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The National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA) Structural Engineering Summit was held in New York City on October 14-17. Event attendees also underlined the impact of steel tariffs on imports coming in from Canada and Mexico, as well as from other countries.
Structural steel shipments have been stable for most of the year, attendees said. Some seasonal dips were reported in the last quarter of the year.
A steel distributor noted the “AI-driven demand boom for joists and decks.”
“The data centers being built by Google and Amazon – this trend is similar to how in 2021-2022 there was a demand boom driven by online distribution warehousing due to Covid shutdowns,” the distributor said.
The structural steel industry is not immune to the overall construction market slowdown in 2025, attendees said.
“The New England [structural steel construction] market is pretty slow this year,” the distributor said, adding that “the Mid-Atlantic area is busier than New England.”
A Canada-based distributor, whose company buys from US mills to supply to US customers, echoed this sentiment.
“The Boston area construction demand has been strong for 20 years, but now it is no longer strong,” the Canadian distributor said. “Demand in the New York area is better.”
A large producer of steel joists and decks told Fastmarkets that “quotes in the Boston area are down through this quarter, though prices are up.”
“Our backlog is strong, but many projects are caught in the design phase,” the producer said.
A second producer of steel joists and decks also said their shipment volumes have decreased from last year.
“I hope next year is better; some customers expect their big projects will take off next year,” the second producer said.
When asked if the structural steel business had been affected by the 50% steel and aluminium tariffs set by US President Donald Trump in 2025, the second producer said there was no direct impact, “but customers in the construction sector have other raw materials that are exposed to tariffs.”
This, coupled with a pervasive sense of market uncertainty, has hamstrung the structural steel sector this year, the second producer said.
A third steel producer said that while previously their company had to compete against imports from China, South Korea, India and Western Europe, “now customers are coming to us, especially for the onshoring projects.”
“We are seeing increased inquiries because of the tariffs, but it may or may not turn into orders because of the market uncertainty,” the third producer source said.
The third producer – whose company supplies to the US automotive tooling sector – also laid bare the complications of tariffs in the US-Mexico-Canada region, given its intertwined supply chains.
“We have facilities in Mexico and Canada and distribution in Mexico,” the third producer said. “There have been some complications [after the implementation of steel tariffs], but it hasn’t not been too bad.”
The third producer highlighted the customer “hesitation on capital projects” in 2025, adding that “business has not been strong this year.”
Steel producers based in Europe told Fastmarkets that some imports of structural steel into the US are continuing despite the high tariffs and highlighted the challenges of the steel imports business.
“There is room for importers in the structural steel side, and we are still in business,” a European steel producer told Fastmarkets at the event.
“It has been a challenge, but we are still importing – nobody would pay for imports if it was available domestically and was cheaper,” the European steel producer said.
A second European producer, whose company makes hollow structural sections (HSS), also noted the challenges of importing steel into the US under the current tariff regime.
“There is need-based imports only, for seamless tubular projects that have already been budgeted, for example critical energy projects,” the second European producer said.
“Import volumes haven’t dropped yet, and demand has been steady. But rig counts are dropping, and with oil being $60 a barrel that is not surprising,” the second European producer said.
“There is too much market uncertainty, and customers are not able to commit to projects because of the uncertainty,” the second European producer said.
Fastmarkets assessed the steel hollow sections ASTM A500 Grade B domestic, fob mill US price at $1,160-1,210 per short ton ($58.00-60.50 per hundredweight) on Thursday October 16, flat week on week but down by 0.84% from $1,170-1,220 per ton two weeks prior.
The US rig count reversed declines made during the week prior to Friday October 17, according to the latest data from Baker Hughes.
The US rig count rose by one rig to 548 during the week ended Friday. The count was down by 37 from the same period in 2024.
Conference attendees heard from Atlas Tube, a division of Zekelman Industries, at the summit, where company engineers gave a presentation about their software product “HSS Connections Hub.”
The HSS Connections Hub was launched on April 2 and features “a suite of engineering resources designed to simplify HSS connection design for structural engineers and fabricators,” according to a company presentation.
This product is to increase familiarity with HSS products among structural engineers and help them in designing their projects, an Atlas Tube engineer told Fastmarkets at the event.
“The people who decide which products to use [structural engineers] are not the same ones buying the steel,” the Atlas Tube engineer said. “There is a lack of familiarity with the HSS product. The Hub was developed for specifiers [engineers] for those firms and individuals that may be hired to design connections involving HSS.”
A spokesperson from Zekelman Industries highlighted the fast adoption rate of the software product.
“The HSS Connections Hub is to help engineers design connections; it was launched in April and already has 1,840 users,” the Zekelman spokesperson said. “That’s an accelerated adoption rate for something that’s been in market for six months.”
The Zekelman spokesperson also highlighted the benefits of HSS over other steel products.
“For applications such as gravity columns, HSS is a more efficient carrier of load than wide flange,” the spokesperson said.
“Generally speaking, the market remains steady, but given the number of recent investments in [the US] announced by large companies and countries, we’re likely to see an increase in new projects,” the Zekelman spokesperson said.
“The push for AI is driving data center construction, and all the big players will be investing heavily for the next few years,” the spokesperson said. “Apart from HSS, demand for electrical conduit and standard pipe has been steady.”
Fastmarkets assessed steel welded OCTG API 5CT – Casing P110, fob mill US at $2,000-2,050 per ton on October 8, down by 2.41% month on month and lower for the fourth time since May.
Fastmarkets assessed steel seamless OCTG API 5CT – Casing P110, fob mill US at $2,250-2,300 per ton on the same day, unchanged from September.
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