By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group We all read the same financial press. I am sure the readers share the feeling that it is always interesting when you hear experts opining about something in your chosen area of expertise. I was reminded of this when reading recent remarks from Jeff Currie, the widely respected and […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active […]
Spot market prices are moving and moving very quickly. One of the service centers I communicated with today said, “I’ve not seen a market downturn quite like this one (nor the upside either), and it’s making the discovery of legit pricing quite difficult. I will say, the one constant I keep hearing is that the […]
Ternium plans to invest $1 billion to expand the operations of its Pesquería flat steel facility in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The news came during the steelmaker’s fourth-quarter conference call on Wednesday, Feb. 16, when the Latin American steel group’s chief executive officer, Máximo Vedoya, confirmed the company was in the final stage of studying an […]
Industry analyst Paul Lowrey is “bullish on the short-term outlook for steel,” but his goal as a presenter during the Tampa Steel Conference this week was “to get some of you to think differently about what is going on.” Lowrey, founder of Pittsburgh-based Steel Research Associates, is a contrarian when it comes to the common […]
Foreign steel imports from the three regions tracked by Steel Market Update have nearly lost their price advantage over domestic steel, according to our latest foreign versus domestic hot rolled steel price comparison. Foreign HRC prices are now theoretically just $7-80 per ton cheaper than domestic steel, after taking freight costs, trader margins and tariffs […]
Ternium reported net earnings of $1.136 billion in the fourth quarter 2021, down from $1.366 billion in the prior quarter, but a 31.4% boost from $865 million in the fourth quarter of 2020. The steelmaker achieved record profitability for the full year ended Dec. 31, 2021, with earnings totaling $4.367 billion, more than a five-fold […]
Flat Rolled = 56.1 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 56 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled U.S. service center flat rolled inventories fell from their December highs, though the seasonal pick-up in demand in January was weaker than expected. At the end of January, service centers carried 56.1 shipping days of supply on an […]
Imports of less-expensive sheet and plate products continued to arrive on U.S. shores at the end of 2021, but at a slower pace. December marked the first decrease in overall flat product imports in eight months, according to Commerce Department data. Driven by the need for buyers to find relief from inflated steel prices in […]
U.S. apparent steel supply levels slipped 3% from November to December, down 286,000 net tons to 9.48 million net tons, according to the latest U.S. Department of Commerce and American Iron and Steel Institute data. Recall that September 2021 saw the highest monthly supply level in over six years, going back to January 2015 when supply surpassed 10 […]
2022 is shaping up to be a good year for energy tubulars. With the U.S. economy near pre-pandemic levels, demand is up for oil and gas – and the oil country tubular goods (OCTG) and line pipe needed to deliver them. Rising energy prices are spurring increased drilling, while declining steel prices are lowering the […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz On Feb. 7, the United States and Japan announced their long-expected deal to replace most of the Section 232 tariffs on steel (25%) with a tariff rate quota or TRQ. The overall quota from Japan will be about 1.25 million metric tons per year, which is far smaller than imports […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor, Feb. 9 The global sheet market often exhibits price trends that vary by region. Occasionally, prices do move in the same direction, though on these occasions, prices typically reflect a unified trend of global costs or inventory change. In the current sheet […]
By CRU Economist Veronika Akhmadieva and CRU Senior China Economist Henry Hao from CRU’s Global Economic Outlook, Feb. 14 The last day of 2021 marked the end of the two-year period during which China agreed to increase imports of certain goods and services from the U.S. by a combined $200 billion. These targets have been […]
Total mill shipments of steel products rebounded in December to 8.985 million tons, a 7.8% increase over November’s 8.334 million tons, and the highest monthly total for 2021. Apparent supply saw a 5.0% boost in December, rising for the second straight month following repeated decreases in September and October. This analysis is based on steel mill shipment […]
