The Section 232 Yo-Yo from Mill and Trader Perspectives

Steel Market Update (SMU) spoke with steel trading companies and steel mills late last week in order to gauge the “mood” of the steel suppliers. We found a mostly composed group who are looking at business for the long term (although their customers may be more fickle depending on the news of the day).

A trader told us, “On the import side, HR is the strongest product, and there has been some yo-yoing on pricing. Some items and some regions are faring better than others – import pricing has been impacted by ‘mood’ associated with 232 perception.” He went on to say, “Some weeks the market believes 232 will be strong and they buy steel. Other weeks they perceive 232 weakness and then they sit on their hands and convince themselves the sky will fall… I wish ground rules were clearly established.”