GLOBAL BRIEFING

Volume 14, Issue 1 January 2018

The Americas

U.S. consumer prices increased 0.4% in November, underpinned by a 3.9% increase in the energy index. Core prices rose 0.1%, down from October’s 0.2% increase. From a year earlier, consumer prices climbed 2.2% in November. Prices were up 1.7% on the year when excluding food and energy. Cellphone services and prescription drugs increased in November. Shelter costs moderated, growing 0.2%. Food prices were unchanged.

The U.S. trade deficit widened 3.2% from a month earlier to $50.5 billion in November, the highest since January 2012. While both imports and exports rose, the former increased by a greater margin, causing the deficit to expand. Imports climbed 2.5% while exports increased 2.3%. U.S. exports grew 5.6% from January through November compared with the same period a year earlier, while imports climbed 6.7% and the trade gap widened 11.6 percent.

U.S. import prices increased 0.7% in November. Higher prices for fuel drove the increase in November as nonfuel prices recorded no change. Imported petroleum prices advanced 7.2% in November and natural gas prices leaped 26.3%. The import price index has increased 3.1% over the past 12 months. U.S. export prices increased 0.5% in November following a 0.1% advance in October.

The Leading Economic Index rose 0.4% in November to 130.9, the index’s third-straight monthly gain, according to the Conference Board. The coincident index, which reflects current economic conditions, rose 0.3%.

U.S. industrial production rose 0.2% in November, with the increase entirely due to a 2.0% post-hurricane recovery in oil and gas extraction. Manufacturing output rose 0.2%, a sharp slowdown from October’s 1.4% increase, and utility output declined 1.9% from the prior month. Industrial production rose 3.4% in November from a year ago. Capacity utilization, increased 0.1 of a percentage point to 77.1%.

The U.S. producer price index advanced

3.1% in November from a year earlier, the biggest jump in nearly six years. The PPI rose 0.4% in November for the third consecutive month. Energy prices boosted the overall month-over-month rise. Core prices were up 0.4% in November.

Delinquency rates have been creeping higher as the total debt held by U.S. households continues to hit new highs, totaling $12.955 trillion in the 3rdQtr, up 0.9% from the spring. That was the most on record, though the figure wasn’t adjusted for inflation or population growth. As a share of U.S. economic output, household debt was about 66% in the 3rdQtr versus a high of around 87% in early 2009.

U.S. nonfarm employment rose 148,000 in December, while the unemployment rate remained at 4.1%, matching the lowest level since December 2000 for the third straight month. Hourly wages improved modestly, up 2.5% from a year earlier. Employment gains for the year amounted to 2.1 million jobs. It is only the second time on record when the economy has produced jobs at that pace for that long.

U.S. output grew at a 3.2% annual rate in the 3rdQtr. Previously, GDP was reported to have expanded at a 3.3% rate from July through September. Consumer spending during the quarter was slightly weaker than previously thought, leading to the downward revision in growth. State and local government spending grew slightly. The agency previously reported that state and government spending fell.

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U.S. factory orders increased in November for a fourth straight month, but business spending on equipment appeared to be cooling after robust growth in 2017. Factory orders jumped 1.3% amid rising demand for transportation and electrical equipment. Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a measure of business spending plans, fell 0.2%. Orders for transportation equipment rebounded 4.1% after declining 4.0% in October.

Consumer confidence as measured by the Conference Board decreased in December, following a modest improvement in November. The Index now stands at 122.1, down from 128.6 in November. The Present Situation Index increased from 154.9 to 156.6, while the Expectations Index declined from 111 to 99.1

Personal consumption expenditures rose 0.6% in November from the prior month, driven by spending on goods such as recreational items and vehicles. Personal income, reflecting Americans’ pretax earnings from salaries and investments, rose 0.3%. The personal saving rate in November was 2.9%, falling below 3% for the first time since November 2007. Services spending rose 0.6%, driven by electricity and gas outlays.

