What are the issues affecting price negotiations? What is the direction of spot pricing? Steel Market Update canvassed the market this week to gather executives’ perspectives. Following are some insightful comments: Q: What are you seeing as the biggest issue affecting price negotiations with your suppliers? A: “Supply is constrained. That is the biggest issue.” A: […]
Behlen Mfg. Co. is among many manufacturers who report strong demand for their products despite all the trade conflict making headlines in Washington. Based in Columbus, Neb., Behlen makes grain storage equipment, building systems and other fabricated metal parts. Behlen President and CEO Phil Raimondo is pleased with his company’s performance, but his pleasure is […]
Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs are causing collateral damage in the case of one high profile White House-favored manufacturer. Harley-Davidson announced Monday that because of EU tariffs in response to U.S.-imposed steel and aluminum tariffs, the company will shift production of motorcycles for EU destinations from the United States to international facilities. EU tariffs […]
Argentina-based Tenaris announced last week it will begin producing pipe again at its mill in Conroe, Texas. The Conroe mill has been shuttered for the past three years after operations were suspended due to the plummeting oil prices and competition from imported pipe. Select areas of the mill will be restarted beginning with the heat […]
John Packard is on an airplane somewhere over the Atlantic, on his way to meet with our new colleagues at the CRU Group, which is headquartered in London. I’m sure John would agree, as he travels far away, that this comment from a Steel Market Update subscriber hits very close to home. Responding to our […]
Metalforming companies are expecting a decline in business conditions due to high steel prices and tariffs, according the latest survey by the Precision Metalforming Association. In a sample of 109 metalforming companies in the U.S. and Canada in June, 23 percent of members said they expect a decline in economic activity during the next three […]
There are big differences in the year-to-date increase of coiled plate imports on a regional basis. Last week, we published new regional import reports for HRC, CRC and HDG. This week we are publishing new reports for coiled and cut-to-length plate based on the new format. SMU produces import reports by product at the national […]
There are big differences in the year-to-date increase of cut-to-length plate imports on a regional basis. Last week, we published new regional import reports for HRC, CRC and HDG. This week, we are publishing reports for coiled and cut-to-length plate based on the new format. SMU produces import reports by product at the national level […]
On Tuesday evening, the U.S. Department of Commerce releases the import licenses collected by product and by country through that date. This week, the licenses were reported for the first 19 days of June 2018. After looking at the data (see story about June import trend in tonight’s issue of SMU), the head of commercial […]
In testimony before a skeptical and sometimes combative group of senators Wednesday, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross did his best to defend the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum and the controversial trade policies of the Trump administration. Despite his assurances that the process of reviewing product exclusion requests is on track, members of the […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: On Wednesday, during a Senate hearing on the Section 232 tariffs, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross offered some additional information on the volume of product exclusion requests he has received. As of June 20, there were […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Steel While the HR indexes continue to grind higher in a somewhat non-linear fashion, the HR futures curve is reflecting an even […]
The Commerce Department’s procedure for filing requests to have products excluded from the Section 232 steel tariffs has been called confusing and burdensome by many companies, some of which have been thwarted in their attempts to file. Applications can be rejected for something as simple as an inaccurate Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) code. In testimony […]
Major pipeline producers are seeking tariff exclusions for imported pipe used in pipeline projects currently in progress. Of the estimated 21,000 exclusion requests submitted to Commerce, more than 500 requests are for pipe and other energy-related materials. A report released June 18 by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) estimates 41,000 miles of […]
The European Commission announced that $3.2 billion in tariffs (€2.8 billion) on imports from the United States will go into effect on Friday, June 22. The “rebalancing measures” include steel and aluminum, agricultural goods and various other products and will remain in effect for as long as the U.S. tariffs on steel aluminum are in […]
