Iron & Steel Mills NAICS 331110

Sep 23, 2025 - Falling US Steel Prices

• In September, domestic steel prices fell to their lowest levels since February giving up earlier tariff-driven gains, OilPrice.com reports. Weak demand from the construction sector, short mill lead times, and volatile durable goods orders are putting downward pressure on prices, including for hot-rolled steel coil, which in early September saw its lowest price since February. The Raw Steels Monthly Metals Index (MMI), which tracks steel prices, fell nearly 1% from August to September. In the first quarter, prices jumped $241 per short ton following tariff announcements by the Trump administration. However, since peaking in March, prices have fallen $109 to stand at $818 per short ton. Prices for cold-rolled coil and hot-dipped galvanized steel are also trending downward. While tariffs have provided support for domestic steel prices, falling demand from the construction and manufacturing sectors is proving more of a drag on prices.
• The Trump administration's pro-tariff, deregulation agenda is playing well among US steel producers, statements from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) attest. The EPA’s March announcement that it’s reconsidering 31 regulations, including several air emissions rules that impact the US steel industry, was enthusiastically welcomed by steel makers. “AISI strongly supports EPA’s reconsideration of emission limits on integrated facilities, taconite ore processors and coke plants,” said CEO Kevin Dempsey, adding the regulations are onerous, costly, and unnecessary. The industry also strongly supports the 25% tariffs the administration has levied on US steel imports, including the closing of a loophole under Section 232 that allowed foreign producers to avoid tariffs. Tariffs on steel imports imposed by the first Trump administration led to increased production and higher steel prices, albeit temporarily, and the creation of iron and steel manufacturing jobs between 2017 and 2019, another short-term boost.

• China’s output of crude steel fell 1.7% in 2024 compared to 2023 to a five-year low on weak demand from its ailing property sector, Reuters reports. As the global leader in steel production and a big exporter of the metal, China has an outsized impact on the global supply and steel prices. Amid weak domestic demand last year, China's steel exports reached their highest level since 2015, sparking global trade tensions as producers in Japan, India, and elsewhere argued that a flood of cheap Chinese steel products was hurting local manufacturers, according to Reuters. President Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of 10% to 20% on steel imports to the US and 60% on goods from China. The US is a net importer of steel. While China is not a significant supplier of steel to the US, Canada and Mexico combined account for about a third of US imports.
• Producer prices for iron and steel mills rose 12.4% in August compared to a year ago, after sinking 15.8% in the previous August-versus-August annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Industry producer prices have risen sharply this year as the Trump administration’s aggressive tariff agenda strengthens domestic demand and provides a boost to steel makers’ order books. Still, employment by the industry shrank remained flat year over year in July, while the average wage at primary metals manufacturers inched up 0.6% YoY in August to $28.89 per hour, down more than $1 from its high in March, BLS data show.