By CRU Principal Economist Alex Tuckett, from CRU’s Global Economic Outlook, March 21 Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent shockwaves through the world economy. What does war mean for the world economy? We outlined three scenarios in terms of severity of impact from the war itself, but most crucially from sanctions and the response to those […]
The U.S.-UK agreement to ease Section 232 tariffs was lauded by some industry groups and union representatives for promoting fair trade. But others questioned whether certain unusual provisions in the deal might cause trouble. And still others said the deal didn’t do enough to remove tariffs from a close U.S. ally. Recall that on Tuesday the United States […]
The U.S. does not have any additional Section 232 negotiations in the pipeline with South Korea, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told Reuters. And domestic steel industry lobbying groups said that talks weren’t happening with Brazil or Argentina either, the other countries subject to a Section 232 quota rather than a 25% tariff. The industry execs […]
Steel prices around the globe continue to surge in response to the war in Ukraine, and the brief competitive advantage domestic prices held over foreign steel in early-March has faded, according to SMU’s latest foreign versus domestic hot rolled steel price comparison. Select foreign HRC prices range anywhere from $267 per ton cheaper than domestic prices […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor, March 23 Persistently high steelmaking raw material prices and restricted global production pushed sheet prices higher w/w across the world. The largest of these increases were in Europe and the USA, with prices rising by triple-digit amounts for yet another week. Still, domestic […]
The Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) are expected to announce an agreement with the United Kingdom to ease Section 232 tariffs on its steel exports, according to sources familiar with the matter. The deal, slated to go into effect on June 1, is expected to be announced at approximately […]
Mexico has extended for another five years its existing countervailing duties against imports of Russian, Romanian and Ukrainian steel plate. The trade policy has been in effect since 2005; the latest determination is retroactive to Sept. 22, 2020. Following a filing from domestic producer Altos Horns de Mexico (AHMSA), the Mexican secretariat’s determination “established sufficient […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz On Feb. 10, the Bureau of Industry and Security of the Commerce Department published a request for public comments concerning steel and aluminum exclusions under the Section 232 tariffs and quotas. Comments are due in about a week (March 28). The request for public comments did not originate from the […]
By Matthew Abrams, Analyst, CRU Group Over the past week, there have been a few noteworthy updates to new Russian sanctions. First, the big news was Russia’s removal from the list of Most Favored Nations. This allows room for new duties to be imposed on the imports of Russian goods. The U.S. does not import […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor, March 16 Global sheet prices took notably different directions this week as the war in Ukraine caused record w/w increases in Europe and the USA, while a fresh outbreak of Covid-19 in China pushed domestic prices lower and prevented increases in other Asian […]
U.S. apparent steel supply levels slipped 1% from December to January, down 120,000 net tons to 9.36 million tons, according to the latest U.S. Department of Commerce and American Iron and Steel Institute data. Recall that just last September, the market saw the highest monthly supply level in over six years (9.92 million tons). Apparent […]
Steel import permit applications for February totaled 2,274,000 net tons—a 24.5% decrease from the 3,013,000 permit tons recorded in January and a 25.3% decrease from the January final imports total of 3,044,000. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in February was 1,759,000, down 22.8% from the final imports total of 2,279,000 in January, reported the […]
Total mill shipments of steel products fell in January to 8.153 million tons, a 9.4% decline from December’s 8.995 million tons, 2021’s strongest monthly performance. Apparent supply also fell in January, down 7.6% versus the prior month, and unable to keep the upward trajectory seen during the final quarter of 2021. This analysis is based on steel […]
The Biden administration rolled out a new round of trade actions aimed at punishing the Russian government for launching an invasion of Ukraine. Some of those measures have the potential to reach deep into the steel supply chain – including with tariffs of 20% or more on many Russian steel products, according to trade experts and government documents. […]
