Lobbying groups for steel consumers blasted a federal appeals court’s decision to uphold former President Donald Trump’s abrupt doubling of Section 232 tariffs on Turkey to 50%. The tariffs have already led to high prices, long lead times and shortages that have hurt downstream manufacturers, and the decision regarding Turkey could set a dangerous precedent by […]
Former President Donald Trump acted within the law when he doubled Section 232 tariffs on Turkey from 25% to 50% in August 2018, a federal appeals court said. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upends a prior decision by a lower court – namely, by the U.S. Court of […]
So much for the summer doldrums. After a brief pause following Independence Day (and Canada Day), sheet prices have resumed their sharp upward trajectory. Hot-rolled coil prices are now over $1,800 per ton ($90 per cwt) while cold-rolled and galvanized base prices are above $2,000 per ton ($100 per cwt). If this pace of gains […]
NLMK USA sales surged in the second quarter on strong demand and increased slab supplies from its parent company in Russia. The U.S. subsidiary of Lipetsk, Russia-based NLMK Group recorded flat-rolled steel sales volumes of 502,000 metric tonnes in the first quarter. That’s up 17% from 431,000 tonnes in the first quarter and up 52% […]
As steel prices around the globe surge in response to the war in Ukraine, the brief competitive advantage domestic prices held over foreign steel has flattened, according to SMU’s latest foreign versus domestic hot rolled steel price comparison. Select foreign HRC prices are anywhere from $138 per ton cheaper than domestic prices to $74 per ton […]
The dilemma is global warming, CO2 is just the proxy, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said during the opening keynote speech at CRU’s Steel Decarbonization Strategies 2021 Virtual Conference. Cliffs’ top executive took a strong stance during his talk—which opened the first major event devoted exclusively to the topic of decarbonization in the […]
The dilemma is global warming, CO2 is just the proxy, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said during the opening keynote speech at CRU’s Steel Decarbonization Strategies 2021 Virtual Conference. Cliffs’ top executive took a strong stance during his talk—which opened the first major event devoted exclusively to the topic of decarbonization in the […]
SSAB Americas President Chuck Schmitt joined SMU for a Community Chat webinar last week during which we talked plate, renewable energy and fossil-free steelmaking. We also got to some good questions from you about the hydrogen-based steelmaking SSAB is undertaking in Sweden through its HYBRIT partnership with iron ore miner LKAB and power producer Vattenfall. […]
By Michael Marley The mini sheet mills face a maxi problem, namely no additional supplies of prompt industrial scrap to feed their growing appetites for that raw material. As they move ahead with planned expansions of existing facilities and the construction of greenfield plants, electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmakers may be forced to rely on additional […]
Readers asked me to discuss Section 232 and its possible future. Steel and aluminum tariffs have been around since 2018, not to mention other investigations on components of electric transformers made with electrical steel, autos and auto parts, and vanadium. I think that, under applicable law, certain of these cases have been resolved. I explain here […]
Last Tuesday, the Court of International Trade issued a major opinion in the massive litigation over China tariffs. As I’ve written before, the imposition of tariffs on more than $200 billion of imports per year from China has prompted a slew of lawsuits (more than 3,600 so far, including 6,500 separate plaintiffs), which could find […]
Encouraging the market to use better steel, and use steel better, along with being a leader in fossil-free steel production, is SSAB’s broader goal, said SSAB Americas President Charles Schmitt, during Wednesday’s SMU Community Chat webinar. SSAB Americas is the largest supplier of heavy steel plate in North America. Steel consumption has doubled since 2000, and […]
Plate prices have seen an astronomical rise, but the big gains have not been enough to keep the spread between sheet and plate from ballooning. And that spread is already the inverse of what is the norm. Normally plate prices carry a premium to sheet prices – now the reverse is true. Sheet carries around a […]
A Whimper or a Bang…? An interesting comment was made by one of the wholesalers on this morning’s HARDI galvanized steel conference call. I am paraphrasing here, but essentially the wholesaler was making the point that even when the mills catch up, the underlying demand is still there. From this executive’s perspective, as long as […]
The next three months will be challenging, said metalforming companies in the June 2021 Precision Metalforming Business Conditions Report. Only 36% of companies expect an improvement in economic activity during the period, down from 41% in May, while 12% anticipate a decline in activity, up from 10% in the previous month. The percentage of respondents […]
