledge of the industry, leadership and superb insight have […]
Backlogs at the nation’s ports are improving, but it probably won’t be until mid-2022 before the bottlenecks clear and shipments of steel and other imports begin to return to normal. “I think it will get better by the middle of next year,” predicted Doug Wray, vice president commercial for Ports America, who will be a […]
The 33rd Tampa Steel Conference will be live and in-person as we return to the Marriott Water Street Hotel in Tampa, Fla. The conference dates are Feb. 14 (networking opportunities and first day of Introduction to Hedging Workshop), Feb. 15 (golf outing, boat tour, and hedging workshop in the morning followed by the beginning of the […]
The 33rd Tampa Steel Conference will be live and in-person as we return to the Marriott Water Street Hotel in Tampa, Fla. The conference dates are Feb. 14 (networking opportunities and first day of Introduction to Hedging Workshop), Feb. 15 (golf outing, boat tour, and hedging workshop in the morning followed by the beginning of the […]
It goes without saying, the steel industry is in a dynamic, volatile market and the only thing that is certain is the volatility will continue as we move into calendar year 2022. It is not just price we need to watch over the coming months. There are many moving pieces to this puzzle. The agreement […]
It goes without saying, the steel industry is in a dynamic, volatile market and the only thing that is certain is the volatility will continue as we move into calendar year 2022. It is not just price we need to watch over the coming months. There are many moving pieces to this puzzle. The agreement […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz I used to love a PBS show called Connections. The title is still around, and I recall an episode years ago that explored the Space Shuttle. Thousands of “connections” were necessary before the spacecraft became a reality: chemistries to make substances capable of withstanding re-entry temperatures, power systems for rockets, […]
New orders, employment, and production grew through September, while supplier deliveries slowed and backlogs lengthened, said the Institute for Supply Management in its latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The Manufacturing PMI rose 1.2 percentage points to 61.1% in September, the second consecutive monthly increase, indicating continued expansion for the overall economy. As a three-month […]
Container ships are stacking up all around the U.S. as the ports are overwhelmed by surging imports of all types of goods. Delays at the ports may further extend the already-long lead times for the growing orders of foreign steel. Imports of all types of products from Asia, for example, increased 32.4% in the first […]
Memorize these words, “carbon border adjustment tax,” as they are being mentioned in the Senate Budget Committee, which is working on the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package the Senate advanced on Wednesday. The idea proposed would “account for the cost incurred by U.S. businesses to comply with laws and regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions,” based on […]