Steel Market Update’s hot-rolled coil price was at $1,050 per ton ($52.50 per hundredweight) last week. Several mills are now offering hot band at $1,200 per ton ($60 per cwt). I don’t know where things will settle when we adjust prices on Tuesday. But I think it’s fair to say that prices will be significantly […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz (Editor’s note: The following views are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Steel Market Update.) On Friday, President Biden announced that the United States would end “Most Favored Nation” status, termed “PNTR” in the United States, for Russia, a member of the World Trade […]
Steel import permit applications for February totaled 2,274,000 net tons—a 24.5% decrease from the 3,013,000 permit tons recorded in January and a 25.3% decrease from the January final imports total of 3,044,000. Import permit tonnage for finished steel in February was 1,759,000, down 22.8% from the final imports total of 2,279,000 in January, reported the […]
By CRU Research Analyst Christopher Dix and Analysts Diego Giangreco and Tiago Vespoli, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor, March 10 Pig iron prices have increased following disruption to CIS supply. The global pig iron market is short of supply as Russian exports are difficult to replace. Black Sea freight options are now very limited, […]
By CRU Analyst Chris Bandman, from CRU’s Steel Monitor, March 16 The war in Ukraine is having widespread and deleterious effects on the global steel markets, but no one region has been more heavily affected than Europe. Steel prices in the region have soared to unseen heights and continue to rise on a daily basis. […]
In his remarks during Wednesday’s Community Chat, Johnny Sjöström, the top executive at SSAB Special Steels, suggested that the fighting in Ukraine will make nations more gun-shy about becoming too dependent on their foreign trading partners. Nations in Europe and many other parts of the world are scrambling to maintain production without the exports of […]
The war in Ukraine has triggered what may be the largest monthly increase in scrap prices ever seen with shredded scrap trading in March at around $600/GT and prime scrap at $700/GT – up by $125-175/GT over February, sources tell Steel Market Update. Market participants were expecting modestly higher scrap prices in March following declines […]
By CRU Research Analyst Aaron Kearney-Keaveny, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor, March 8 The war in Ukraine has caused a dramatic rise in the iron ore price, which now stands at $164 /dmt. European steelmakers are now scrambling to find iron ore to replace lost imports from Ukraine and Russia. The market will take […]
SMU’s Steel Buyers Sentiment Index continues to inch downward from its late-2021 peak, with the latest three-month moving average sliding to the lowest level seen in nearly 10 months. Although down, sentiment remains at very optimistic levels on the 100-point scale. Steel Market Update surveys buyers every two weeks and asks how they view their […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz (Editor’s note: The following views are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Steel Market Update.) A bit over a week into the new world order (i.e., the Russian invasion of Ukraine) and things are proceeding, but slowly. We have all been following the conflict—but […]
A lot has happened in the world since my last article. Please bear with me as there is much to talk about. First, my thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Ukraine, and for that matter the innocent people in Russia who want nothing to do with Putin’s war. The world order is […]
The war in Eastern Europe is hitting close to home for some steel buyers. Steel Market Update’s survey this week asked readers: How might the Russian invasion of Ukraine impact your business? Roughly three out of four of the service center and manufacturing executives who responded said they fear at least some fallout from the […]
Last year when hot rolled coil prices in the U.S. surged to record highs, foreign steel was hundreds of dollars cheaper, and import orders skyrocketed. Now that U.S. steel prices have come back to earth, foreign steel has lost that competitive advantage. Foreign HRC prices are now approximately $45-108 per ton more expensive than domestic steel, […]
February marked month six of declining steel prices, following a 12-month streak of continuous price increases. Hot rolled prices declined $215 per ton throughout the month, with the SMU index averaging $1,020 per ton at the end of February (recall our HR average this week declined another $20 to $1,000 per ton). The SMU Price Momentum Indicator for sheet products was […]
Preliminary Census data shows that steel imports in January rose 7% month-over-month to 3.08 million net tons, the highest monthly level seen in the past two years. February import licenses through March 1 are currently at 2.20 million tons, a 29% decline from January and down 24% compared to December. Note that the latest U.S. […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Matthew Watkins and Research Analyst Christopher Dix, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service, Feb. 28. Contributors Erik Hedborg, Dmitry Popov, Ryan McKinley and Clare Hanna. Following the escalation of the situation in Ukraine, we set out what positions Russia has currently in the export market through the steel value chain. In the short term […]