Steel Market Update offers a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to a detailed look at volume by district of entry and source nation. This report, on other metallic coated sheet, is designed to plug the gap between the two. We will report data for regional imports for […]
Year to date, June, total cut-to-length plate imports were down by 5.1 percent, but the Great Lakes region was down by 43.3 percent and the Gulf region was up by 201.4 percent. SMU now offers a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the very detailed look at […]
Steel Market Update offers a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to a detailed look at volume by district of entry and source nation. This report, on cut-to-length plate, is designed to plug the gap between the two. We will report data for regional imports for each of […]
Year to date, June, total coiled plate imports were down by 18.4 percent, but the Great Lakes region was down by 28.5 percent and the Gulf was up by 44.4 percent. SMU now offers a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to the very detailed look at volume […]
Steel Market Update offers a comprehensive series of import reports ranging from the first look at licensed data to a detailed look at volume by district of entry and source nation. This report, on coiled plate, is designed to plug the gap between the two. We will report data for regional imports for each of […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive-level members. For more information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Of the eight indicators of economic health tracked by Steel Market Update, none is flashing red. Taken as a whole, they signal that the U.S. economy is safe from recession for […]
Private construction contracted in three months through June, but state and locally funded work, including infrastructure, is continuing to boom. Construction Put in Place (CPIP) expenditures data for June was released on Aug. 1. Through June, total construction has had negative momentum every month since October last year. This was entirely a result of […]
In June, China’s share of global steel production exceeded 55 percent for the first time. In May and June, the annual rate of global steel production exceeded 1.9 billion metric tons. Capacity is calculated to be 2.4 billion metric tons and capacity utilization in June was 80.0 percent, according to the latest Steel Market Update […]
The government’s first estimate of U.S. GDP growth in Q2 2019 was 2.1 percent, down from 3.1 percent in the first quarter. The current U.S. expansion is now the longest on record at 121 months dating back to June 2009. Last Thursday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its first estimate of GDP growth […]
Consumer confidence, as reported by The Conference Board, declined sharply in June but recovered in July. The Conference Board measure of consumer confidence is quite a volatile indicator, therefore we prefer to smooth the data with a moving average to reduce monthly variability. The composite value of consumer confidence in July was 135.7, up from […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of Key Market Indicators shows the present market situation was basically unchanged in the last month, based on data released in July, but half the 36 indicators trended positive and half negative. This report is designed to be a big picture summary of data on which we have reported in detail […]
In second-quarter 2019, all nine regions of the U.S. had positive employment growth. Second-quarter regional employment data by state was released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on Friday. The state data follows and confirms the strong employment situation that we reported at the national level two weeks ago. In the second quarter, the […]
The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil briefly exceeded $60 per barrel for one week in July, but the rig count continues to decline, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The spot price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) FOB Cushing, Okla., exceeded $60 per barrel for […]
The surge in the price of iron ore and the decline in the price of scrap continued through mid-July, benefiting the EAF producers in the U.S. over the integrated mills Table 1 summarizes the price changes through July of the five materials considered in this analysis. It reports the month/month, 3 months/3 months and 12 […]
In this report, we examine the change in currency values of the 16 preeminent global steel and iron ore trading nations. The currencies of these 16 don’t necessarily follow the Broad Index value of the U.S. dollar. In fact, at any given time, some are always moving in the opposite direction. The latest value of […]
Most indicators of manufacturing activity are still positive, but if trends continue, growth will become negative by late summer. This report summarizes 11 data streams that describe the state of U.S. manufacturing in general and the steel industry in particular. We have reported on most of these separately in our Steel Market Update publications, and […]
The Producer Price Index, inclusive of all commodities, has been relatively stable in 2019. In the last 12 months the prices of cold-rolled steel sheet and aluminum have declined in unison, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data performed by Steel market Update. This report is intended to provide subscribers with a […]
The rate of job creation in the U.S. in 2019 is slowing, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The recent employment reports provide mixed signals. Job openings are high, unemployment is low, but the rate of job creation is slowing. This is probably due to […]
In the last 12 months the rate of job creation in the primary metals industries has been slower than in manufacturing as a whole, according to Steel Market Update’s analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. In June, 191,000 jobs were created in the private sector and government gained 33,000 positions. Table 1 breaks […]
Total rolled product imports in June were down by 20.5 percent on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis year over year. This follows the 27.4 percent decline in May on the same basis. This early look at June’s import volume is based on Commerce Department license data (see explanation below.) This import analysis includes all […]
The analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of six flat rolled products into the district of entry and the source nation. 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 […]
Demand for long products is very strong, driven by the construction industry. Demand for sheet products is declining. This analysis by Steel Market Update is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and imports/export data from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC). The analysis summarizes total steel supply […]
Commerce Department data confirms a slowdown in steel product shipments and new orders in 2019. Steel industry trade association data from the AISI and MSCI is most widely used to assess the state of the industry. In addition, the Census Bureau provides monthly data on manufacturing inventories, shipments and new orders for total U.S. manufacturing […]
Steel Market Update is please to share this Premium content with Executive-level subscribers. For more information on upgrading to a Premium-level membership, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Private construction contracted in the three-month period including March, April and May, but state and locally funded work, including infrastructure, continued to boom. The Construction Put in Place (CPIP) expenditures […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of the Key Market Indicators shows a slight improvement in both our view of the present situation and in the trend of the indicators in June. This report is designed to be a big picture summary of data on which we have reported in detail during the month. In it we […]
Consumer confidence as reported by The Conference Board decline sharply in June following a downward revision of the May data. The Conference Board measure of consumer confidence is quite a volatile indicator; therefore, we prefer to smooth the data with a moving average to reduce monthly variability. The composite value of consumer confidence in June […]
Global steel production hit an all-time high in April and that record was smashed in May. Global steel production in April achieved a new high annual rate of 1.880 billion metric tons (Mt). Production surged in May to an annual rate of 1.953 billion Mt. Capacity is calculated to be 2.4 billion Mt and capacity […]
The third estimate of U.S. GDP growth in Q1 2019 was 3.1 percent, but the mix of components gives cause for concern. This SMU report is very similar to the one we published for the first estimate on April 27. The first estimate for Q2 2019 will be published on July 26. After the worst […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive level members. For more information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. The price of iron ore has surged as scrap has declined benefiting the EAF producers in the U.S. over the integrated mills. Table 1 summarizes the price changes through June […]
This analysis breaks down the imported tonnage of hot rolled coil into the district of entry and the source nation. 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 company’s […]