Talk of trade cases targeting surging flat rolled steel imports has been ongoing in the US market for months, and those cases are finally being filed. A case against corrosion-resistant sheet was filed in June and yesterday a case against cold rolled sheet was filed (see related article). Comments made yesterday by AK Steel ceo James Wainscott suggest further cases against hot rolled sheet and stainless sheet are looming as well. It is possible that all these cases will benefit US domestic pricing in the second half of the year.

Import data is being analysed very carefully, Wainscott said yesterday on an earnings conference call monitored by Kallanish. The carbon and specialty steelmaker is already seeing benefits on prices from the corrosion-resistant filing and suspects the same will be true with respect to cold rolled. “With good fortune, a hot rolled case will be coming as well”, he said.

On the stainless side, AK is seeing “… an awful lot of imports that fall into the unfairly traded category,” Wainscott remarked. “I can’t speak for other companies”, he commented, but noted that “there is an effort underway on a no-names basis to look at this very carefully”.

US producers are optimistic that recently-passed trade legislation will help their case with these new trade filings. The legislation allows cases to be brought faster, redefines the definition of injury, and will allow the cases to be resolved quicker, Wainscott noted on the call.

After a flood of imports led sheet prices down in the first half of the year, getting a handle on these imports will lead prices back up. This would have a significant effect in the latter part of the third quarter and into the fourth, he said. Sheet prices are up off the bottom, but are still roughly $150/ton from where they were a year ago, and very few companies are able to make money at current levels, he said.