Orders for durable goods increased 1.3% to $241.36 billion in November, with the overall increase led by orders for airplanes, motor vehicles and military equipment. October orders were revised to a 0.4% decrease from a previous 0.8% drop. Year-to-date, demand for durable products was up 5.4%, compared to the same period a year earlier, well outpacing inflation. A closely watched proxy for business investment, new orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, edged down 0.1% in November, but increased 5.1% in the first 11 months of this year compared to 2016.

U.S. retail sales increased in November, which included Black Friday and Cyber Monday, key sales days for retailers. Spending at stores, online-shopping websites and restaurants rose 0.8% over October and 5.8% from a year ago. Electronics, appliance stores and online shopping websites saw robust growth in sales. Excluding the volatile auto category, which includes cars and car parts, retail sales increased an even more robust 1% in November.

U.S. construction spending rose 0.8% in November to an annual rate of $1.26 trillion, an all-time high. Private construction spending, which was up 1% from, also hit an all-time high. Government construction posted a modest 0.2% increase with federal spending plunging 4.8%, offset by a 0.7% rise in state and local construction, which accounts for more than 90 percent of total government activity.

U.S. home prices continued to rise in October marking more than 12 consecutive months of growth. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index rose 6.2% in the 12 months ended in October, up slightly from September. The 10-city index gained 6%; the 20-city index gained 6.4%. The average rate for a 30-year mortgage touched 3.94% in late December. Seattle reported the highest increase in home prices, jumping 12.7% year-over-year.

Existing U.S. home sales increased 5.6% in November from the prior month to an annual rate of 5.81 million, the strongest reading since December 2006. Sales in November were up 3.8% from a year earlier and grew in all regions except in the West. There was a 3.4-month supply of homes on the market at the end of the month, the lowest in records that go back to 1999. The median sales price in November was $248,000, up 5.8% from a year earlier.

U.S. housing starts rose in November to the highest level in more than a year, driven by gains in single-family home building in the South and West. Starts rose 3.3% to an annual rate of 1.297 million. Residential building permits fell 1.4% to an annual pace of 1.298 million. Home-builder confidence in the market for newly-built single-family homes rose in November to the highest level in more than 18 years.

U.S. new home sales increased 17.5% from the previous month to an annual rate of 733,000 in November. It was the strongest sales pace since July 2007. From a year earlier, new-home sales increased 26.6% in November, and year-to-date sales have risen 9.1%. At the current sales pace, there was a 4.6-month supply of new homes on the market at the end of November, the smallest inventory since July 2016. The median sale price for a new home sold in November was $318,700, up from the $315,000 median price in November 2016.

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The U.S. factory sector posted one of its best months of the economic expansion in December as sales hit a 14-year high, the latest sign economic growth is picking up. The ISM manufacturing index rose 1.5 percentage points from a month earlier to a reading of 59.7 in December, the second-highest level since early 2011. A subindex of new orders—a measure of sales at factories—rose more than 5 points to 69.4, the highest since early 2004.

ISM’s index of non-manufacturing activity slipped in December to 55.9 from 57.4 in November. Those months come on the heels of a 60.1 reading in October, which was the fastest pace of growth since August 2005. September's reading of 59.8 also was a 12-year high. Any reading above 50 signals expansion. The services sector has reported growth for 96 consecutive months, a positive sign for the overall U.S. economy. "All indications are that 2018 will continue with growth," ISM reported.

U.S. consumers ran up nearly $28 billion in new debt in November on their credit cards and in new student, auto and other loans. Consumer borrowing (excluding home mortgages and home equity loans) grew 8.8%, the most in more than two years, to $3.83 trillion. Credit card debt jumped $11.2 billion, the most in a year, to $1.02 trillion. A measure of mostly student and auto loans increased $16.8 billion, also the most in roughly one year, to $2.8 trillion.

