Tag: supply chain

North American auto assemblies declined in July, down 16.4% vs. August. But, according to GlobalData, assemblies were 2.4% ahead year on year (y/y).

Chief executive of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), Tom Derry highlighted how reactive buying behavior has shifted the market into a quiet demand period. Derry presented ISM data during the weekly SMU community chat. 

Institute for Supply Management CEO Tom Derry will join SMU for our next Community Chat on Wednesday, July 23, at 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT)

Section 232 tariffs of 50% on imported steel will go into effect on Wednesday with few exceptions, according to a top White House official.

With higher tariff rates on steel and aluminum set to go into effect on Wednesday, June 4, a new round of chaos across the supply chain is likely in store. Expect a significant impact on manufacturers and metal fabricators. But even before the latest round of Trump-tariff whiplash on Friday evening, there was a lot of interesting data coming out of SMU's steel-market survey.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) adds metallurgical coal to the nation’s list of Critical Materials, following its designation by US Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright’s announcement on May 22.

Ford Motor Co. started a planned outage early at its Chicago assembly plant due to a supply chain issue.

The recently announced US tariffs on vehicles and key components from all markets are expected to significantly disrupt global production.

AMU’s Greg Wittbecker, an aluminum industry veteran, will address not only US tariffs but also evolving trade routes - and how supply chains are (or aren’t) adjusting. He’ll also touch on broader industrial impacts, from auto layoffs to the potential ripple effect of maritime tax policies.

The tariffs are intended to produce more investment and jobs in US manufacturing. But first, there will be a cosmic change, potentially wiping out millions of jobs in the short run. While administration officials will no doubt cringe at the comparison, it reminds me of the effort to undercut fossil fuels production to address climate change. Led by Democrats, the effort was to destroy fossil fuels so that renewable energy sources would have more space to grow. The result: inflation and electoral defeat in 2024.

Containers sailing from China in April are down 15%-20% and Hapag Lloyd says their future bookings transpacific are down 30%.

Earlier this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to tariffs, imports, and evolving market events.

A counterintuitive aspect of the 25% tariffs on autos is these percentages are measured in value, not by weight or part count. That means a few costly imported parts can outweigh dozens of cheaper local ones – and vice versa.

The constant flow of information we all receive can be a little overwhelming, but SMU is here to help with a snapshot of the week.

After slumping in December to the lowest total since July 2021, February assemblies further expanded on January’s growth.

Nearly 99% of ILA members voted in favor of a new labor deal with the United States Maritime Alliance that covers workers at ports on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

Both sides had agreed to extend the current contract to Jan. 15 to continue talks

“Manufacturers are optimistic,” said Timothy R. Fiore, chair of ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

Everybody has an opinion about politics these days. More importantly for our readers, though, every business has a bottom line. A popular question in our most recent steel buyers survey asked how uncertainty around the upcoming US presidential election could affect that line.

The International Longshoreman's Association (ILA) union and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) reached a tentative agreement on wages on Thursday evening. The move ends a strike at East Coast and Gulf Coast ports that began on Tuesday and that had threatened significant supply-chain disruptions.

Nearly 1,200 people have registered for SMU Steel Summit, which is less than a month away now. That means we’re still on pace to meet or exceed last year’s record attendance despite a tough flat-rolled steel market over the last few months. So, a big thank you to everyone who already plans to go for your continued support. If you haven’t booked travel yet, don’t miss out on one of the greatest shows in steel – register here. (You can also check out the latest agenda here.)

SMU has heard from some larger buyers who have stepped back into the market to buy at prices that, if not at a bottom, they assess to be close to one. Is it enough to stretch out lead times and send prices upward again? Or do we continue to scrape along the mid-$600s per short ton (st) as we have been doing for most of the last month?

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market events.

Cleveland-Cliffs Chairman, President and CEO Lourenco Goncalves had some insightful things to say today about the steel market and about a conference we suspect might be Steel Summit.

The International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) have just over two months left to reach a new labor agreement and avoid a strike at all Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. However, with talks still suspended, ILA’s president says a strike looks more likely with each passing day.

Steel Dynamics Inc. executives provided further insight into operations at the company’s Sinton, Texas, flat-rolled steel mill on a second-quarter earnings conference call on Thursday morning. Despite a series of start-up woes, the company recently commissioned two new coating lines there, and the mill continues to ramp up production. The execs were also bullish on […]

Renewable energy infrastructure, including wind turbines, solar farms, and electric-vehicle charging stations, requires substantial amounts of steel. The domestic steel industry, with its capacity to produce world-class steel with the world’s smallest carbon footprint, should be at the forefront of this supply chain. Yet the United States is increasingly importing steel from abroad to meet its renewable energy needs.

North America has one of the most robust steel scrap markets in the world. The continent has a long history of steel production, significant imports of steel and steel-containing products, and mature steel consumption. Due to this, the reservoir of scrap available to be recycled each year in the US and other North American markets is substantial and growing.

July is less than a week away, which means SMU’s Steel Summit in August is just around the corner.

It was great to have Gary Stein, CEO of Triple-S Steel, join SMU for a Community Chat earlier this week. (Btw, you can find a record of the webinar here.) We covered a lot of ground. From Andrew Carnegie and the Johnstown Flood to the current steel market and the state of domestic manufacturing broadly speaking. One thing that stuck with me was how unevenly construction spending appears to be on “green” initiatives and other key items funded by infrastructure spending, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the CHIPS Act.