In 2015, 4.9 million metric tons of slabs were imported into the US. Of that tonnage 1.8 million tonnes (1,984 million net tons) came into Mobile (bound for AMNS Calvert) and 1.2 million (1.322 million net tons) into Los Angeles (bound for California Steel). Most of the Mobile tonnage came from Brazil and the Los […]
EVRAZ North America announced it will idle indefinitely the Portland Spiral pipe mill in Oregon, effective April 9, 2016. The idling will result in the termination of 130 employees. The closure was “a result of economic challenges from three primary factors: delays in regulatory approvals for pipelines in the U.S. and Canada; the influx of […]
The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 passed by a margin of 75-20 in the Senate this morning. The customs bill has been advocated by the steel industry to strengthen measures to combat unfairly traded and subsidized imports. The bill now moves to the President for anticipated approval and signature. The American Iron […]
This report summarizes total steel supply annually from 2007 through 2015 and year on year changes. It then compares domestic mill shipments and total supply to the market. It quantifies market direction by product and enables a side by side comparison of the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron […]
In the twelve eleven months of 2015 bulk scrap exports were 12,955,000 metric tonnes, down by 9.7 percent from 2014 (14,280,000 net tons). The tonnages shown in Figure 1 are based on three month moving averages (3MMA) for 2015 and on the annual monthly average for previous years. The graph shows that exports declined for three […]
With the release of the December 2015 Final Census data we thought our readers would like to see not only how imports have fared over the past few years but, how those who are the largest exporters fared as well as those who are involved in the hot rolled, cold rolled and CORE (corrosion resistant) […]
According to the latest data released from the US Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute, apparent steel supply for the month of December 2015 was 7,878,660 net tons. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished US steel imports and subtracting total US steel exports. December supply […]
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Board of Directors this week approved the Institute’s 2016 Public Policy Agenda during its meeting in Washington, D.C. The Agenda outlines aggressive pro-manufacturing policy strategies to guide advocacy for the upcoming year and highlights the importance of the steel industry to the U.S. economy and […]
There seems to be little doubt that there is some strength in the cold rolled and coated products markets. The lead times are extended with ArcelorMittal being into May on galvanized according to one of their automotive service centers. We heard from a couple of the conversion mills who told us their orders books were […]
During their earnings conference call with the financial analysts, ArcelorMittal spoke about excess Chinese steelmaking capacity which needs to be removed from the markets as well as demand outlook which they believe will improve in the United States and Europe during 2016. The following selected comments were taken directly from the ArcelorMittal conference call transcript […]
On Friday the U.S. Department of Commerce released Final Census data for foreign steel imports for the month of December 2015. Imports totaled 2,342,582 net tons. We saw very low numbers on semi-finished (mostly slabs) which came in under 300,000 net tons. We also saw low numbers on OCTG, galvanized and other metallic (mostly Galvalume). […]
The following article is normally produced for our Premium level members. However, we wanted to share this report so those who are Executive level members can evaluate the product and if you find it of interest you can contact our office to see about upgrading (or trialing) to our Premium level service. If you have […]
After five years of negotiations, the twelve nations of the Trans Pacific Partnership signed the trade agreement in a ceremony in New Zealand on February 4. The signing was celebrated by the trade ministers but the agreement must still be officially approved by the individual nations. The countries have two years to ratify TPP through […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered in this analysis is currently 36. Please refer to Table 1 for the view of the present situation and the quantitative measure of trends. Readers should […]
USW members ratified a new three year contract with US Steel on Monday. The ratification passed by a 2-1 margin and will take effect immediately. “I am extremely proud of the solidarity and the commitment to fairness that the Steelworkers showed throughout this process,” said USW International Vice President Tom Conway, who led the union’s […]
