Tariffs Lift Prices But Capacity Utilization Remains an Issue

Even if U.S. steelmakers have been slow to add capacity following President Trump’s tariff protection, it would seem foreign steel makers are willing to commit to domestic U.S. production.
Need buying strategies for steel? Try two free months of MetalMiner’s Outlook
The Financial Times this week reported on the announcement by BlueScope Steel, Australia’s biggest steelmaker, to examine adding 600,000 to 900,000 metric tons per year of steelmaking capacity to its North Star business in Ohio. This would raise the Ohio plant’s existing production of 2.1 million metric tons per year to some 3 million tons at a cost of between U.S. $500 million and $700 million.
The project would involve the addition of a third electric arc furnace and a second slab caster, according to the Financial Times report. A decision is expected at the company’s February 2019 annual results pending the outcome of the feasibility study, by which time a clearer picture may emerge of what the tariff landscape is going to look like longer term.
Interestingly, Australian steelmakers are exempted from the tariffs; in theory, BlueScope could have invested at home. Australia, however, along with Argentina, are subject to quota limits, so ramping up domestic production to meet U.S. demand is not considered a viable option.
According to the Financial Times, domestic U.S. steel producers are, not surprisingly, doing rather well from the tariffs.
The resulting price rises have fueled a rally in U.S. domestic prices, helping firms like ArcelorMittal surpass forecasts previously set by analysts. Arcelor’s earnings came in at $5.59 billion before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization for H1 2018. That represented an increase of 28.6% on the same period a year before, as half-year sales rose 17.6% year-on-year in value terms to $39.2 billion, primarily due to higher steel selling prices. Net income was up by almost one-third to $3.06 billion. It hasn’t yet resulted in Arcelor announcing any increased investment in domestic U.S. production capacity — the real aim of the tariffs — but, arguably, steelmakers are waiting to see how the whole tariff situation develops and whether they are truly here to stay (in which case, investment could result).
The U.S. Department of Commerce found foreign steel accounted for about one-third of the 107 million metric tons of steel the U.S. economy used in 2017, the Weekly Standard reported.
Although U.S. producers still have a commanding market share, the report concluded that inexpensive foreign imports were causing domestic steelmakers to lose money, lay off workers, and close plants last year.
U.S. steel plants in 2017 ran at just 72% of capacity, below the 80% level they are widely considered necessary to be profitable. The blame for poor capacity utilization fell firmly at the door of “excessive imports of steel.”
Well, that was last year; this year is something very different.
Following tariffs, steel prices are up sharply, profits are up at the domestic mills and so is capacity utilization. The domestic mills have the option to price balance towards full capacity, shielded as they are now behind a 25% import tariff. They may choose to take higher prices and forego full capacity or adjust pricing to achieve full capacity; we will see what policy has been adopted when Q3 and H2 figures are released.
It is unlikely significant new capacity will be added in the short term, though, despite talk of planned new capacity.
Want to see an Aluminum Price forecast? Take a free trial!
According to Reuters, steel output in the United States rose 2.9% in the first half to 41.9 million metric tons and gained 0.8% in June to hit 6.9 million tons for the month. Data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) show capacity utilization at U.S. mills in the year to July was 76.4%, up from 74.4% in 2017, suggesting domestic mills generally are opting for better prices as a route to profitability rather than pricing out tariffed imports.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top