“The second quarter has been one of the most challenging quarters I can remember,” said Ternium CEO Máximo Vedoya. Steel demand fell in the second quarter with steel companies in many regions shutting down blast furnaces. Ternium operations in Brazil and Argentina were able to keep operating, albeit at reduced volumes, and increased shipments to […]
By CRU Senior Consultant Ibrahim Yucel, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Efforts to reshore critical supply chains and secure access to strategic materials have become a top political issue for many countries, and trade barriers are a common tool used by governments to help protect local producers of strategic materials. However, trade policy enforcements sometimes lead […]
The U.S. manufacturing sector expanded again in July indicating a third consecutive month of growth for the overall economy, said the Institute for Supply Management in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The July PMI rose 1.6 points from June to register 54.2. “The growth cycle continues for the second straight month after three […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: On an earnings call last week, Aditya Mittal, president and CFO of ArcelorMittal, the single largest steel producer in the world, stated that “Section 232 has been successful because it has spurred a lot of investment in the […]
Two out of three steel buyers polled by Steel Market Update believe the coronavirus has permanently changed the way they do business. Sixty-five percent of the respondents to SMU’s questionnaire last week expect less travel and more working from home to become common practice, among other changes. Following are some of their comments: “There will […]
Steel imports into the United States declined by more than 20 percent in the first half of 2020, reported the American Iron and Steel Institute, based on preliminary Census Bureau data. Through the first six months of this year, total steel imports declined by 20.8 percent to 12.4 million tons, while finished steel imports declined […]
Imports of seamless carbon and alloy steel standard, line and pressure pipe from the Czech Republic, Russia, South Korea and the Ukraine are subject to a new antidumping investigation by the Commerce Department. In addition, a countervailing duty investigation regarding these products has been initiated on imports from Russia and Korea. The petition was filed […]
Recently released preliminary steel import data shows June imports totaling 1.39 million net tons, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. This is down 410,000 tons or 23 percent compared to final May imports. Taking semifinished products out of the picture, imports of finished products were down 12 percent in June over the previous month; […]
U.S. gross domestic product had negative growth in every region of the country in the first quarter of 2020 following four quarters when every region had positive growth, according to Bureau of Economic Analysis data. The BEA reports GDP by state and region on a quarterly basis. This data is released several weeks after the […]
The U.S. share of global scrap trade has been increasing since Q1 2016 and in Q1 2020 was 23.3 percent. This is a quarterly analysis that SMU performs using data from the Iron and Steel Statistics Bureau (ISSB) in the UK. Some nations are slow to report, which results in the analysis being two months […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Readers have asked frequently about the staying power of Section 232 tariffs and quotas on steel and aluminum. There are many ways to look at the question—from the effectiveness of the remedy to change behavior of China and […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Readers have asked frequently about the staying power of Section 232 tariffs and quotas on steel and aluminum. There are many ways to look at the question—from the effectiveness of the remedy to change behavior of China and […]
Steel industry trade groups have joined voices in calling for significant funding for state departments of transportation (DOTs) in the next phase of COVID-19 stimulus legislation. Members of The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), The Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports (CPTI) and the […]
This week’s SMU comparison of foreign and domestic hot rolled prices shows that U.S prices have gained an even greater advantage over foreign imports, according to SMU and CRU indices. After shrinking in May, the price gap between domestic HRC compared to German, Italian, and East/Southeast Asian imports has widened over the last few weeks. The […]
The trough for steel volume, particularly for flat rolled steel, has passed and the second half looks promising, said Steel Dynamics CEO Mark Millett. Back orders are strong and order intake rates have picked up due to increasing demand as businesses resume operations following COVID-19 shutdowns. “It is still not possible to determine the full […]
Steel prices are always unpredictable, but a confluence of recent events is making price prognostication more difficult than usual. Steel prices have plummeted along with demand ever since the coronavirus appeared in mid-March and undermined the economy. The benchmark base price for hot rolled steel is down to $460 per ton, based on SMU’s canvass […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Matthew Watkins, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service Strength in China has continued. Over recent days there has been a renewed surge upwards in Chinese export prices, especially for HR coil, which rose by a total of $17/t in just three trading days this week (see chart 1). This comes at […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: China tariffs first took effect on July 6, 2018. In the two years since then, tariffs were imposed on nearly all U.S. imports from China. Recent developments suggest that changes may be coming—some which may mean fewer tariffs […]
Recently released license data shows June steel imports at 2.01 million net tons, up 12 percent from May, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Finished steel imports in June are currently at 1.47 million tons, down 3 percent from the previous month. Imports of semifinished products (mostly slabs) are at 540,000 tons for June, […]
The U.S. dollar weakened against 14 of the 16 steel and raw materials trading nation currencies in the last 90 days, which follows a decline against nine in our June 14 report. The biggest change was in the value of the Australian dollar, which was up by 9.3 percent in three months. The only currencies […]
The U.S. dollar weakened against 14 of the 16 steel and raw materials trading nation currencies in the last 90 days, which follows the same decline that we reported July 14. The biggest changes were in the value of the Australian dollar, which was up by 11.4 percent, following a 9.3 percent appreciation in our […]
By CRU Analysts Irina Melkonyan and Iris Speelmanns, from CRU’s Steel Sheet Products Market Outlook Russia is among the biggest steel exporters in the world, delivering to a wide range of destinations. However, steel demand in all regions diminished as the world was hit by Covid-19 and most steel producers globally have struggled. Unlike steelmakers […]
Kevin Dempsey has taken the reins as the chief executive at the American Iron and Steel Institute at a challenging and unprecedented time. Indeed, helping AISI’s steel mill members navigate an economy hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost on his agenda, he said in an interview with Steel Market Update on […]
Total rolled product imports in June were down by 25.4 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis, year over year. This was the eighth consecutive month in which imports declined by more than 20 percent compared to the same month last year. This early look at June’s import volume is based on Commerce Department […]
Steel Market Update presents a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at Commerce license data to a detailed look at volume by district of entry and source nation. This report is designed to plug the gap between the two. National level import reports do a good job of measuring the overall […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The Trump administration’s trade policies make for interesting reading; but the results of those policies are, if anything, more interesting. Tariffs are the hallmark of the Trump presidency, especially the Section 301 tariffs on China and the Section […]
U.S apparent steel supply rose slightly in May to 6.61 million net tons, according to recent U.S. Department of Commerce and American Iron and Steel Institute data. This is the second lowest supply level in our limited 10-year history, just behind the April 2020 figure of 6.54 million tons. Apparent steel supply, a proxy for […]
This week’s SMU comparison of foreign and domestic hot rolled prices shows that U.S prices continue gain a greater advantage over foreign imports, according to SMU and CRU indices. After shrinking in May, the price gap between domestic HRC compared to German, Italian, and East/Southeast Asian imports has widened over the last month. The following calculation […]
The Department of Commerce has initiated an investigation to determine if seamless carbon and alloy steel standard, line and pressure pipe from the Czech Republic, Korea, Russia and Ukraine is being sold at less than fair value in the U.S. market and whether such pipe is being subsidized by the governments of Korea and Russia. […]
Recently released Census data shows final May steel imports totaled 1.80 million net tons, down 35.1 percent from April, but up 2.8 percent over March, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The final May figure is just 9,700 tons higher than the preliminary May import figures SMU reported in late June. Finished imports in […]