Steel recyclers indicate January U.S. scrap prices should rise by as much as $30/ton sequentially, with sentiment for steelmakers positive into the New Year, Jefferies analysts opined. The firm says inflationary pressure from scrap likely will lead to higher domestic steel pricing, with export demand, a negative impact to inbound flows due to cold weather and improved domestic demand following the holiday lull seen as driving prices for scrap.

Steel imports into the U.S. totaled 2.718 million tons in November, including 2.126 million tons of finished steel, down 14.6% and 16.8% respectively vs. October. Year-to-date total and finished steel imports were 35.632 million and 27.637 million tons, up 17.7% and 14.3% respectively vs. 2016. Finished steel import market share was estimated at 25% in November and at 27% year-to-date.

U.S. steel mills shipped 7.710 million tons in October, a 2.0% increase from September and a 12.8% increase from October 2016. Shipments year-to-date were 76.1 million tons, a 4.8% increase vs. 2016 shipments of 72.6 million tons for ten months.

U.S. raw steel production for the year-to-date through December 30, 2017 was 90.106 million net tons, at a capability utilization rate of 74.3%. That is up 4.3% from the 86.379 million net tons during the same period in 2016, when the capability utilization rate was 70.5 percent.

Current and future sentiment among flat-rolled steel buyers improved further in December, according to the Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index, mirroring the pattern at this time in 2016 that heralded a strong 1stQtr. The index measures changes in buyers’ optimism levels, which offers insight into their likely decision-making. Most buyers and sellers of flat-rolled steel remain optimistic about their company's ability to be successful in the current market environment, as well as three to six months into the future.

U.S. service center shipments of steel products totaled 3.16 million tons in November, up 6.8% from a year ago, but down 7.2% from 3.40 million tons in October. Steel shipments for the first 11 months rose by 3.9% to 36.12 million tons from the same period in 2016. Service center steel inventories totaled 7.59 million tons or 2.4 months’ supply in November, up 7.9% from the 7.03 million tons registered in November 2016.

Nucor Corp increased base prices for flat-rolled steel by $30/ton in December, and by $40/ton in January, after increases of $30/ton in November and $40/ton in October. U.S. mills had been widely expected to increase sheet prices due to higher scrap costs and after steel imports fell nearly 10% in November when deliveries of energy tubulars plummeted along with arrivals of flat-rolled steel. CSI, UPI and USS quickly followed Nucor and increased sheet prices by $30/ton in December. The first round of price increases in 2018 was initiated by West Coast mills on January 2 with price hikes of $30/ton. AK Steel and U.S. Steel followed Nucor’s $40/ton increase rather than the price hikes announced by UPI and CSI.

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Outokumpu and North American Stainless increased stainless flat-rolled product base prices effective with January shipments. Stainless steel prices trended higher in December due to higher surcharges, but January surcharges declined. But stainless steel scrap prices moved up in the New Year, underpinning the latest stainless flat-rolled price hike.

Commercial Metals plans to acquire assets from a Brazilian rival that would double its share of a key construction material. The company plans to pay $600 million in cash for the U.S. steel-reinforcing-bar assets of Brazil’s Gerdau, adding four mills and 33 fabrication plants. Gerdau’s exit from the U.S. rebar market would leave Commercial Metals and North Carolina-based Nucor Corp. as the two dominant domestic suppliers of rebar. The proposed deal would increase Commercial Metals’ steelmaking capacity by about 60% to 7.2 million tons a year. Its share of rebar consumed in the U.S. would rise to about 40% from about 21% currently.

The U.S. auto industry suffered its first annual sales decline since the financial crisis eight years ago, but a streak of strong profits is expected to overshadow a slowdown in dealership traffic. Though sales slowed amid less pent-up demand and fading interest in sedans and compact cars, auto makers still sold 17.2 million vehicles in 2017 (down 1.8% from 2016), the first time in history the industry has cleared the 17-million mark three consecutive years. Buyers are taking advantage of low gasoline prices and flocking to pickups and sport utilities, a trend that delivers much higher margins to Detroit and its foreign rivals. Vehicles now routinely sell far above $32,000, even with average incentives of $4,000 factored in, a 10% increase compared with what car buyers were dishing out when the industry’s rally began in 2010.