We thought our readers might be interested in seeing what steel imports were from the American Institute for International Steel perspective. Steel imports declined 12.6 percent in 2015 according to data analyzed by the American Institute for International Steel. The press release from AIIS follows: Falls Church, VA. February 2, 2016. Steel imports closed out […]
Four U.S. steel producers announced earnings this past week. During their earnings conference calls held with analysts the steel mills addressed questions/concerns regarding foreign steel being exported to the United States. The domestic mills filed trade cases against corrosion resistant steels (such as galvanized and Galvalume) as well as cold rolled and hot rolled steels. […]
We spent some time combing through the latest foreign steel import trade data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce by product to see what impact, if any, the trade suits have been having on tonnages coming into the U.S. In the tables we have provided, we are showing the months of November (Final Census), […]
US Steel told analysts this week that the company was down to 3 steelmaking facilities and 5 finishing mills as they try to right size to the market conditions. U.S. Steel conducted their earnings conference call with financial analysts on Wednesday of this week. During the call, CEO Mario Longhi and other executives with the […]
Impairment charges contributed to a $62 million net loss for Nucor Corp. in fourth quarter 2015. An impairment charge of $153 million was recorded for the Duferdofin Nucor plant in Italy due to low operating performance. The company also took an $84.1 million non-cash write-down after deciding not to proceed with plans for a blast […]
Foreign steel imports for calendar year 2015 came in at 38,719,343 net tons. This represents a 12.7 percent reduction in tonnage compared to 2014. However, 2015 is still well above the average of imports seen over the past seven years. We saw large reductions in tonnage for semi-finished (mostly slabs), hot rolled, cold rolled, plates […]
Cliffs Natural Resources narrowed its net loss to $58 million in fourth quarter compared to $1.4 billion in Q4 2014. Full year net loss was $748 million compared to $8.3 billion in the prior year. “Despite the severely negative impacts of global iron ore and domestic steel prices, in 2015 we achieved substantial cost reductions […]
Significantly lower prices and weakened demand for flat rolled and tubular products resulted in big losses for US Steel last year and the outlook for 2016 is not much better. US Steel reported a fourth quarter net loss of $999 million and a net loss of $1.5 billion for full year 2015. The company continues […]
On December 16th the Federal Reserve raised the federal funds rate for the first time in almost a decade and as we write the FOMC is meeting once again and will make another announcement tomorrow regarding any change to the rate. None is expected though it is anticipated that four hikes could occur in 2016. […]
For the week ending January 23, 2016, the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) estimated the U.S. steel industry produced 1,670,000 net tons of raw steel, a 1.1 percent increase over the previous week but a 7.6 percent decrease over the same week one year ago. The estimated capacity utilization rate is 69.8 percent, up […]
The following is the Chicago Federal Reserve statement followed by our own graphical analysis. The CFNAI is an excellent reality check for much of the economic analysis that we routinely provide in The Steel Market Update and is also a reasonably good predictor of the direction of steel demand with a six to nine month […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released foreign steel import license data through the 26th of the month late this afternoon. Based on the data to date, January imports are trending toward a 2.5 to 2.7 million net ton level. This would be slightly higher than December’s 2.6 million tons and above November’s 2.4 million tons. […]
Steel Dynamics’ struggling recycling segment widened the company’s net loss to $253 million in fourth quarter 2015. It was determined that the book value of the metals recycling segment recorded $435 million in non-cash goodwill and other related asset impairment charge. Excluding the metals recycling charges, adjusted net income was $22 million on net sales […]
AK Steel has intentionally been reducing their exposure to the low-priced spot markets and instead they are looking at the higher end value added products going to automotive and other contract customers. AK Steel results exceeded analyst expectations for fourth quarter. The company reported a net loss of $147.1 million for the fourth quarter of […]
In the market analysis questionnaire concluded late last week we asked a number of questions regarding foreign steel and the potential for another uptick in foreign market penetration with the domestic mills raising flat rolled steel prices. We asked if the mill price announcements were opening the door and making foreign steel prices more competitive? […]