Today, 25 steel mills and related companies, as well as the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), sent a letter to President Trump asking that he act on Section 232 and stop foreign steel from damaging the domestic steel industry. According to the letter, 30 percent of the apparent supply […]
I am now in Atlanta and the workload and my focus, and that of Ray Culley, Brett Linton and Diana, are all on organizing every minute of the SMU Steel Market Update program, which begins at 2 PM ET on Monday. There are always a few hiccups along the way… something to make your day […]
How can domestic mills expect to increase prices when their lead times are so short and foreign steel is still so plentiful? In the monthly steel conference call hosted today by the Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International, HARDI members commented on the contradictions in mill behavior that have left them confused and concerned about […]
U.S. Steel’s Section 337 allegations of trans-shipment of Chinese steel products are being challenged by seven Chinese steel mills. U.S. Steel alleges that respondents in the case are misrepresenting country of origin in steel shipments in order to elude antidumping and countervailing duties. Baosteel Group, HeSteel Group, Masteel Group, Shougang Steel Group, Shagang Steel Group, […]
BlueScope Steel, the parent of North Star BlueScope, will have a change in command. Mark Vassella has been appointed the new managing director and chief executive officer following retirement by outgoing CEO Paul O’Malley effective Dec. 31, 2017. O’Malley has been at the helm of BlueScope Steel the past 10 years of his 12-year tenure. […]
During the week of Aug. 14, 2017, the U.S. steel mills advised their flat rolled and steel plate customers of their intention to increase spot prices on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steels, as well as plate. The flat rolled mills announced $30 per ton base price increases on new spot business. For […]
No one was surprised when major U.S. steel mills announced a $30 per ton price hike on flat rolled and plate this week. The price hikes were widely expected. But a majority (58 percent) of respondents to SMU’s latest flat roll market trends questionnaire will be surprised if the higher prices stick. Some predict the […]
Despite the ongoing delay in Washington, six of 10 respondents to SMU’s latest flat roll market trends questionnaire believe the Trump administration will eventually put new restrictions on foreign steel imports based on Section 232 national security concerns. Even more, 74 percent, believe the slowdown in the Section 232 decision is opening the door to […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) is releasing our SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index for mid-August. The Index measures how buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful both in the current market environment, as well as three to six months into the future. Overall, our Indexes remains optimistic. However, […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released the latest license data for foreign steel imports for the month of August. Beginning in March 2017, imports have exceeded 3.0 million tons, perhaps peaking in June at just shy of 4.0 million tons. The expectation has been for import levels to drop due to concerns about the Section […]
Trade actions are moving ahead in the Section 337 case against Chinese steel producers. Sanctions have been placed on two of seven Chinese respondents by Administrative Law Judge Dee Lord for failure to produce documentation necessary to investigate transshipment charges brought by U.S. Steel. On June 28, 2017, U.S. Steel filed a motion for sanctions […]
Like in the United States, steelmakers in the European Union are using their trade laws to fight back against steel imports that are unfairly subsidized by the governments in China and other countries. On Aug. 9, the European Union imposed provisional import duties of up to 28.5 percent on certain Chinese corrosion-resistant steels. The eight-month […]
Like in the United States, steelmakers in the European Union are using their trade laws to fight back against steel imports that are unfairly subsidized by the governments in China and other countries. On Aug. 9, the European Union imposed provisional import duties of up to 28.5 percent on certain Chinese corrosion-resistant steels. The eight-month […]
One of the reasons Steel Market Update has constant contact with steel buyers and steel mills is because we are aware that pricing momentum can change on a rumor or a belief that supply or demand is shifting. We are seeing market sentiment being impacted by Section 232. At the same time, scrap prices are […]
Editor’s note: As a special bonus, we are sharing this premium-level article with all our subscribers: Demand for sheet products is increasingly driven by hot rolled coil. Imports are taking a greater share of the sheet market, reaching 21.2 percent in June. Apparent supply is a proxy for market demand, and the apparent supply of […]
