Economy
February at a Glance
Written by John Packard
February 28, 2017
As the month of February comes to a close our SMU Price Momentum Indicator reverted to “Higher” from “Neutral.” However, we should be aware that the vast majority of the month saw our Price Momentum Indicator at “Neutral.”
The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index continued to show strength both as single data points as well as our three-month-moving average (3MMA). The Sentiment Index has been at record high levels for the Index which dates back to 4th Quarter 2008.
Average hot rolled prices were lower in February than January and we were slightly lower than the CME settlement number as well as what Platts averaged for the month.
Inventories are quite low as expressed by the MSCI number of 2.0 month’s supply and our own proprietary data measured service center inventories as being 67,000 tons in deficit at the end of January.
Here is what the month looked like in numbers:
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Economy
CRU: Will US tariff policy be transactional or transformational?
The Trump 1.0 tariffs appeared to have little positive effect on the US manufacturing, partly because they hurt export competitiveness.
Beige Book finds mixed demand trends, tariff concerns
Manufacturing activity exhibited slight to modest increases across a majority of districts. However, manufacturers expressed concerns over the potential impact of looming trade policy changes between late January and February.
Construction spending drops marginally in January
Construction spending edged down slightly in January, slipping for the first time in four months. The US Census Bureau estimated spending at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2,196 billion in January, down 0.2% from December’s downward revised rate. The January figure is 3.3% higher than a year ago. January’s result, despite the slight erosion, […]
ISM: Manufacturing expansion slowed in February
The Manufacturing PMI registered 50.3% in February. That’s 0.6 percentage points lower compared to the 50.9% recorded in January.
Chicago Business Barometer up but still pointing to weak conditions
The Chicago Business Barometer rose to an eight-month high in February. Despite the recovery, the measure continues to indicate deteriorating business conditions, as it has for over a year.