Recently released preliminary steel import data shows July imports totaling 2.69 million net tons, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. This is up nearly twofold over final June import figures, primarily due to the quarterly reset on semi-finished import quotas. Taking semifinished products out of the picture, imports of finished steels rose 7 percent from […]
This week’s comparison of foreign and domestic hot rolled prices shows that U.S-produced steel continues to hold a heavy price advantage over foreign imports, albeit slightly less than mid-August, according to SMU and CRU indices. After slightly shrinking in May, the differentials between domestic HRC compared to German, Italian and East/Southeast Asian imports widened over the last […]
Claiming national security concerns over a slump in the U.S. steel market, President Trump issued a proclamation late Friday that appears to amend the quota limits on Brazil, further restricting steel imports from South American nation. While it’s unclear at this point which products will be affected and to what degree, one source tells SMU […]
Industry sentiment has improved in the past two weeks, as measured by Steel Market Update. SMU’s Steel Buyers Sentiment Indexes took a dip in July but rebounded in the latest check of the market for reasons that are not entirely clear. Respondents bemoan the persistent uncertainty, but business is good in certain sectors. SMU asks […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Time was we looked with great interest at the deliberations of the party platform committees to see who was the most influential—young vs. old, moderates vs. conservatives vs. progressives, etc. In this year of the pandemic, the entire […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: The nation and the world saw a greater than normal number of presidential announcements in the past week. I debated Philip Bell, the president of the Steel Manufacturers Association, on issues related to Section 232 at the SMU […]
Galvalume supplies are shaping up to be tight in the fourth quarter, but fears of a shortage may be overstated, sources tell Steel Market Update. Despite a recent press report to the contrary, Galvalume is one of the strongest steel sectors right now. “There is no shortage at the right price,” said one mill executive. […]
By CRU Prices Analyst Estelle Tran, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service U.S. sheet steel prices hit their lowest point of the year on Aug. 12 and are slated to rise as steel consumption has been increasing. Steel mill capacity utilization reached 61.5 percent in the week ended Aug. 15, up from 60.4 percent the […]
The latest CRU Global Economic Outlook indicates that Mexican auto production will not reach 2019 levels until 2023, with expectations that 2020 volumes will be down about 23 percent in 2020 and recover 19 percent in 2021. There is some near-term upside to the Mexican market as production returns to normality after the Covid-19-related shutdowns, […]
China’s July crude steel output jumped 1.9 percent from June and 9.1 percent from a year ago to 93.36 million metric tons, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Steel demand rallied after declining during the pandemic-induced shutdowns and is now benefiting from Chinese stimulus measures that include infrastructure building and housing construction. Average daily […]
For more than 28 percent of steel buyers, business is back to pre-COVID levels already, while at the other end of the spectrum 9 percent have seen little or no recovery. For the vast majority in between, the recovery process is a slow and ongoing one. In the latest market canvass this week, SMU asked: […]
Ports on the West and East coasts were overwhelmed by a surge of imports in July and the trend is expected to continue into September. The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach report congestion and full warehouses due to a 40 percent increase in Asian imports from May to July. Chassis shortages are common […]
If you have been waiting for a price drop on an imported Korean LG or Samsung washing machine, you may be waiting a bit longer. The U.S. International Trade Commission is considering extending safeguard tariffs and quotas on imports of large residential washers, including those two popular brands. Whirlpool is asking that its foreign competitors continue […]
Philip Bell, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association, and Washington trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz will square off next week at the SMU Steel Summit 2020 to offer their viewpoints on steel trade. The Steel Manufacturers Association recently added its name to a letter penned to the House rules committee in support of an amendment that […]
U.S apparent steel supply inched upwards in June to 6.93 million net tons, according to U.S. Department of Commerce and American Iron and Steel Institute data. While up over the previous month, April and May were the two lowest supply levels in the last 10 years at 6.54 million tons and 6.61 million tons, respectively. […]
This week’s comparison of foreign and domestic hot rolled prices shows that U.S prices now hold the widest price advantage over foreign imports in our limited 10-year data history, according to SMU and CRU indices. After slightly shrinking in May, the price gap between domestic HRC compared to German, Italian, and East/Southeast Asian imports has widened over […]
The Department of Commerce is proposing modifications to antidumping and countervailing duty regulations to make them more efficient and to create new enforcement tools to address circumvention and evasion. In a detailed rule published in the Federal Register, Commerce proposes: The creation of standalone rules governing Commerce’s conduct of circumvention inquiries. The new rules set […]
“A Covid-19 vaccine would be a ‘shot in the arm’ for the economy,” said AISI Chief Economist Tim Gill during Wednesday’s SMU Community Chat Webinar. 2020 has been a challenging year for the steel industry in the U.S. and around the world, said Gill. Capacity utilization rates fell 30 percentage points from mid-March to just […]
Mill shipments and supply of sheet products began to turn around in June. This analysis based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import-export data from the U.S. Department of Commerce. The analysis summarizes total steel supply by product from 2008 through June 2020 and year-on-year changes. The […]
The analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into the district of entry and the source nation. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about local import volume is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis is to describe in detail what is going on in a […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Section 232 is in the news again this week. First, President Trump issued a new proclamation reimposing 10 percent aluminum tariffs on certain aluminum imports from Canada. Second, there were reports in the media that the president will […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Section 232 is in the news again this week. First, President Trump issued a new proclamation reimposing 10 percent aluminum tariffs on certain aluminum imports from Canada. Second, there were reports in the media that the president will […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: During the last few weeks, I have focused on issues surrounding the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. In this column, I come back to antidumping and countervailing duty laws, which affect international trade in steel products […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: During the last few weeks, I have focused on issues surrounding the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. In this column, I come back to antidumping and countervailing duty laws, which affect international trade in steel products […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive subscribers. For more information on how to upgrade to a Premium subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. July was the ninth consecutive month where imports were down by more than 20 percent compared to the same month last year, according to the latest Commerce Department data. […]
Recently released Census data shows final June steel imports totaled 1.40 million net tons, down 22 percent from May and down 50 percent from March, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. This is the lowest monthly import level since November 2009 when total imports were 1.38 million tons. This final June figure is just […]
A challenge by JSW Steel USA to the U.S. Court of International Trade regarding the denial by Commerce of its slab exclusion requests has prompted CIT to order Commerce to provide further explanation of the steps taken in the denial process. “Remand of all twelve exclusion requests is warranted because Commerce’s denials are devoid of […]
“The second quarter has been one of the most challenging quarters I can remember,” said Ternium CEO Máximo Vedoya. Steel demand fell in the second quarter with steel companies in many regions shutting down blast furnaces. Ternium operations in Brazil and Argentina were able to keep operating, albeit at reduced volumes, and increased shipments to […]
By CRU Senior Consultant Ibrahim Yucel, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Efforts to reshore critical supply chains and secure access to strategic materials have become a top political issue for many countries, and trade barriers are a common tool used by governments to help protect local producers of strategic materials. However, trade policy enforcements sometimes lead […]
The U.S. manufacturing sector expanded again in July indicating a third consecutive month of growth for the overall economy, said the Institute for Supply Management in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The July PMI rose 1.6 points from June to register 54.2. “The growth cycle continues for the second straight month after three […]