One of the primary drivers of currency change is interest rate differential between currency pairs. The March 20 announcement by the Federal Reserve will take some of the steam out of dollar appreciation that occurred last year. On March 21, the Associated Press wrote, “The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged March 20 […]
The spot price of West Texas Intermediate FOB Cushing, Okla., had a recent peak on Oct. 3 of $76.40/barrel. The price declined to $44.48 on Dec. 27, but recovered to $59.09 on March 15. The total number of operating rigs exploring for oil has declined by 61 since Jan. 4. The prices of oil and […]
Ferrous scrap prices for June are difficult to predict, report Steel Market Update sources, who disagree on the degree to which the lower tariffs on Turkish steel will affect demand for scrap exports from the U.S. Most expect scrap prices to settle sideways next month after declines for most of the year, but a small […]
Since hitting an eight-year low in December of just 1,893,568 tons, imports of steel into the United States have been up and down, according to Commerce Department data. Final January imports jumped to 3,478,865 net tons, up 83.7 percent over December—a nearly 1.6 million ton increase. Then in February, based on license data for the […]
Much attention has been given to opponents of the Section 232 tariffs, but there are those who support keeping the tariffs even after a new North American trade agreement is approved. The American Line Pipe Producers Association, makers of large-diameter welded pipe, urged the administration to continue the tariffs on LDWP imports from Canada and […]
The U.S. Court of International Trade ruled against a legal challenge to the constitutionality of Section 232 brought by the American Institute for International Steel. AIIS alleged that Section 232 violates the constitutional prohibition against Congress delegating its legislative powers to the president. The CIT denied a motion by AIIS for a summary judgment, citing […]
The decision by the U.S. Court of International Trade to deny the American Institute for International Steel’s motion for summary judgment on its constitutional challenge to Section 232 has not deterred AIIS from further action. Said AIIS President Richard Chriss: “We are heartened that the Court of International Trade recognized that Section 232, in the […]
Mexico has renewed the 15 percent tariff on imports of iron and steel products from countries with which it does not have a free-trade agreement. The tariffs cover 186 products and were originally introduced in 2015 to protect domestic producers from Asian imports. The newest renewal cites the “crisis facing the international steel market caused […]
The metals service center industry will see significant ownership turnover and consolidation over the next 10-20 years, but is likely to remain a highly fragmented, family-owned industry, said Dan Sullivan, president of Montrose Advisors, an M&A advisory firm. Speaking at the S&P Global Platts North America Conference March 15 in Chicago, Sullivan said the robust […]
Steel Market Update’s Steel Buyers Sentiment Index has registered little change so far this year, even as steel prices have seen a small uptrend. The goal of the index is to measure how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful today (Current Index), as well as three to six […]
Steel Market Update asked: With steel imports dropping and domestic mills running close to capacity, are you concerned about where steel prices may go over the next few months? Surprisingly, nearly two out of three respondents to SMU’s market trends questionnaire earlier this week said they are unconcerned about a big swing in prices. Their […]
Bank of America Merrill Lynch predicts that billions in capital investments by domestic steelmakers over the next few years, adding more than 20 million tons of new capacity to the market, will cause a glut of supply that proves disastrous for steel prices—a phenomenon they have dubbed “Steelmageddon.” Steel Market Update canvassed the market this […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Chief Market Risk Officer, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
Toyota hopes to prevent becoming a victim of auto tariffs by investing in its U.S. operations. The company has increased its 2017 pledge to invest $10 billion by 2021 to a new target of $13 billion. Toyota’s announcement last week includes $750 million for capacity increases and building expansions at Toyota’s plants in Huntsville, Ala., […]
An antidumping/countervailing duty investigation will continue on imports of fabricated structural steel from Canada, China and Mexico following a decision by the U.S. International Trade Commission. The USITC has determined that there is reasonable indication the U.S. industry is being materially injured by imports of fabricated structural steel from Canada, China, and Mexico that are […]
