U.S. manufacturing groups claiming to represent more than 30,000 users of steel and aluminum announced a new coalition Wednesday to oppose the Trump administration’s Section 232 tariffs. The Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users includes the Industrial Fasteners Institute, the National Tooling & Machining Association, the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers, the […]
The European Union has thrown down the gauntlet to the U.S. regarding trade negotiations. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said there will be no future trade talks with the U.S. until the EU receives a permanent exclusion from tariffs on steel and aluminum. No concessions will be made to the U.S. to receive the exclusion, […]
Steel Dynamics reported a very strong first quarter with record shipments in the flat rolled division and a 94 percent utilization rate, well above the domestic industry average of 76 percent. Demand and product pricing improved across SDI’s entire steel platform. Net sales totaled $2.6 billion for the quarter and net income was $228 million. […]
Nucor Corp.’s first quarter 2018 consolidated net sales increased 9 percent from the previous quarter to $5.57 billion. Total tons shipped jumped 6 percent to 6.967 million tons. Consolidated net earnings were $354.2 million. Earnings in the steel segment improved in the first quarter due to higher steel prices and an 8 percent increase in […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce updated their license data for the months of March and April, and we now have data through April 17. Based on the data just released, both March and April appear poised to come in around 3.5 million net tons. The largest importers continue to be the domestic steel mills as […]
The high price of galvanized steel has not dampened demand, at least not yet, say distributors of HVAC products, who report continued strong market conditions. “The market is somewhat back to normal, just at dramatically higher transaction prices,” commented one member of the Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI), during the trade group’s monthly […]
The high price of galvanized steel has not dampened demand, at least not yet, say distributors of HVAC products, who report continued strong market conditions. “The market is somewhat back to normal, just at dramatically higher transaction prices,” commented one member of the Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI), during the trade group’s monthly […]
U.S. steel producers consider the Trump administration tariffs on steel imports a big step forward, albeit a journey still in progress, but are not resting on their laurels. AK Steel CEO Roger Newport presented the industry’s case once again in testimony Thursday before the House Ways and Means Committee in support of Section 232. “We […]
The European Union is concerned that the 25 percent tariffs on steel imports announced by President Trump in March could lead China and other countries to more aggressively sell steel in Europe. EU officials have launched an investigation to determine how the U.S. tariffs will affect the European market and whether they need to respond […]
As Steel Market Update analyzed the inventory data received from flat rolled steel distributors, we found the number of months of supply that steel service centers are carrying was lower at the end of March than what we reported at the end of February. With 96 percent of our data providers reporting, the number of […]
This should come as no surprise to our readers, the theoretical spread between foreign steel export prices and the SMU hot rolled coil index average is quite large. However, when looking at foreign steel offers on hot rolled (and there are precious few) which range from $840-$880 per ton, according to SMU sources, the spread […]
Attorney and SMU contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on trade developments in Washington: This week saw some important developments. Very few people have the slightest idea where all the talk on national security, intellectual property, NAFTA renegotiation and tariffs is actually going. At this point, the only trade restrictions are on steel and aluminum, […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Steel HR spot prices continued higher this past week with prices reportedly trading in the mid $860’s. Meanwhile, in April thus far, […]
This Steel Market Update analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into the district of entry and the source country. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about regional import volumes are often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis is to describe in detail what is going […]
U.S. demand for steel sheet products expanded slowly through February, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Apparent supply is a proxy for market demand. Demand momentum for sheet products in total was negative in the three months through February, […]
Steel Market Update’s new analysis of sheet, plate, long and tubular product imports and their 18 subcategories is still a work in progress, but it offers a timely means to examine the effects of the Section 232 legislation on the market. Table 1 shows total supply to the market in three months through February and […]
February apparent steel supply declined over January to 8,773,912 net tons, according to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished U.S. steel imports, then subtracting total U.S. steel exports. February apparent steel supply saw […]
Construction costs climbed in March on a wide range of building materials, according to an analysis of Labor Department data by the Associated General Contractors of America. The producer price index for input goods to the construction industry rose at its steepest year-over-year rate since 2011. The goods index climbed 0.8 percent in March alone […]
Have flat rolled and plate steel prices peaked? Opinions vary widely among Steel Market Update’s sources. We spent all day today working on gathering flat rolled and plate pricing information. In the process, we also collected comments from steel buyers as to whether they felt steel prices have “peaked” or if there is more room […]
Have flat rolled and plate steel prices peaked? Opinions vary widely among Steel Market Update’s sources. We spent all day on Tuesday working on gathering flat rolled and plate pricing information. In the process, we also collected comments from steel buyers as to whether they felt steel prices have “peaked” or if there is more […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce reported foreign steel import license data late this afternoon for the months of March and April 2018. They also reported final census data for February, which came in at 2,477,969 net tons. The March trend is imports were up 1 million tons above February at 3.5 million net tons. Through […]
President Xi Jinping announced today that China will significantly open access to its economy including lowering import tariffs on automobiles and recognizing and enforcing intellectual property rights. In a speech at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, Xi promoted his country as a leader in the global free market as the Trump administration threatened […]
Commerce announced an affirmative final decision in the antidumping investigation concerning imports of cold-drawn mechanical tubing from China, Germany, India, Italy, Korea, and Switzerland. In addition, Commerce found that “critical circumstances” exist with respect to Dalmine S.p.A. and Metalfer S.p.A., but not with respect to all other producers/exporters in Italy; Sang Shin Ind. Co., Ltd., […]
I’ve been asked my opinion as to which way steel prices will head from here. There seems to be a bit of a lull at the moment that one steel buyer attributed to the mills trying to stave off imports and not appear to be too greedy. Steel buyers are telling me that they will […]
A lot is going on in shipping markets as uncertainty regarding the U.S. trade situation takes hold. Tariffs are expected to affect import volumes at coastal and inland ports. Truck availability continues to be an issue with the flatbed load-to-truck ratio soaring past 100 last week and prices on the increase. Barges are frustrated by […]
Steel executives are evenly split on whether President Trump is making the right choice to use the Section 232 tariffs as leverage to negotiate better trade deals and quotas on future steel imports. Respondents to this week’s Steel Market Update market trends questionnaire expressed sentiments ranging from “it’s about time we had fair trade” to […]
In Q1 2018, steel sheet product imports increased and plate products decreased compared to Q4 2017. Total rolled steel imports increased by 3.6 percent, and sheet products by 0.5 percent, in the three months through March compared to three months through December 2017. Plate products decreased by 9.7 percent on the same basis, according to […]
The battle is being joined this week over the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum and the World Trade Organization is the battleground. Washington trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz offers the following assessment of the current trade situation: China requested consultations with the United States—the initial step in WTO dispute settlement cases—over the steel and […]
The battle is being joined this week over the Trump administration’s tariffs on steel and aluminum and the World Trade Organization is the battleground. Washington trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz offers the following assessment of the current trade situation: China requested consultations with the United States—the initial step in WTO dispute settlement cases—over the steel and […]
The antidumping investigation by Commerce into the imports of tool chests and cabinets from China and Vietnam moved closer to a conclusion on Wednesday. Commerce announced its affirmative final determination, calculating a dumping rate of 97.11 percent for the mandatory respondent Tongrun Single Entity. All other producers/exporters in China that are eligible for a separate […]