Mexico has agreed to strictly monitor exports of grain-oriented electrical steel in lieu of trade restrictions under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. A Nov. 5 statement from the U.S. Trade Representative said, “In light of these measures, imports from Mexico will not be subject to any action to adjust imports of […]
Mexican steelmaker Ternium’s operating rates are approaching full capacity after strong improvement in shipments and demand in the third quarter. Total steel shipments rose 16 percent from the second quarter to 2.8 million tons. Higher finished steel shipments partially offset lower slab shipments to third parties. Pricing recovered significantly from the trough in the second […]
By CRU Analyst Estelle Tran, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service The U.S. market is at a unique point where steel buyers could be convinced to buy imports because of extreme supply tightness. With about 7Mt of blast furnace capacity remaining idled in the U.S. and Canada, sheet mills in operation are effectively running at […]
The Department of Commerce said it plans to move forward to implement tariffs or other trade remedies on imports of electrical steel components. Commerce launched a Section 232 investigation in May 2020 following comments by Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves regarding the continued viability of AK Steel Butler, the sole producer of electrical steel in the […]
For those of us who live in the United States, today should be one where we recognize we have expressed our opinions about politics and politicians with our vote. We recognize the strength of our democracy is rooted in the belief that we are all Americans no matter our political ilk. To believe otherwise only […]
Five congressional representatives are saying “don’t do it” to a proposal to impose Section 232 tariffs on imports of transformer cores, laminates and transformers. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Virginia Reps. Denver Riggleman, Ben Cline, Morgan Griffith, Arkansas Rep. Bruce Westerman and North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop said that imposition of tariffs […]
SMU contributor Tim Stevenson is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Tim’s previous role, he was a Director at Cargill Risk Management, and […]
SMU contributor Tim Stevenson is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Tim’s previous role, he was a Director at Cargill Risk Management, and […]
With early voting underway, record breaking mail-in ballots, and a final voting date a mere 14 days away, it is safe to say that much is riding on the upcoming U.S. presidential election. With two candidates who share little common ground in a bitter election battle, it’s clear that a shift in presidential administration will […]
By CRU Analyst Estelle Tran, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service The spike in sheet purchasing activity pushed prices up $200 /s.ton over the last two months and mill lead times for HR coil over six weeks. Steel Market Update, which is owned by CRU, also reported CR and HDG coil lead times in the […]
Nucor Tubular Products led the pipe and tube manufacturers announcing a $50 per ton price increase this morning on HSS, pipe, mechanical and piling products. EXLTUBE advised they were following the Nucor lead and announced their fourth price increase on HSS and A53B products matching the Nucor $50 per ton. New orders for foreign steel […]
The following report was done by David Schollaert, the new analyst at Steel Market Update. He was asked to take a look at past market trends and to lay out scenarios for future trends. Obviously, there are black swan events (such as the Section 232 tariffs) which can push a market in one direction much […]
The Cleveland-Cliffs/ArcelorMittal merger may throw a curve at the Steelmageddon theory, said Bank of America steel analyst Timna Tanners during Wednesday’s Steel Market Update Community Chat Webinar. The Cliffs/AM combination includes two mills that are more than 100 years old and another that is 50 years old. A move by Cliffs to permanently close some older blast […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The turmoil in this country continues. The election is now 30 days away. The president has COVID-19; the debates may not continue. And, our economy continues to suffer from the pandemic and the economic impact of disease and […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Tariffs are coming at us from every direction, it seems like. Tariffs are taxes, as we hear a lot. Some taxes are predictable, but those on China, steel, aluminum, washing machines and solar panels tend to be vastly […]
With a presidential election on the horizon, the AIST Town Hall Forum asked steel executives how a new administration may affect the steel industry and trade. “I continue to expect bipartisan support in Washington for American workers, American steelmaking, regardless of who is in the White House,” said U.S. Steel CEO Dave Burritt. “But I […]
Steel Market Update has had conversations/communications with Robert Miller, CEO and James Banker, Jr., Executive Vice President of NLMK USA as we endeavor to learn more about the status of the strike against the Farrell, Pennsylvania facility, status of slabs for the Farrell mill, and gain a better understanding of the general flat rolled steel […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: For international trade and politics, it’s hard to beat the past week. We saw numerous developments in the trade field—I’ll discuss a few of them: (1) an avalanche of lawsuits challenging the “Section 301” tariffs against $200 billion […]
By CRU Prices Analyst Estelle Tran, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service A combination of increased seasonal demand, low service center inventories, unplanned outages, spike in scrap prices and government restrictions on Brazilian slab imports have added fuel to the usual seasonal uptick and turned it into a surge. After reaching a bottom in mid-August, […]
Importers of steel and aluminum who have been critical of the Commerce Department’s handling of Section 232 exclusion requests have found an ally in the Government Accountability Office. In a report released Tuesday, the GAO called for Commerce to improve and speed up the process it uses to review tariff exclusion requests. The report noted […]
Some leading pipe and tube producers are increasing prices by $50 per ton due to increased demand from construction and automotive-related industries, as well as higher raw material costs. On Monday, Nucor Tubular Products announced an immediate $50 increase on all new orders for HSS, pipe, mechanical and piling products. Atlas Tube followed suit on […]
JSW Steel USA will idle its Baytown, Texas, plate mill, citing recent changes to quotas of semifinished steel imports from Brazil. “While on the journey to becoming a ‘melted and manufactured in the USA’ company, JSW utilized the imported slab quota system put in place by the administration to support operations at our Baytown, Texas, […]
Iowa farmers are complaining that tariffs are causing opportunists to raise steel prices for materials needed to rebuild following the devastating derecho storm that damaged farms last month. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) penned a letter to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross asking that Section 232 tariffs be […]
The Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) system is receiving an upgrade courtesy of the Department of Commerce. A final rule was adopted on Sept. 11 that will modernize the SIMA system and set up a new online platform on the Commerce website. “These significant improvements to SIMA will enable Commerce and the public to […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: New regulations published Sept. 11 in the Federal Register require steel importers to know and reveal the country where steel was “melted and poured” no matter how much the steel was processed thereafter. Steel importers have long been […]
The strike by United Steelworkers Local 1016-03 at NLMK Pennsylvania is in its second week. NLMK issued a press release on Tuesday addressing some of the questions the public has asked regarding operations and negotiations. The facility in Farrell continues to operate, manned by salaried employees. The company is finishing production of coils that were […]
Will it be “Steelmaggedon” or simply new capacity replacing old? Bank of America analyst Timna Tanners, who trademarked the term, still believes an abundance of new capacity will come online in the next few years, despite the COVID pandemic, oversupplying the market and dooming steel prices. Many of the other executives who spoke during SMU’s […]
The Trump administration has announced a tightening of Brazil’s steel quota that will sharply reduce the tonnage of steel slabs imported into the U.S. for the rest of the year. “In light of recent deterioration in market conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic affecting domestic steel producers, the United States has deemed it necessary […]
In response to U.S. complaints of recent surges, Mexico has agreed to strictly monitor exports of standard pipe, mechanical tubing and semifinished products through June 1, 2021. In exchange, the U.S. will maintain Mexico’s exemption from the Section 232 national security tariffs, said U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in a statement on Monday. Section 232 […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: A number of readers have asked for particulars on the recent actions on steel trade between the United States, Brazil and Mexico. The numbers are available in some detail now. I will try to explain these for the […]