GM lawyers make their first arguments in a New York bankruptcy court trial, asking a judge to throw out a $1 billion August settlement surrounding defective ignition switches in millions of recalled GM vehicles. The deal was reached between plaintiffs and an entity that GM left behind as part of its 2009 $50 billion government bailout; the settlement would require GM pay $1 billion to that entity.

Manufacturers and retailers grappling with an unusually tight trucking market are paying the steepest prices in years to keep their goods moving. Freight demand had been ticking up for months, closely tracking the strengthening U.S. economy. The market got a boost from retailers needing to restock store shelves and distribution centers amid the biggest jump in holiday sales since 2011. That wave of demand hit the trucking market just as a new federal safety rule kicked in, leading some drivers to idle their big rigs. By the end of December, just one truck was available for every 12 loads needing to be shipped. That is the most unbalanced market since October 2005 and is up from a roughly 4-to-1 ratio at the end of 2016. Trucking companies are ordering more trucks. Fleets reserved 37,500 long-haul trucks in December.

Volkswagen unit Electrify America plans to install 2,800 electric vehicle charging stations in 17 of the largest U.S. cities by June 2019. The charging stations will be located at roughly 500 sites, with around 75% of them at workplaces and the rest at multifamily dwellings such as apartment buildings. VW has agreed to spend $800 million in California and a total of $2 billion nationwide on clean car infrastructure as part of its agreement after admitting to diesel emissions cheating. The diesel emissions scandal has so far cost VW about $30 billion.

Ford plans to shift production of midsize Fusion and Mondeo sedans out of Mexico and Spain in 2020 and move it to China. But the automaker confirmed it won't ship those cars from China to the U.S. and Europe. The move is part of Ford CEO Jim Hackett's ongoing effort to reduce inefficiency and trim costs.

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Europe, Africa and the Middle East Eurozone business activity accelerated in

December, with economic growth hitting its highest level since early 2011. IHS Markit's eurozone purchasing managers' composite output index rose to 58.1 from 57.5 in November. The services business activity index reached 56.6 in December, up from November's 56.2, underpinned by the steepest increase in new work for over a decade. Output growth accelerated in Germany, where it hit a 24-month high, Italy, Spain and Ireland, but slowed slightly in France.

Eurozone manufacturers ended 2017 by ramping up activity at the fastest pace in more than two decades. IHS Markit's December final manufacturing PMI for the bloc was 60.6, above November's 60.1. "Forward-looking indicators bode well for the New Year; new orders rose at a near-record pace, while purchasing growth hit a new peak," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at IHS Markit.

Inflation in the eurozone slipped further away from the ECB's target in December, highlighting the challenge facing the bank as it attempts to wind down its quantitative easing program. Inflation slowed to 1.4% in December from 1.5% in November. Of more concern to policymakers is the fact that the core rate, which strips out volatile items such as food and energy, remained even lower at 0.9 percent.

ArcelorMittal’s Kryvyi Rih steel mill headed the list of top exporting companies of Ukraine for 2016. Kryvyi Rih exports more than 80% of its products to more than 50 countries all over the world. Development of new types of products and improvement of metal products quality enables the company to keep leading and to conquer new positions in the market, as well as to invest export income in modernization and development of the plant, according to MT.

Global sales of passenger cars and trucks likely surpassed 90 million for the first time in 2017, fueled in part by a continued rebound in Western Europe and recovery in major emerging markets, including Brazil and Russia. Asian buyers are the main engine for sales growth with more than a quarter of the cars sold last year going to Chinese customers, up from less than 15% a decade ago.