2021 SMU Steel Summit Conference Revised Agenda as of June 20, 2021 There are 55 days before the start to the 2021 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We should have close to 300 companies and 800+ executives attending this year based on where we are today. The conference agenda is close to its final shape. There […]
2021 SMU Steel Summit Conference Revised Agenda as of June 20, 2021 There are 55 days before the start to the 2021 SMU Steel Summit Conference. We should have close to 300 companies and 800+ executives attending this year based on where we are today. The conference agenda is close to its final shape. There […]
By CRU Prices Analyst Estelle Tran U.S. sheet prices are still trending higher, which has supported further gains in raw materials, slabs and imported steel. Even though CRU HR coil prices have increased 7.4% m/m to $1,655 /s.ton on June 16, market contacts still report a lack of workable offers, especially given lead times into […]
The U.S. and the EU have agreed to “resolve tensions” stemming from Section 232 by year end–but that doesn’t mean the national security tariffs will be lifted anytime soon, the head of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) said. “I don’t see anything happening before the end of this year. This is a complicated […]
Steel prices will turn lower and quickly fall back in the next 6-12 months, but mill profitability will remain substantial, predicted Principal Analyst Josh Spoores during CRU’s virtual New York Steel Seminar on Wednesday. Steel prices have hit historic highs, with hot rolled offers at more than $1,700 per ton, as demand continues to outstrip supply. […]
Hot-rolled coil prices have broken through the $1,700 per ton ($85 per cwt) threshold and now average $1,720 per ton. That’s up $45 per ton from a week ago and closing in on quadruple a 2020 low – reached last August – of $440 per ton. The latest gains come after Steel Market Update’s sentiment […]
The White House has confirmed that the United States and the European Union are in discussions to resolve “existing differences” on Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum from the EU before the end of the year. “We are determined to work together to resolve tensions arising from the U.S. application of tariffs on imports […]
The Art of Forecasting… This week I saw another milestone drop that I never thought I would live to see. Galvanized base pricing out of a domestic mill at $100.00/cwt (seems like there is an extra digit there for some reason). I go back far enough to remember galvanized steel prices around $10.00/cwt…. For the […]
The Art of Forecasting… This week I saw another milestone drop that I never thought I would live to see. Galvanized base pricing out of a domestic mill at $100.00/cwt (seems like there is an extra digit there for some reason). I go back far enough to remember galvanized steel prices around $10.00/cwt…. For the […]
SMU’s Community Chat webinar with Bank of America metals and mining analyst Timna Tanners last week was our second-best attended ever. Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, still holds the title. But Tanners gave him a run for his money. We received more questions during the webinar than we were able to […]
SMU’s steel buyers’ sentiment index has hit its highest point ever – surpassing even the euphoria ahead of the unveiling of Section 232 tariffs and quotas in the first quarter of 2018. Stratospheric price gains, the potential for Section 232 to be removed from the EU by December, and a raft of new capacity coming online in North America […]
SMU’s steel buyers’ sentiment index has hit its highest point ever – surpassing even the euphoria ahead of the unveiling of Section 232 tariffs and quotas in the first quarter of 2018. Stratospheric price gains, the potential for Section 232 to be removed from the EU by December, and a raft of new capacity coming online in North America […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Analysis We have just refreshed our expectations on aluminum for 2021 in our latest of the CRU Aluminum Market Outlook. Here are some of the key takeaways: Demand Is Strong The World ex China is into its recovery from the the Covid-19 pandemic. We expect to see sharp year-on-year growth […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Analysis Ten years ago the aluminum can, and the aluminum sheet mills that supplied them, looked to be on borrowed time. Aluminum beverage can shipments, as reported by the Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) had been flatlining for years. Can manufacturers were consolidating, with Ball and Ardagh acquiring Rexam assets in […]
By Greg Wittbecker, Advisor, CRU Analysis The COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on overall aluminum demand in 2020 was well documented. However, that storyline masked a remarkable rebound in the demand for aluminum beverage cans. Data from the Aluminum Association shows this: • 2020 total domestic shipments of can stock supplied to the can market rose 3.3% […]