-
1 week ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Ethan Bernard
Our Current Sentiment Index dropped six points to +42 this week compared to two weeks earlier. It has fallen in every successive survey since reaching a 2025 high of +66 on Feb. 19. Though still optimistic, it appears tariff uncertainty shows buyers are less confident about current business conditions (Figure 1) than they had been at the beginning of this presidential administration. Our Future Buyers’ Sentiment Index also ticked lower, albeit slightly (Figure 2).
-
1 week ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Ethan Bernard
“Our goal is to ensure that EPDs for steel products are comprehensive and consistent in their reporting of environmental impacts,” AISI President and CEO Kevin Dempsey said in the release. The EPDs cover the carbon footprint, but there are also a number of other environmental impact categories included.
-
1 week ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Ethan Bernard
Trump's new auto tariffs will apply to passenger vehicles (including sedans, sport utility vehicles, crossover utility vehicles, minivans, and cargo vans), light trucks, and certain automobile parts (including engines and engine parts, transmissions and powertrain parts, and electrical components).
-
1 week ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Ethan Bernard
Olympic Steel has named Alex Hegler as general manager for its Action Stainless facility in Rock Hill, S.C.The Cleveland-based service center chain said Hegler most recently served as sales manager for a global specialty metals distributor and service center. “Alex is an effective commercial leader with a proven record of strategic market expansion,” Andy Markowitz, president of specialty metals at Olympic, said in a statement on Monday.
-
1 week ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Ethan Bernard
What happens when ChatGPT meets SMU’s Market Chatter? No, this is not an idea for the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Then again, with what Hollywood is putting out these days, Chatter Meets Chat might just turn out to be a hit. Rather, it’s that old idea of putting theory into practice. Recently, I conducted an interview with Doug Schrock, managing principal of AI at public accounting and consulting firm Crowe. He gave some tips on how to implement AI into your business.
-
1 week ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Ethan Bernard
As for its aim, the order says: “It is the policy of the United States to revitalize and rebuild domestic maritime industries and workforce to promote national security and economic prosperity.” A White House fact sheet accompanying the order states that government procurement processes and “over-regulation” have hindered “private industry’s ability to build vessels on time and on budget.” An important element of the order includes directing the US Trade Representative (USTR) “to make...
-
2 weeks ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Ethan Bernard |Stephen MIller |Stephen Miller
Our average HRC price as of April 8 stands at $905 per short ton (st) FOB mill, east of the Rockies. That’s off $10/st from a week earlier and down $45/st m/m. At the same time, busheling tags also fell m/m in April. They are down $20.00 per gross ton (gt) from last month, with an average of $455/gt. Figure 1 shows price histories for each product.
-
2 weeks ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Ethan Bernard
Despite ordering a new review of Nippon Steel’s bid for U.S. Steel, President Trump said he is still against selling the Pittsburgh-based steelmaker to a Japanese company, according to media reports. “We love Japan, but U.S. Steel is a very special company,” Trump said while speaking to journalists, according to a report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Thursday.
-
2 weeks ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Ethan Bernard |Stephen MIller |Stephen Miller
After the decision that exempted Canada and Mexico from reciprocal tariffs was understood, mills felt comfortable to issue prices. There were a few surprises though. The reciprocal tariffs did apply to scrap imports (except Canada and Mexico) and more importantly, direct-reduced iron/hot-briquetted iron (DRI/HBI) and pig iron. This may have eased the downward pressure on market prices, especially for #1 busheling and bundles.
-
2 weeks ago | 
steelmarketupdate.com | Ethan Bernard
Recall that the investment firm aimed to unseat U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt and replace him with former Stelco CEO Alan Kestenbaum. The move came after President Trump on Monday ordered the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to conduct a new review of the deal. It is to be completed within 45 days.
