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At about ** billion U.S. dollars, Nucor Corp. was the U.S.-based industrial metals company with the highest revenue. Between 2019 and 2020, revenue decreased by close to ** percent for the producer of steel and steel products, in part due to a decrease in demand due to the economic downturn of 2020.

The pandemic causes uncertain times

It was expected that the U.S. metals industry would find itself in a favorable climate when President Trump took office, and steel companies in particular were anticipated to see significant growth in the short to medium term. Instead, the market contracted due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its economic impact. 2022 projections are however optimistic for crude steel production, and predict a widespread vaccination campaign might contribute to a revivification of steel demand.

Long-term outcomes for Section 232 are still unknown

The long-term outcome of Section 232 tariffs is still uncertain. Most of the global aluminum consumption comes from Asia, particularly the Chinese market. Since the commodity is used in several important industries, it is susceptible to any change in the volatile Chinese economy. This might be one of the reasons why average aluminum prices dropped **** percent between 2018 and 2019. Although there has been strong confidence in the future U.S. steel industry, Sino-American trade tensions are not over. On top of that, the recent rollback of tariffs against U.S. steel imports from Turkey are probably not the last move in uncertain times.