Dan DiMicco, former CEO of Nucor Corp., has been appointed to a four-year term as a member of President Trump’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations, the White House announced in a Dec. 4 release. DiMicco, who retired from Nucor, is a former trade advisor to the Trump campaign and serves as chairman of […]
Dan DiMicco, former CEO of Nucor Corp., has been appointed to a four-year term as a member of President Trump’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations, the White House announced in a Dec. 4 release. DiMicco, who retired from Nucor, is a former trade advisor to the Trump campaign and serves as chairman of […]
U.S. steelmakers have imported 7.19 million short tons of semi-finished steel so far this year, an increase of 9.1 percent over 2016, according to government data on October preliminary imports and November licenses as of Nov. 27 (Figure 1). Semi-finished steel includes slabs, blooms and billets, which mills hot roll into coils and other products. […]
In preliminary rulings today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that corrosion-resistant steel (CORE) and certain cold-rolled flat products imported from Vietnam, produced from substrate originating in China, are circumventing existing antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders. As a result, Commerce will instruct Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to begin collecting cash deposits on the […]
In preliminary rulings today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that corrosion-resistant steel (CORE) and certain cold-rolled flat products imported from Vietnam, produced from substrate originating in China, are circumventing existing antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders. As a result, Commerce will instruct Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to begin collecting cash deposits on the […]
It is a busy time for the shipping industries that move the nation’s goods. Shipping sectors are busy lobbying for infrastructure funds to repair aging waterways, ports and rail lines. The U.S. rail system would like relief from regulatory burdens while independent truck drivers are asking for exemption from a new regulation that requires the […]
Except for a few flat rolled steel mills that have not yet completely filled their December order books, most steel producers are holding firm on steel pricing in anticipation of good demand in the first quarter. The result is we are seeing two distinct pricing markets – those who have December tons and are willing […]
The Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity agreed on a framework Thursday for collectively solving the world’s steel overcapacity problem. The 33 members worked together to develop specific policy recommendations using six agreed-upon principles to formulate solutions for bringing steel capacity in line with demand and reducing trade distortions. Notable is a new sharing of […]
Imports of foreign steel will be much lower in November than at any time since April 2016. Based on the most recent license data released on Tuesday, Nov. 28, imports will be approximately 2.6 million tons. This is down from 3.1 million tons in October and is also less than the 2.8 million tons imported […]
The U.S. Commerce Department has self-initiated an antidumping and countervailing investigation of imports of common alloy aluminum sheet from China. Normally, AD/CVD investigations are initiated by petitioners within the industry who allege dumping or subsidization of a product by one or more countries. Commerce may self-initiate an investigation whenever the Secretary determines a need exists […]
Imports of tool chests and cabinets from China will likely be subject to countervailing duties once the International Trade Commission makes its final injury determination. The U.S. Commerce Department issued its affirmative final determination on Nov. 22, calculating final subsidy rates ranging from 14.03 percent to 95.96 percent. As a result of this decision, Commerce will […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce and its Secretary Wilbur Ross did something today that has not been done in the last 25 years–they self-initiated an antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) suit. In this case, it was against aluminum imports from China, but steel buyers should take note. The DOC already has a Section 232 […]
Argentinian steel pipe manufacturer Tenaris has begun full operations at its new Bay City, Texas, mill. The $1.8 billion facility southwest of Houston will provide seamless pipe for shale and gas wells in the region. “Tenaris is the architect of a new business model in the steel pipe sector,” said Germán Curá, Tenaris’ president for […]
Keith Gunter, Vice President of Purchasing at McElroy Metal (and a part-time poet) shares his annual special holiday retrospective on the past year and his wishes for a prosperous 2018 for all. T’was soon to be Christmas, when all through the land, Pricing ought to be stable, wouldn’t that be so grand. During the fourth […]
U.S. demand for steel sheet products continued to expand through September, 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 […]
Were you surprised by the price increases announced this week by the major mills? If you were, don’t feel bad. You were among the majority of steel buyers who could foresee no clear direction for steel prices. On Monday, Steel Market Update sent its market trends questionnaire to 650 steel buyers asking, among other questions, […]
Cold-drawn mechanical tubing imported from China, Germany, India, Italy, Korea and Switzerland was determined by Commerce to be sold below fair value. In its Nov. 16 preliminary antidumping determination, Commerce assigned dumping margins ranging between 5.10 percent and 186.89 percent. Commerce also found that “critical circumstances” exist with respect to Dalmine S.p.A. and Metalfer S.p.A. […]
We asked a question about Section 232 in last week’s flat rolled steel market trends questionnaire. The question was, “Do you think President Trump will invoke Section 232 and add duties on steel imports early next year on national security grounds?” Relatively few steel buyers elected to answer this question, which either suggests they don’t […]
Despite all the uncertainty regarding possible trade action and steel prices, the Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index is holding steady, and at a higher level than last year. Steel buyers’ sentiment appears to have bottomed out in October and November and, in Steel Market Update’s opinion, is poised to pick up along with […]
Domestic steelmakers got a taste of good news this week when the U.S. Department of Commerce released foreign steel import license data for the first 14 days of November. Steel Market Update sees the trend for November imports to be 2.6 million net tons or lower. If correct, this would be the first month during […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures markets was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Director of Risk Management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross pushed back at critics of the Section 232 investigation this week, saying steel-consuming businesses don’t “deserve” dumped steel. Associations such as the American Institute for International Steel and U.S. Chamber of Commerce assert that Section 232 restrictions on steel could lead to economic disaster for the steel supply chain, ports and […]
A dispute over OCTG dumping duties assigned by the U.S. on imports of Korean OCTG drew mixed conclusions from a World Trade Organization dispute panel. The WTO sided with South Korea on claims that the U.S. violated rules in the Antidumping Agreement regarding the calculation of fair value of OCTG. The panel determined that Commerce […]
Will the rest of the domestic steel mills announce new coating extras in first-quarter 2018, raising the price on galvanized steel? There was no clear consensus among members of the Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) during their monthly conference call earlier today. Recent mill price announcements have stemmed the decline in galvanized prices, […]
Apparent steel supply for the month of September totaled 9,144,648 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. September apparent steel supply […]
The Commerce Department announced a preliminary finding of dumping in the investigation of metal tool chests and cabinets imported from China and Vietnam. The investigation was initiated by a petition from Waterloo Industries, in Sedalia, Missouri. The investigation covers all metal tool chests and cabinets, including top chests, intermediate chests, tool cabinets and side cabinets, […]
As I move around the flat rolled steel industry, communicating with manufacturing companies, service centers, traders and steel mills, I am receiving mixed messages about the market. A good example is the HARDI steel committee conference call that was held earlier today. HARDI wholesalers, the companies who supply the HVAC mechanical contractors in the building […]
Total rolled steel imports declined by 14.0 percent in the three months through October, compared to the three months through July. Sheet products were down by 12.6 percent on the same basis, based on final license data for October reported by of the U.S. Commerce Department on Nov. 7. The data is reported within the […]
This Steel Market Update analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled steel products by district of entry and source country through September 2017. We believe that misinformation (or a lack of) about regional import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis of tonnage by district of […]
ArcelorMittal reported its best third-quarter shipment performance since 2008. Shipments of 21.7 million tons were 1.0 percent higher than second-quarter due to a 1.2 percent increase in Brazil shipments, a 4.3 percent increase in NAFTA shipments, and a 3.2 percent increase from the ACIS segment. Shipments from the three segments offset a decline of 3.3 […]