India is fighting back against U.S. tariffs on aluminum and steel by imposing higher tariffs on $235 million of American goods. The tariffs increase duties on 29 items including chickpeas, walnuts, almonds, lentil and artemia (brine shrimp). India, the largest buyer of U.S. almonds, has increased the tariff by 20 percent on almonds and walnuts […]
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported foreign steel import license data for the first 19 days of June. The data is indicating to Steel Market Update a significant drop in imported foreign steel. Taking the daily license rate and spreading it across the 30 days of June, we see the month trending toward […]
Commercial Metals Company net sales jumped 15 percent to $1.2 billion for earnings of $42.3 million for the third quarter of fiscal year 2018, ending May 31. Earnings and sales increased from the second quarter due to strong demand across all of CMC segments. “The CMC team delivered outstanding results in our third fiscal quarter,” […]
The Port of New Orleans is one of the top three U.S. ports for steel imports, taking in 2.48 million tons of steel in 2017. Steel imports represented 80 percent of the port’s breakbulk tonnage and 30 percent of its total cargo tonnage. Turkey was the largest importer of steel at the Port NOLA last […]
The trade war with China has begun. On June 15, the United States announced it will place 25 percent tariffs on $50 billion of Chinese goods. The announcement was swiftly followed by one from China imposing retaliatory tariffs in an equivalent amount. In a statement on Friday, President Trump said: “My great friendship with President […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest developments in Washington: The Trump administration announced new tariffs on China on Friday, covering about $36 billion in imports (2017 figures). Two lists were released. The first list consists of 863 tariff lines that will be subject to […]
Manufacturing in New York State expanded in June at a faster pace than April. The Empire State Manufacturing Index jumping 4.9 points to 25.0 and its highest reading since October, said the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Friday. New orders and shipments made solid gains, driving increases to backlogs and delivery times. The […]
U.S. steelmakers filed trade cases this week on cold rolled and corrosion resistant (CORE) steels alleging that Korea and Taiwan are guilty of using the same circumvention tactics as the Chinese–namely sending hot rolled and cold rolled substrate to Vietnam. As many predicted, the Commerce Department’s recent Chinese circumvention ruling has set a precedent that […]
Lewis Leibowitz, trade attorney and contributor to Steel Market Update, offers the following commentary on the latest trade developments in Washington: • The Section 232 investigation into automobiles and auto parts is in the comment phase. The deadline for written comments is June 22. The hearing in the investigation is on July 19 and 20. If […]
Steel imports increased 12.7 percent from March to April to 3.76 million net tons and were 12.1 percent higher than a year ago, according to the latest data from the American Institute for International Steel. The U.S. imported 705,000 net tons from Canada, up 9.2 percent from March and more than one-third higher than April […]
Foreign-made automobiles and parts may soon be facing tariffs if the administration is successful in its investigation to determine whether imports of automobiles and auto parts threaten to impair national security. On May 23, the Commerce Department initiated a Section 232 investigation on imported automobiles and parts, noting that during the past 20 years imports […]
Earlier this week, the Department of Commerce reported license data for the month of June 2018. Based on licenses through June 12, the trend is for June foreign steel imports to come in around 2.1 million net tons. If the pace of actual receipts matches the pace of the licenses seen so far this month, […]
Editor’s Note: Not a Premium-level subscriber to SMU? See the sample Premium report below: Hot-rolled coil imports in the first four months of the year increased by 38 percent nationally, but saw big variations regionally. Imports can vary significantly from one region to another. Steel Market Update has produced import reports by product at the […]
Editor’s Note: Not a Premium-level subscriber to SMU? See the sample Premium report below: Overall, U.S. imports of cold rolled coil declined by 17 percent year to date through April, but some regions saw increases. Imports can vary significantly from one region to another. Steel Market Update has produced import reports by product at the […]
Editor’s Note: Not a Premium-level subscriber to SMU? See the sample Premium report below: Imports of hot-dipped galvanized sheet into the U.S. as a whole declined by 8 percent year to date through April, but the Great Lakes region was up by 14.1 percent and the South Pacific was down by 33.8 percent. Imports can […]