Total steel imports into the United States jumped by nearly 45% in the first 11 months of 2021, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute, based on preliminary Census data through November. Imports for the year to date totaled 29.7 million net tons of steel, up 44.6% versus the same period in 2020, including 21.6 […]
By Trade Attorney Lewis Leibowitz It’s a new year and a new start on many things. COVID does not appear to be one of them, but China relations may be. At the beginning of 2020, China and the U.S. agreed to settle some of their trade differences by inking a deal that reduced some U.S. […]
U.S. President Joe Biden has officially implemented a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) that will ease Section 232 restrictions on steel from the European Union. “I have determined that specified volumes of eligible steel … imports from the EU will no longer threaten to impair the national security,” Biden wrote in a presidential proclamation. The president did […]
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Tonight’s issue will be the final one for this year. We will pick up publishing our newsletters again on Tuesday, Jan. 4. The first thing I want to do tonight is to thank every one of our members for their support over this past year. In light of the […]
Welcome back to those who took an extra day or two off after the New Year. This is my first article of the year as Michael and Tim continue to absorb more of my workload. For those of you who did not view or listen in on the SMU Community Chat we hosted yesterday with […]
As the upward slope of the green bars in the charts below clearly illustrate, the bargaining position in steel price negotiations has been steadily shifting in favor of steel buyers for the past three months. Since September 2020, it had been a seller’s market, with steel in short supply. Until lately, the mills have had […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at an annual 2.3% rate in the third quarter, up from the prior estimate of 2.1% but still at the slowest pace in more than a […]
First the takeaway: Don’t overthink it on the way down. Prices are falling, like it or not. The good thing, demand is still good – so don’t let falling prices ruin your holidays. Now, let’s overthink it a little. We’ve seen some chunky declines in recent weeks: SMU’s hot-rolled coil price fell $70 per ton […]
Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week – our last of 2021 prior to the holiday break – shows the benchmark price for hot rolled finishing the year around $1,600 per ton ($80/cwt). That’s down another $70 per ton from last week and a total decline of $355 or 18% since peaking at […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group Legislation passed Dec. 16 by the Senate and now on its way to the White House will all but ban imports connected at any point in the supply chain to materials from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. However well justified by human rights, this ban will be a challenge for […]
It’s not just domestic steel prices that are falling rapidly, so too are prices abroad. Case in point: South Korean steelmaker Hyundai. Its latest offer for hot-rolled coil for February-March shipment to the West Coast is $1,450 per ton DDP to Los Angeles-area ports. That’s down significantly from prior offers of $1,600-1,640 per ton, according […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s Steel Monitor, Dec. 15 Seasonal pressures are starting to temporarily slow demand for some steel products. For sheet, this weakness is adding to a monumental shift in supply fundamentals. For other products, an unseasonably warm start to December has allowed construction demand to remain stronger than normal. […]
By Philip Bell, President, Steel Manufacturers Association As we approach the holidays, there are some who believe that a swift Section 232 deal with Japan is essential. Some also believe a Japanese deal should be equivalent to the deal reached with the European Union this October. The notion of a Jan. 1, 2022, deal deadline […]
Apparent steel supply remained high in October at 9.86 million net tons, down just 0.6% from September, according to the latest U.S. Department of Commerce and American Iron and Steel Institute data. Recall that in September we saw the highest supply level in more than six years, going back to January 2015 when supply surpassed 10 million tons. October […]
Flat Rolled = 57.1 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 60.2 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled U.S. service center flat rolled inventories rose again in November, according to Steel Market Update data. At the end of November, service centers carried 57.1 shipping days of supply on an adjusted basis, compared to 56.7 shipping days […]
Steel prices fell hard again this week. While the absolute numbers – down $60 per ton ($3 per cwt) on hot-rolled coil – might appear shocking at first glance, one could make the case that we’re being conservative. The development shouldn’t have come as a surprise to those who lived through past ups and downs. […]
Steel sheet prices fell again this week as mills continued reducing prices on shorter lead times and increased competition from both imports and other domestic producers. Published lead times are as low as 3-4 weeks for hot-rolled coil, for example, and sources reported orders being processed early. Some said mill offers declined substantially over the […]
Backlogs at the nation’s ports are improving, but it probably won’t be until mid-2022 before the bottlenecks clear and shipments of steel and other imports begin to return to normal. “I think it will get better by the middle of next year,” predicted Doug Wray, vice president commercial for Ports America, who will be a […]
On Friday, the Labor Department announced the inflation rate for November. At 0.8%, it was a tick lower than the October inflation rate of 0.9%. But most observers paid more attention to the annual rate of inflation. At 6.8% compared to prices one year ago, the inflation rate was the highest it’s been since 1982. […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Group The massing of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine has raised tensions to a high level on the political scene. It forces us to take another look at the repercussions of new sanctions on the Russian state should Putin decide to invade. 2018 Repeated? In March 2018, sanctions […]
Imports of less-expensive sheet and plate products continue to make their way into the U.S. market, a steady increase over the past six months as buyers continue to seek relief from record-high steel prices in the U.S. October Commerce Department data show imports’ shares of the U.S. flat products markets at their highest levels in the past […]
Total mill shipments of steel products edged up 1.4% in October to 8.619 million tons, following a 12.2% fall the month prior. Apparent supply slipped for the second straight month in October, down 2.2% on top of a 6.9% decline in September. October’s contraction marks the first month-on-month decrease in steel supply since apparent supply fell […]
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 […]
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 […]
Final Census data shows that foreign steel imports in October totaled 2.74 million net tons, easing 16% from September’s 28-month high of 3.26 million tons. November import licenses through Dec. 6 were at 2.68 million tons, a 2% decline from October and down 18% compared to September. Total finished imports were 2.37 million tons in October, down 8% […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Monitor, Jan. 5 Sheet prices fell in most markets around the world as supply availability grew. In the USA, market participants report that end users are cancelling or postponing orders, which has led to an even greater build up in inventory levels and caused […]
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN) is considering plans to build an electric arc furnace (EAF) long products mill and a galvanizing facility for steel sheet in the United States. That’s according to an investor presentation in which the Brazilian steelmaker said new plants in the U.S. as well as expansions in Europe and in Brazil were […]
Sheet and plate prices fell across the board this week on shorter lead times, import competition and increased spot availability from domestic mills. Declines for hot-rolled coil were generally steeper than those for value-added products. And while certain mills are trying to hold the line around $1,800 per ton, EAF producers were reported to be […]
The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) praised a new bipartisan bill designed to crack down on trade cheating and enhance the tools available to combat repeat offenders of U.S. trade remedy laws. The “Eliminating Global Market Distortions to Protect American Jobs Act of 2021” – also referred to as “The Level the Playing Field Act 2.0” – […]
I’m concerned we’ve all gotten a little too complacent with the idea that the price correction underway will continue to be gradual and that the new floor for hot rolled coil, whatever it is, will be four digits instead of the sub-$400-500 per ton floors that have characterized past downcycles. I’m not saying we’re headed […]