By Bill Beck - February 19, 2019
It turned out it was a very good year for steel. Steelmakers booked record profits, thanks to a growing American economy and the implementation of President Donald Trump’s Section 232 tariffs. The trade measure, ranging from 10% to 25% on foreign steel and aluminum, gave a huge jump start to an industry that had been struggling in the latter years of the Obama presidency. The steel utilization rate climbed steadily upward during the past year, topping out at just over 80 percent at the end of the year.
Steel shipments for 2018 totaled 95.28 million tons, up nearly 5% from the 90.80 million tons shipped in 2017.
By Sean Barry - December 17, 2018
After enjoying a bumper 2018, a cloud of uncertainty hangs over the North American ferrous scrap industry heading into the New Year as market players question whether prices in 2019 will manage to outgun the pace of growth experienced over the past year on robust domestic demand.
By Bill Beck - November 19, 2018
It has been a very good year for the nation’s steel industry. President Donald Trump’s promise to protect the domestic steel industry with tariffs during the 2016 Presidential elections became a reality this year. Tariffs ranging from 10 percent to 25 percent on foreign steel gave a huge jump start to an industry that had been struggling in the latter years of the Obama presidency. The steel utilization rate has climbed steadily upward during the past year, topping out at just over 80 percent at the beginning of November.
By Bill Beck - October 22, 2018
An up and down year in the nation’s ferrous scrap market has seen prices slip from their first quarter peak to a low at the end of the third quarter. But strong order books and decreasing flow of such bellwether grades as shredded and cut scrap have many in the industry expecting fourth quarter prices to rebound to levels higher than they were during the year’s early months.
By Bill Beck - August 20, 2018
As the summer of 2018 begins to wind down, the nation’s steel industry is enjoying one of its better years in decades. U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) is clipping along at just over 4 percent on an annual average basis, hot-rolled coil is selling for nearly $900 a ton, and the Trump Administration has slapped a 25 percent tariff on steel imported into the U.S.