Steel Market Update’s latest look at commodity prices shows pig iron up, iron ore and zinc down, and coking coal and scrap stable in recent trading. Table 1 summarizes the current prices of the five materials considered in this report and the year-over-year change. Iron Ore The price of 62% fines delivered North China was […]
Oil prices have bounced around a bit lately, struggling to stay above the $70 per barrel mark. The spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) broke through $70 on May 7 for the first time since Nov. 27, 2014, and stayed above that level through May 24 this year. The price declined to $64.75 on June […]
Premium subscribers to Steel Market Update have access to reports on SMU’s website that break out the import tonnage into district of entry and source nation for six sheet and plate categories. SMU has now developed reports that drill down to provide more product detail on hot rolled and cold rolled coil. We report these […]
The U.S. dollar is continuing to surge. Through July 6, the strength of the dollar was up by 5.7 percent in three months and by 1.1 percent in the previous 30 days. (See the end of this report for an explanation of data sources.) The Broad Index value of the U.S. dollar is reported several […]
In the last months, 14 of the 16 currencies that Steel Market Update tracks were down against the dollar, led by Turkey down by 29.4 percent, and Russia and South Africa both down by 8.5 percent. The Chinese yuan has declined by 7.9 percent in the last three months. Please see the end of this […]
Growth of China’s economy has flattened, but steel production continues to surge. Once each quarter, Steel Market Update publishes the official statistics for Chinese GDP, industrial production, consumer price inflation and fixed asset investment. Many analysts don’t believe these self-serving Party figures, but we include them in our reports because of the importance of China […]
This Steel Market Update report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products and 16 subcategories through May. Table 1 shows total supply to the market in three months through May and in 12 months through May for the four product groups and the 16 subcategories. Supply to the market is the […]
Indicators of economic activity in the U.S. do not predict a recession, but keep a close eye on the yield curve. Economists consider recessions to be a necessary evil to clear out distortions that have arisen in the economy. At Steel Market Update, we track several leading indicators of economic activity. Viewed individually, they offer […]
Imports of other metallic coated sheet (OMC) into the U.S. as a whole were down by 17.6 percent in May year to date, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of federal data. The Great Lakes region was up by 10.5 percent and the South Atlantic was down by 35.8 percent. SMU now has a […]
Imports of hot-dipped galvanized sheet into the U.S. as a whole were down by 10.9 percent year to date through May, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Commerce and ITC data. SMU now has a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at license data to the very detailed look […]
This analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into the district of entry and the source country. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about local import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis is to describe in detail what is going on in a […]
Steel shipments and inventories are increasing as the inventory-to-shipment ratio is decreasing, while new orders have exceeded shipments each month in 2018, indicating a healthy product turnover, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Census Bureau data. This is the third writeup of an analysis we began this year in which we investigate an […]
Construction spending has accelerated for six straight months, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Commerce Department data. Growth of total construction expenditures on a rolling three-month basis year over year increased from 0.9 percent in November 2017 to 4.4 percent in May 2018. In the DOC’s July 2 release, which included data through […]
Flat rolled steel imports into the United States continue to decline. The three-month moving average (3MMA) for rolled product imports into the U.S. year over year was down by 11.3 percent as of June, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Commerce Department license data. This is an early look at June’s import volume […]
In the last 12 months, manufacturing employment has grown by 2.3 percent and construction employment by 4.1 percent, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data for June—positive indicators of future steel sales volume. Table 1 breaks total employment down into service and goods-producing industries and then into private and government employees. Most of the goods-producing […]
The U.S. economy created 213,000 net jobs in June, bringing total job creation to 2,374,000, an increase of 1.6 percent year over year, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. Rising employment and wages are the basis of most U.S. gross domestic product growth as personal consumption accounts […]
U.S. treasury yields are surging and this is contributing to the recent advance in the value of the dollar on foreign exchange markets. The dollar has strengthened by 4.5 percent in the last three months and also by 4.5 percent since Jan. 2. Please see the end of this report for an explanation of data […]
Production increased by 1.33 percent in May and for the first time exceeded 150 million metric tons, according to the latest Steel Market Update analysis of World Steel Association data. In three months through May, China grew by 7.7 percent year over year as the rest of the world grew by 3.3 percent. In 2018, […]
The growth of U.S. gross domestic product slowed in first-quarter 2018, but on a trailing 12-month basis has improved for the last seven quarters. The third estimate of U.S. GDP growth in the first quarter was 2.00 percent, down from 2.87 percent in Q4 2017, according to the June 28 report by the Bureau of […]
The growth of U.S. gross domestic product has improved for the last eight quarters on a trailing 12-month basis and in second-quarter 2018 was the best since third-quarter 2014. The first estimate of the growth of U.S. GDP in this year’s second quarter was 4.1 percent, up from an upwardly revised 2.20 percent in the […]
Economic indicators of manufacturing activity continue to look favorable for the rest of 2018. This report summarizes seven data sources that describe the state of manufacturing in the United States. We have reported on most of these separately in our Steel Market Update publications and therefore will be brief in this summary. We don’t expect […]
Consumer confidence decreased in June and the three-month moving average (3MMA) declined for the second consecutive month, according to The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Survey. The composite value of consumer confidence in June was 126.4, down from 128.8 in May. The 3MMA decreased from 127.1 in May to 126.9 in June, which was 8.8 points […]
U.S. scrap exports expanded by 31 percent in the first four months of 2018, while total global scrap trade has been trending up since Q1 2016. Steel Market Update performs this analysis quarterly to help readers understand the gyrations of the domestic scrap market and where the U.S. stands as a global player. This data […]
The price of oil topped the $70 per barrel mark last month, a level that often triggers new investment. Indeed, the rig count is up significantly from last year. But the oil price has since receded a bit. The spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) broke through $70 on May 7 for the first […]
There are big differences in the year-to-date increase of coiled plate imports on a regional basis. Last week, we published new regional import reports for HRC, CRC and HDG. This week we are publishing new reports for coiled and cut-to-length plate based on the new format. SMU produces import reports by product at the national […]
There are big differences in the year-to-date increase of cut-to-length plate imports on a regional basis. Last week, we published new regional import reports for HRC, CRC and HDG. This week, we are publishing reports for coiled and cut-to-length plate based on the new format. SMU produces import reports by product at the national level […]
This Steel Market Update analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into the district of entry and the source country. We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about regional import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis is to describe in detail what is going […]
This Steel Market Update report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products and 18 subcategories. Table 1 (click to enlarge) shows total supply to the market in three months through April and in 12 months through April for the four product groups and the 18 sub-categories. Supply to the market is […]
Total rolled steel product imports declined in May, but increased by 24.1 percent from March through May, compared with the prior three-month period. Total rolled steel product imports in May declined by 18.8 percent following April’s 17.0 percent increase. Sheet products were down by 22.6 percent, longs were down by 8.9 percent and tubular goods […]
Total construction spending through April has expanded for eight straight months, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Commerce Department data. The growth of total construction on a rolling three-month basis year over year has increased every month since August last year and reached 6.0 percent in April. Construction expenditures data is developed by […]