Each month, Steel Market Update produces an import analysis by region for two of the six flat rolled product groups (HRC, CRC, HDG, OMC, CTL plate and coiled plate). This month we are focusing on plate products. The intent of these regional updates is to bridge the gap between our monthly license data summaries and […]
Each month, Steel Market Update produces an import analysis by region for two of the six flat rolled product groups (HRC, CRC, HDG, OMC, cut to length (CTL) plate and coiled plate). This month we are focusing on plate products. The intent of these regional updates is to bridge the gap between our monthly license […]
This report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products and 16 subcategories through December. Table 1 shows total supply to the market in three months through December and in 12 months through December for the four product groups and the 16 subcategories. Supply to the market is the total of domestic […]
U.S. tariffs on imports of steel, aluminum and Chinese goods have “an unmistakable negative impact” on the economy, says a new report from IHS Markit. The report, “The Economic and Industry Impact of Protectionism Tariffs on the Off-highway Equipment Sector,” estimates that Section 232 and Section 301 tariffs will result in an average GDP loss […]
It has been a year since President Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on steel imports under Section 232, and The Wall Street Journal asked in its Sunday editorial: “How are those steel tariffs working”? The American Institute for International Steel, currently embroiled in a constitutional challenge to the use of Section 232 to regulate imports […]
As the market waits anxiously to see if President Trump gives in to the international pressure to rethink his national security tariff on steel imports, it’s clear that steel fabricators are not big fans of Section 232. Speaking at the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association annual meeting March 5 in Nashville, panelists’ comments reflected the divisive […]
Are steel prices witnessing a dead cat bounce or the beginning of a bullish reversal? The market appears split on the feline vs. bovine analogy. In other words, there is a huge divergence of thought on what is going to happen to steel prices over the next three or four months. The benchmark price of […]
Steel market conditions and steel prices could be good for the next 18-24 months, but after that comes an unavoidable downturn that metals and mining analyst Timna Tanners has dubbed “Steelmageddon.” In fact, her company, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, has trademarked the term. Speaking at the S&P Global Platts North America Steel Conference March […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Steel and aluminum tariffs are plainly on the table as part of the USMCA approval strategy. Canada and Mexico insist on the removal of the tariffs as part of ratification of the new “NAFTA 2.0.” U.S. Trade Representative […]
By CRU Group’s Zinc Analysis Team Zinc’s price on the LME tracked copper and nickel sharply lower on March 8 as data showed a steep fall in overall Chinese exports in February. Even though January and February data from China can be misleading due to the New Year holiday, the contraction in export volumes rattled […]
Steel Market Update is sharing the following Premium-level content on flat rolled imports with Executive-level members. For more information about upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, contact info@steelmarketupdate.com. Finally, the detailed steel trade data has been released for December. Again, we apologize for our lack of trade reports in the last few months. August was the […]
This is a report that we provided monthly through August 2018 data. The USITC then revamped their DataWeb and the new version didn’t work. Our SMU staff worked with the USITC to fix the problem, then the government shut down. The March 2019 data is the first available that has been released on time since […]
Total foreign steel imports are on the decline as license data from the U.S. Department of Commerce has February imports at 2.5 million net tons. Based on license data through March 12, it appears March imports will also be in that same vicinity. To put this into perspective, imports for February 2018 were 2,478,000 net […]
Total foreign steel imports are on the decline as license data from the U.S. Department of Commerce has February imports at 2.5 million net tons. Based on license data through March 12, it appears March imports will also be in that same vicinity. To put this into perspective, imports for February 2018 were 2,478,000 net […]
Steel imports are trending up in March as license data from the U.S. Department of Commerce shows total imports tracking towards 2.9 million net tons–above the 3-month and 12-month moving averages. Based on license data through March 19, both finished and semifinished steels (mostly slabs purchased by domestic mills) are up significantly over February levels. […]