Economy
February 17, 2020
Currency Update for Steel Trading Nations
Written by Peter Wright
In this report we examine the change in currency values of the 16 pre-eminent global steel and iron ore trading nations. The U.S. dollar has strengthened against 10 of the 16 currencies in the last three months. In January we replaced the British pound in this report with the Vietnamese dong in recognition that Vietnam is now a much bigger player in the global steel market than is the UK.
The currencies of these 16 don’t necessarily follow the Broad Index value of the U.S, dollar. In fact, at any given time, some are always moving in the opposite direction. The latest value of the Broad Index as published by the Federal Reserve was Feb. 7. In the three months prior to that date, the dollar had weakened by 0.5 percent; therefore, in this instance, the currencies of the steel trading nations are not coincident with the Broad Index