ArcelorMittal's €1.8 billion offer for the Ilva plant could save Italy's largest steel works from insolvency, secure 20,000 jobs at the plant and supply chain and clean up the environmental problems. Yet Taranto and Puglia politicians mounted a legal challenge on the grounds that it does not tackle pollution from the plant quickly enough. EU competition authorities had already raised objections to the acquisition. Meanwhile, Italian reroller Marcegaglia left the ArcelorMittal-led joint venture to buy Ilva, a move to help avoid antitrust objections. Two Italian bank groups were signed up to replace Marcegaglia in the acquisition joint-venture. Then, ArcelorMittal reached a preliminary deal to sell its steel mill in Piombino, Italy, to help obtain EU clearance for its purchase of Ilva because of the EU's concerns over market concentration in the galvanized steel sector.

World crude steel production was 136.3 million tonnes (Mt) in November, a 3.7% increase vs. the year prior. China’s crude steel production was 66.2 Mt, an increase of 2.2% compared to 2016. Japan produced 8.7 Mt, an increase of 1.0%. The U.S. produced 6.7 Mt of crude steel, an increase of 8.5% compared to November 2016. Brazil’s crude steel production was 3.0 Mt, up by 15.3% on November 2016. The crude steel capacity utilization ratio was 70.7%, 1.5 points higher than November 2016.

OPEC production fell to its lowest in six months in November, but rival U.S. production was surging, meaning oil markets may not rebalance before the end of 2018, the oil cartel said. OPEC and its Russia-led allies agreed to extend the combined production cuts of 1.8 million barrels a day until the end of 2018. The main driver in non-OPEC output comes from the U.S., where production is expected to grow by 1.05 million barrels a day in 2018—an increase of 180,000 barrels a day.

BMW will spend over €100 million on a test track for self-driving and electric cars in the Czech Republic, expanding its foray into alternative driving technologies. BMW plans to introduce its first highly automated iNEXT model in 2021, and intends to increase battery-powered offerings to 25 models by 2025, about half of which will be fully electric.

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Asia/Pacific, Japan, Australia and India China's official manufacturing PMI was 51.6

in December, a dip from 51.8 in November. A survey focused on small and mid-size businesses in China reached a four-month high. The Caixin/Markit manufacturing PMI for December came in at 51.5 versus 50.8 in November. Despite concerns about debt and a property bubble, China's economic data showed robust growth in 2017 due to government spending on infrastructure and a pick up in the overall global macroeconomic environment.

Unemployment in Japan is at its lowest since 1994, falling to 2.7% in November. A massive monetary stimulus seems to be working; the economy has also now been growing for five years. But high employment highlights the problem of Japan’s ageing population and dearth of younger workers. Despite this, inflation remains stubbornly low.

India looks set to leapfrog Britain and France in 2018 to become the world's fifth-largest economy in dollar terms, according the Center for Economics and Business Research. India's ascent is part of a trend that will see Asian economies increasingly dominate the top 10 largest economies over the next 15 years. CEBR also predicted that China will overtake the U.S. as the world's No.1 economy in 2032.

Tata Steel plans to increase its total steel capacity to 18 million tonnes/year by expanding its Kalinganagar operations in India by 5 million tonnes-per-year to 8 million tonnes. The project will take 48 months but Tata did not disclose the date of the start of construction. Tata also plans to invest US$3.67 billion to expand its raw material capacity as well as its entire steel-making operations, including a new cold-rolling mill. Tata Steel is running its current 13 million tonnes-per-year of capacity at close to full utilization rates.

China's Finance Ministry will extend a tax rebate on purchases of new-energy vehicles from the end of 2017 until the end of 2020 amid a shift away from the internal combustion engine. The extension comes as automakers in China brace to meet strict quotas starting in 2019 that are sparking launches of new electric vehicle models and a flurry of new deals.

