The United States is in a steel shortage! Steel costs soared 2 times
Recently, the United States suddenly wanted to lower steel tariffs. Prior to this, the United States’ steel tax revenue reached 25%, and it has been reluctant to compromise. However, the Associated Press reported that the United States has plans to reduce steel taxes. Why does this happen? Because of the serious steel shortage in the United States, the price of steel has soared. According to relevant data from the United States, since March this year, the price of steel in the United States has increased by 215% from the original price. To 800 US dollars a ton, the price rises to 1825 US dollars.
Global Platts data shows that the market price of steel plates in the United States was US$2,000 per ton, while in the past year, it was only US$500. Not only did the price of steel rise, but also the price of raw materials for steel. The cost has already doubled. Steel, as a raw material for many things, has also driven up the prices of other products, such as canned cars, home appliances, etc. Because of the insufficient supply of raw materials, in March this year, there were already more than 30,000 parts manufacturers were forced to suspend production and work, and a large number of orders could not be shipped.
Steel shortage, what kind of impact will the skyrocketing price have on the United States? From the perspective of people’s livelihood, the shortage of steel has caused the price of a large number of goods to skyrocket, as well as the shortage of various goods, such as the aforementioned cars, and even the price of steel forks, and the major supermarkets are still out of stock. Unable to buy, the lack of steel has led to a further increase in prices in the United States. In addition, the US infrastructure plans are also affected by the shortage of steel. Now almost all buildings must use steel. It is difficult to build without steel. This is also to a certain extent. This led to the rise of housing prices in the United States, which further intensified inflation in the United States. This is also the fundamental reason why the United States has given the solution to the steel problem.
So by reducing tariffs, can the U.S. steel supply problem be solved? Lowering tariffs is definitely useful for lowering steel prices. Of course, it also has a certain effect on increasing steel imports, which means that some of the problems can be solved, but it must It is simply impossible to solve the problem completely.
Why do you say that? Let’s first take a look at the reasons for the shortage of steel in the United States. The direct cause is the reduction in steel imports and production. Starting from the increase in steel taxes in the United States, the annual steel purchases in the United States have increased from the original 320. 10,000 tons, a decrease of nearly one-third. At the same time, the United States has always been a steel importer, and its domestic production of steel has been small. In addition, after the epidemic, the market’s demand for steel has increased, resulting in a current shortage of steel.
However, the root cause of the steel shortage in the United States is the global supply chain crisis. The supply chain crisis has caused a large number of goods to be unable to be delivered to the United States in time, including steel. At present, US ports have been blocked and the ports have accumulated cargo. , Valued at more than 24 billion U.S. dollars, even if a large number of commodities arrive at American ports, they cannot be delivered to shopping malls. Therefore, in order to solve the steel shortage in the United States, the supply chain crisis must ultimately be solved.
But is the supply chain crisis so easy to solve? In order to solve the problem of the supply chain, the United States has adopted various methods to start overtime mode, let the port rotate 24 hours a day, and issued an order for fines for stranded containers, but the supply chain crisis has not been resolved , On the contrary, it is getting worse because of the outdated infrastructure in US ports, which has greatly affected the efficiency of cargo transportation. Moreover, many truck drivers in the United States have resigned because of fears of the epidemic, or US unemployment and benefits. Americans work unfairly, and they can have money to buy a second time, so there is a wave of resignations.
Some people are dissatisfied with the wages given by their bosses, thinking that they have done more work than before, but the current wage increase is far from keeping up with inflation. There are a large number of collective strikes by workers, and there is a lack of truck drivers. It is difficult to be shipped out. With Christmas approaching, more and more goods are arriving in the United States, and American ports are becoming more and more congested, and a large number of strikers have caused labor shortages in many factories, which further intensified the supply. Chain crisis.
Under the supply chain crisis, consumers have become the last bearers. In order to protect their own interests, major U.S. companies have to increase the prices of goods. Even so, the supply of various goods is still in short supply. In this case, the U.S. The society has also become more turbulent. Many Americans started to buy zero dollars and went directly into the store to rob. Some stores even had to suspend business for this reason. Some experts believe that the supply chain problems in the United States will not be alleviated until 2022. The Secretary of Transportation of the United States Pete Brigiger believes that as long as the epidemic does not pass, the problems that plague the United States will not be resolved. Therefore, if we want to solve the problem of the supply chain, we must first solve the problem of the epidemic. This should be an urgent problem for the global economy.
However, it is so easy to solve this problem, especially in the United States. Up to now, there are still a large number of Americans who don’t want to get vaccinated at all. Some people even resist wearing masks. Some people march every day to oppose compulsion. Vaccination, this mentality of American residents will bring huge obstacles to solving the new crown problem. In fact, the epidemic and supply chain problems affect more than just one country. It can be said that most countries in the world are because of the supply chain. The crisis affects the economy. The United States is plunged into a steel shortage! The cost of steel soared twice, and 30,000 factories in the US were forced to shut down
For commodity exporting countries, a large number of commodities are piled up in warehouses, which is a huge loss every day. Moreover, the price of shipping is becoming more and more serious with the emergence of supply chain crisis. If the goods cannot be shipped out, it will inevitably affect receiving Take Vietnam for example. Due to the second wave of the epidemic, Vietnam has suspended work for a period of time. Now major factories have resumed work one after another, but they cannot find enough workers. A large number of orders have accumulated and some products are not working properly. For export, workers are worried that the new crown will go home one after another, and the shortage of materials is becoming more and more serious. For importing countries, not enough goods will cause domestic prices to rise, increase inflation, and even affect the basic lives of residents.
In short, according to the current situation, solving the supply chain crisis is not a matter of overnight. The American steel shortage will continue for some time. Christmas is coming, and all kinds of supplies are lacking. I am afraid this Christmas in the United States will not be so good.