Final Census data shows U.S. steel imports fell 8% from November to December to 2.89 million net tons, the fifth highest monthly level in 2021. January import licenses through Feb. 7 are currently at 3.04 million tons, a 5% jump from December, but down 4% compared to November. Recall that total imports in September had reached a 28-month […]
The U.S. has announced that a deal has been reached with Japan to ease Section 232 national security tariffs on steel imports from the key U.S. ally. The U.S. Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced the deal at around 5 pm Eastern Time on Monday, Feb. 7, as SMU had […]
The United States and Japan are expected to announce this afternoon a new deal on Section 232 regarding Japanese steel exports to the U.S., according to sources familiar with the matter. The new agreement will be a tariff rate quota, or TRQ, broadly similar to one negotiated between the U.S. and the EU last year. […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz The White House released a long-awaited decision on the future of special safeguard remedies for the solar industry on Friday. The decision may provide a glimpse into the trade philosophy of the Biden administration. First, a bit of background. The Trump-era tariffs began in January 2018 with decisions under the […]
Plate prices have been remarkably steady in the face of sheet price declines of hundreds of dollars per ton. That trend probably can’t hold for much longer, and plate prices are overdue for a correction, according to market contacts and SMU data. For starters, look at the chart below: HRC prices have fallen from $1,600 […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group Given the fact that the standoff in Ukraine is ongoing, we thought it appropriate to stay on this theme of Russian aluminum supply and how the Russians try to overcome sanctions. The Ties that Bind Us Together – Russia and China Russia and China have a long association going […]
The American Iron and Steel Institute sent a letter to House members Wednesday urging them to support the America COMPETES Act of 2022, which aims to enhance U.S. competitiveness to counter alleged nonmarket policies and practices by China. The legislation will strengthen the U.S. trade remedy laws by making more tools available to obtain timely […]
Hot rolled imports continue to tempt U.S. buyers with potential discounts of 14-23% over domestic prices, according to Steel Market Update’s latest foreign versus domestic price comparison. Foreign hot rolled steel prices are now theoretically $177-283 per ton cheaper than domestic steel, after taking freight costs, trader margins and tariffs into consideration. However, this foreign […]
NLMK USA posted the best results on record in its fourth-quarter earnings, driven by historically high steel prices despite normalizing demand. The U.S. subsidiary of NLMK Group – Russia’s largest steelmaker – reported earnings of $373 million in Q4, up 5% sequentially and more than tripling the results seen during fourth-quarter 2020. Though U.S. sales […]
Steel prices continue to fall very, very quickly. Where they’ll bottom and when remains unclear. I wrote in an in-print magazine article last month that I hesitated to put pen to paper for fear that any prices I wrote would be out of date by the time the article was on the page. My fear now […]
While the United States and the European Union have been working to resolve their dispute over punitive tariffs on steel and aluminum and re-establish historical transatlantic trade flows, their focus has shifted away from Section 232 duties and towards a carbon-based sectoral arrangement. The plan: to negotiate a global agreement to address carbon intensity and steel […]
January marked the fifth consecutive month of declining steel prices, following a year-long streak of continuous price increases. Hot rolled prices declined $200 per ton throughout the month, with the SMU index averaging $1,335 per ton ($66.75 per cwt) as of Tuesday, Jan. 25. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator for sheet products remains at Lower since its mid-October adjustment. January […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz We are hearing a lot about “managed trade” these days from economists, pundits and politicians. It’s time to step back and think about the pros and cons of that concept. First, we should define the term “managed trade.” Trade is usually conducted between private parties for their mutual gain. Governments […]
When I was a kid, watching the Olympics was a big feel-good event. The family would all gather round the TV eating popcorn and rooting for the Americans as they competed against the world’s best athletes for a medal and their photo on a Wheaties box. There was something pure and uplifting about the whole […]
U.S. Steel isn’t letting current lower prices get it down after a record year in ’21 and in anticipation of more good times rolling into ‘22. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said it had expected the first quarter would be weaker but that such weakness would to be temporary. “Supply chain issues will ease, inflationary pressures will […]