Even though the Trump administration has postponed a decision on Section 232, the possibility of trade action that will further restrict steel imports is still influencing the market, according to comments from service centers, manufacturers and trading companies gathered in last week’s Steel Market Update Flat Roll Market Trends questionnaire. Two-thirds of all steel buyers […]
Steel imports are higher this year than 2016, but still below levels of 2015, according to ports on the West and Gulf Coasts. The Port of New Orleans has seen imports increase slightly over a year ago. In the first six months of 2016, imports rose to 1,186,630 tons from 1,179,037 tons in the same […]
Editor’s note: As a special bonus, we are sharing this premium-level article with all our subscribers: We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about regional import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis of tonnage by district of entry is to describe in detail what is going on in […]
Steel Market Update received the following letter to the editor which was in response to comments made in a recent article by an un-named steel mill executive: I read your report “U.S. Steelmakers: We’re Not Protectionist” with interest, but also with a little bit of a smile. Since the mid-1960s, the U.S. steel industry has […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has been expanding our analysis of flat rolled steel service center inventories in an effort to provide a second opinion on this key subject for both buyers and sellers. We continue to review inventory levels through the use of our flat rolled steel market trends questionnaire that we distribute twice per […]
Flat rolled steel buyers are fairly optimistic about their chances for success in the current market, though the various metrics Steel Market Update uses to gauge future demand are sending mixed signals. One likely cause is the uncertainty injected into the market by the Trump administration’s now-delayed Section 232 investigation. According to the latest SMU […]
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union ratified a three-year contract extension with the Pacific Maritime Association last week that will help ensure smooth port operations through 2022. The contract covers roughly 20,000 longshore workers at 29 ports in California, Oregon and Washington. The current agreement was set to expire on July 1, 2019; the newly […]
The lack of a committed market direction by service centers, coupled with strong imports and inventories that SMU believes are balanced to slightly bloated at the distributors, has prompted us to move our SMU Price Momentum Indicator to Neutral from Higher. In an interesting development, twice as many manufacturing companies reported that flat rolled steel […]
It is now official. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, June 2017 foreign steel imports totaled 3,923,126 net tons and are at the highest levels seen since January 2015, prior to the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD) trade suits being filed. Approximately one-quarter of the imports were semi-finished steels (mostly slabs) with the […]
In their pursuit of free and fair trade, U.S. steelmakers are often called protectionist—a label they increasingly resent. Steel industry trade groups, including the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Steel Manufacturers Association, have urged the Trump administration to take a harder stance on steel imports. Trade action, including new tariffs or quotas under […]
In their pursuit of free and fair trade, U.S. steelmakers are often called protectionist—a label they increasingly resent. Steel industry trade groups, including the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Steel Manufacturers Association, have urged the Trump administration to take a harder stance on steel imports. Trade action, including new tariffs or quotas under […]
Flat rolled and plate steel prices were essentially flat this past week as both Steel Market Update and Platts saw hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steel prices remaining the same as the previous week. With Section 232 being put on the back burner, the flood of foreign steel imports (prompted by the original […]
Responses to two questions in Steel Market Update’s latest flat roll market trends analysis elicited a clear consensus from our participants: The Trump administration’s delay in acting on Section 232 could open the door to more foreign steel imports. But the government should not necessarily penalize foreign countries just because they export a high rate […]
Gilbert Kaplan, nominee for undersecretary for international trade at the Department of Commerce, was questioned today by the Senate Finance Committee on how he will approach trade issues for the nation. As undersecretary, Kaplan would be responsible for promoting U.S. trade and enforcing trade laws. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) pressed Kaplan on whether he supported […]
Despite getting pressure to adjust our SMU Price Momentum Indicator due to uncertainty associated with the Section 232 investigation and the lack of a recommendation to date, along with small signs of a need by one or two steel mills for orders on galvanized, SMU is continuing to reference flat rolled steel prices as moving […]