ArcelorMittal said hundreds of coal miners in

Kazakhstan ended a five day sit-in and emerged from the mines, following offers of a pay rise and the threat of legal action. ArcelorMittal Temirtau, the country’s biggest steel mill, agreed to increase the pay of miners working underground by 30%, rather than the 100% raise demanded by the miners.

China will remove its export tax on steel products, a move that threatens to flood world markets with cheap steel and increase trade tensions. Removing the tax should make it easier for Chinese steel mills to export since they can still make a profit even if overseas market prices are closer to Chinese prices.

Metal Bulletin’s index for fob Australia Premium Hard Coking Coal rose $2.34 per tonne to $236.62 per tonne in mid-December, while the fob Australia hard coking coal index gained $2.88 per tonne to $181.09 per tonne. The cfr China indices were unchanged, at $209.43 per tonne for premium hard coking coal and $189.78 per tonne for hard coking coal.

China is suspending the production of more than 500 car models that do not meet its fuel economy standards, the latest move by Beijing to reduce emissions in the world’s largest auto market and take the lead in battling climate change. The suspension, effective Jan. 1, affects both domestic carmakers and foreign joint ventures. No end date was given.

Toyota’s president became the latest auto chief to offer ambitious targets for hybrid and electric vehicles, saying the category would make up half of Toyota’s global sales by 2030. “The auto industry is now facing a major change of the kind that comes once in a 100 years,” Akio Toyoda said. In 2030, Toyota projects selling 5.5 million vehicles in those categories together, or half of total projected sales. Of those, 4.5 million would be hybrids and plug-in hybrids, while the remaining one million would be fully electric vehicles and fuel-cell vehicles.

Nickel and copper prices are expected to remain around current levels, according to Vale. Given the continued high levels of uncertainty concerning Indonesia’s ore ban, the world’s largest nickel producer believes a full recovery of the nickel market is still a few years away.

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Industry Observations Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping

line, said international freight rates are reversing after climbing for most of 2017, raising questions about the sustainability of the global trade recovery. Oversupply swamped demand for containerized sea trade in the third quarter. Over 90% of trade is routed through ships, making the industry a bellwether for the worldwide economy.

The IMF forecasts that growth in world trade volume will slow to 4% in 2018 from a projected 4.2% in 2017, though that’s still higher than the seven-year-low of 2.4% hit in 2016. Concern about U.S. protectionism and China’s attempts to rebalance its economy away from exports toward domestic consumption pose risks to the revival.

Fabio Schvartsman, Vale’s new boss, promised to restrain iron ore production to push up prices (and flood the market if they get too high). In nickel, he is mothballing loss-making plants and may even close Vale’s big mine in New Caledonia, if it cannot secure an investment partner. Vale, the world’s biggest iron ore and nickel producer, intends to behave like a swing producer, moving production up and down to balance the market. Vale expects supply and demand in the global iron ore market to be broadly balanced in 2018, which could keep prices in similar ranges as 2017.

China's economy grew a bit faster than expected in 2017 on resilient consumption, according to the Asian Development Bank, which sees GDP expanding 6.8%. But growth will stutter in 2018, increasing by 6.4%, due to "controlled moderation" in the economy. That would mark the slowest pace of expansion since 1990, according to the World Bank.

The EU, Japan and the U.S. announced a new alliance to take on China (without explicitly naming Beijing) in a statement issued on the sidelines of the WTO's ministerial conference. The three economies will target "severe excess capacity" in important sectors like steel and commodities, the role of illegal subsidies and abusing intellectual property rules to acquire strategic technologies.

