Commodity Inside steel insight articles provides a thematic analysis steel news covering key developments in the steel industry related to steel demand, stainless steel market, steel production, steel trade, steel prices, steel capacity, steel blockchain, steel M&A etc.
Why SpaceX preferred stainless steel 300 over lightweight materials?
Friday, 01 March 2019
Why was stainless steel 300 series used in Starship? SpaceX, a US-based private aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company, has used stainless steel 300 series in its new Starship. There are other relatively lighter materials such as aluminium and carbon fibre which could be substituted. However, SpaceX opted for stainless steel for various reasons
- Published in Steel
Global slab market update: Steel slab prices show volatility
Tuesday, 19 February 2019
The slab market has been passing through an uncertain period. Demand and supply fundamentals are changing while unconventional market forces are influencing prices. It has been a wild ride for slab prices in recent months. The recovery in slab prices seen in November 2018 was short lived. Prices started to fall drastically from December. In
- Published in Steel
Steel tariffs supports the US steel industry but the future tends to be patchy
Wednesday, 13 February 2019
The US steel industry has seen some robust growth recently owing to 25% duties imposed last year by Trump administration. This has improved the financial position of steel producers. Nucor Corp, a major US steel producer, announced its net earnings of $383 million for the 4th quarter of 2018 with a 300% rise compared to the same
- Published in Steel
JFE to slash production due to maintenance issues
Tuesday, 05 February 2019
Japan’s JFE which is operating around eight blast furnaces across Japan, three of them are facing issues. This would result in a lost of 1.4 million tonnes of crude steel in total. Blast furnace No. 2 at the Kurashiki area, West Japan Works, is set for going back to a pre-banking level in early February
- Published in Steel
Japan expects increase in steel production this year
Tuesday, 05 February 2019
Crude steel production in Japan is expected to rise in 2019 which is to be driven particularly by construction activities ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Japan Iron and Steel Association anticipates. Commodity Inside understands that depending on the hosting country such major events usually drive steel demand by constructing new stadiums as well as
- Published in Steel
Canada to decide the future of its provisional steel tariffs
Tuesday, 29 January 2019
Like many other key markets, steel imports have also been facing some tough times in Canada. There are provisional customs duties on the following CRC HS codes payable from on or after 23rd August 2018. 7209.15.00.00 7209.16.00.00 7209.17.00.00 7209.18.00.00 7209.25.00.00 7209.26.00.00 7209.27.00.00 7209.28.00.00 7209.90.00.00 7211.23.00.00 7211.29.00.00 7211.90.00.00 7225.50.00.00 These duties are imposed by the Canada Border
- Published in Steel
EU prepares to retaliate to potential US auto tariffs
Monday, 28 January 2019
The EU is ready to retaliate if the US impose 25% tariffs on auto imports from Europe. The countermeasures could affect $294 billion US exports to Europe. The US administration has been investigating imports from various countries. It imposed 30%-50% tariffs on solar panels and white goods in January 2018. Later in March, the administration
- Published in Steel
China to get tougher on new steel capacity additions in 2019
Monday, 14 January 2019
The Chinese minister of industry and information technology revealed to a local news agency that the government is going to ban new steel expansion projects in 2019. China also continued its ban on the cement and glass industry capacity expansions due to the overcapacity issues. The environmental issue is also a fundamental cause behind the
- Published in Steel
Chinese steel consumption is expected to rise in 2019
Thursday, 03 January 2019
Steel demand in China is set to increase on the back of newly approved policies in support of its construction sector. The new policies would cut taxes, improve the funding for local governments and boost up the infrastructure building and housing projects in 2019. The proposal of new economic actions has already been approved by
- Published in Steel
Iran’s steel exports are on a downward trajectory after re-imposition of sanctions
Thursday, 20 December 2018
Iranian steel exports have started plummeting since the US reinstated sanctions. The EU has already imposed anti-dumping duties on some of the Iranian steel. According to Iran Steel Producers Association, Iran produced 14.24 million tonnes of steel with an increase of 10% in the first eight months of current Iranian year started from 21st of
- Published in Steel