U.S. Car and Light Truck Sales & Inventories December 2017

Company Sales Inventory

General Motors 245,387 83

Ford Motor Co. 210,205 78

Fiat/Chrysler 154,919 88

Toyota 191,617 59

Honda 133,156 61

Nissan 131,138 45

Hyundai/Kia 101,513 62

VW Group 48,402 110

Total Cars 487,311 72

Total Trucks Total All Units

905,699 1,393,010

70 71

* Not all companies shown. Inventories are shown in days-will-last as of the first day of the month. Currencies in January

USD to ¥en 112.1 USD to Korean Won 1,064 Can$ to USD .7976 Chinese Yuan to USD .1540 €uro to USD 1.207 Australian $ to USD .7840 UK£ to USD 1.355 Mexican Peso to USD .0513

Global Briefing is prepared by Chuck Finnegan of the metals consulting firm Rubiconix for the use of Berlin Metals LLC, North America’s highest quality service center provider of Tin Mill Products and Stainless Steel Strip. Contact sales@berlinmetals.com with any questions, comments or inquiries. This issue and previous briefings are archived on Berlin Metals’ web site, http://www.berlinmetals.com/.

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Nickel Producer Vale Describes Potential Nickel Demand from Electric Vehicles Berlin January 2018 Brief Appendix

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Electric Vehicle Bulls Shake Up Metals Markets A boom in electric vehicles is stoking demand for a wide range of metals, a shift some investors believe will have a far-reaching impact on commodity prices around the world. Investors eager to get in early have doubled the price of lithium and cobalt—key components of electric-car batteries—in the past two years. Shares of companies that claim to sit on deposits of the metals have soared in 2017 too, even though some have yet to bring any production to market. Many investors also have found fresh reasons to love some of the better-known metals, which are used more heavily in electric and hybrid vehicles than in ordinary cars. Prices for nickel, copper and other base metals have hit multiyear highs in 2017, although some have receded in recent weeks. As more countries pave the way for electric vehicles to supplant gasoline-powered ones, the most bullish investors are convinced the world is about to experience its biggest shift in commodities demand since the 19th century, when petroleum replaced whale oil as lamp fuel. Automotive demand for lithium is set to climb 35% each year through 2021, according to Citigroup Inc. projections. Cobalt used in electric vehicles will increase roughly 450% from this year to 2025, Morgan Stanley said. Electric vehicles will become the second-largest nickel consuming sector by that year, with demand rising nearly 10-fold, while copper demand for cars and infrastructure is also expected to grow steadily, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. forecast showed. WSJ BofA Merrill Lynch Evaluation of China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ Trade Policy as It Relates to Steel Berlin January 2018 Brief Appendix

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China’s One Belt, One Road: Implications for Global Steel Demand Berlin January 2018 Brief Appendix

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Steel Imports into Europe and the U.S. Have Stabilized, but Not Fallen Berlin January 2018 Brief Appendix

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Regional Steel Perspective for the United States from BofA Merrill Lynch Berlin January 2018 Brief Appendix

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Trade Barriers Are Rising Again in Europe Europe’s single market is one of the most significant postwar economic achievements, and it celebrates its 25th anniversary in January. Products, services, labor and capital freely move across Europe, which, with more than 500 million consumers, would be the world’s largest economy by output and demand. In practice, implementation in each of these areas has varied widely, with goods—until recently—moving mostly freely and services less so.

U.S. Household Debt Reaches New Record as Some Delinquency Rates Rise Berlin January 2018 Brief Appendix

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Stainless Steel Data: Production, Growth Rates, Uses by Sector and Opportunities Berlin January 2018 Brief Appendix

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ArcelorMittal Presentation at Cowan Energy & Natural Resources Conference, December 2017 Berlin January 2018 Brief Appendix

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ArcelorMittal Examines Auto Growth in the Developed World, Emerging Markets Berlin January 2018 Brief Appendix

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The Year 2017 in Charts from The Economist Berlin January 2018 Brief Appendix

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Commodity Prices – Nickel, Tin, Aluminum and Iron Ore Berlin January 2018 Brief Appendix

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Steel Scrap Prices USA, Delivered to Plant

U.S. Auto Sales and Market Share Berlin January 2018 Brief Appendix