A strike by Seaspan tugboat operators at the Westshore Terminal in Roberts Banks near Vancouver has been averted by last minute negotiations on Wednesday, June 3. The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 400 voted 100 percent in favor of a strike earlier in the day but the union and Seaspan have now agreed […]
US Steel says it will indefinitely idle two tubular manufacturing facilities in McKeesport, Pennsylvania and Bellville, Texas in early August. US Steel reported that the decision is a result of poor business conditions due to unfairly traded tubular steel products imported into the United States. The shutdown of the two facilities will impact approximately 415,000 […]
The auto sale roundup for May started out with gusto. Early reporter Chrysler posted US automotive sales at 194,421 units, a 17 percent increase year over year. Chrysler’s Jeep brand set a sales record in May with 64 percent jump in sales. On CNBC this morning, they were reporting Chrysler as saying their forecast was […]
Manufacturing expanded for the 12th consecutive month in May according to the Manufacturing ISM Report on Business released by the Institute of Supply Management. The PMI registered 55.4 percent, an increase of 0.5 percent. The new orders index grew 1.8 points to 56.9. The production index gained 5.3 points to a reading of 61.0 percent. Employment continued […]
BURR RIDGE, Illinois – June 3, 2014 – Material Sciences Corporation (MSC), a division of New Star Metals, has sold its Global OE and Aftermarket Brake Shim business to Wolverine Advanced Materials for an undisclosed sum. MSC will retain its North American production facilities in Walbridge, OH and Elk Grove Village, IL as well as […]
Steel Market Update has been following the Armada Corporate Intelligence economists since we first heard Dr. Chris Kuehl present at a conference we attended earlier this year. We were so impressed with both Dr. Kuehl’s (pronounced Keel) presentation skills and their newsletter that we invited Dr. Kuehl to be a keynote speaker at this year’s […]
The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI made a modest uptick to 52.2 in May after dropping to a six month low of 51.9 in April. Faster expansion rates were seen in production, new orders and orders for new exports. Overall improvement, however, remains modest with the average rate of increase in business conditions lower than […]
Economic indicators were mostly positive in May. Housing starts and sales improved while the ABI dropped. Respondents to the various economic surveys were generally upbeat about future economic and business conditions. Steel buyers looked for more of the same activity for the next six months. The abbreviated breakdown follows. New home sales bounced back in […]
A flurry of promotions has elevated the positions of five executives at AK Steel, effective May 30, 2014. David C. Horn has been named Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer, and Secretary. Mr. Horn was previously the company’s Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary and will continue to be responsible for all […]
The Chicago Business Barometer reached its highest level since October, climbing 2.5 point to 65.5. The new reading, when taken with other economic indicators, shows a strong recovery in the second quarter after a lackluster start to the year. This is good news for the flat rolled steel industry in North America. With winter finally […]
Steel imports to the U.S. totaled 3.7 million net tons according to preliminary data from the US Census Bureau but the reaction to this data depends on one’s point of view. The American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) both came out with reports on April imports, but […]
After a weak start to 2014 business activity is going strong in May said participants on the HARDI monthly galvanized steel call. Steel Market Update (SMU) joined HARDI wholesalers who supply galvanized steel to the construction trades to talk about concerns in the industry including domestic mill price trends as well as the impact of […]
The China Ministry of Finance is urging the government to step up spending to support growth in the Chinese economy. The announcement on May 28 follows a call for action by Premier Li Keqiang to increase development projects, which he considers a panacea for China’s economic woes. The notice by the Ministry has three key […]
As quickly as repaired blast furnaces come back online at US Steel and ArcelorMittal we are seeing them taking down more steelmaking equipment. SMU received word that ArcelorMittal Cleveland Works restarted the C-5 blast furnace early Monday morning, May 26. The C-5 blast furnace has been down for a couple of weeks resulting in the […]
The Keystone XL project continues to be beset by delays as court disputes in Nebraska prolong presidential approval. A decision by the administration was put off “indefinitely” in April and now is likely to be delayed until after November elections. TransCanada President Russ Girling recently stressed the company is not giving up on the pipeline […]
New home sales bounced back in April after declining for two straight months. New residential sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000 in last month, according to data released by the US Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development. April’s rate increased 6.4 percent following a plummet of 10 percent in […]
Demand is continuing to improve according to participants in our Steel Market Update (SMU) mid-May Steel Market Survey. Just over half of our respondents, 50.49 percent, said steel demand is improving, up from 47 percent in mid-April and less than one quarter in mid-March. This month we polled a group consisting mainly of manufacturing companies […]
The Architecture Billings Index remains in negative territory again this month. The ABI, which reflects the nine to twelve month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending, was at 49.6 in April, up slightly from 48.8 last month. A reading below 50 indicates contraction and a reading above 50 indicates an increase in design […]
NLMK announced improved sales for the Group and NLMK USA in its Q1 2014 US GAAP results. The Group’s steelmaking capacity utilization ran at 92 percent through first quarter with steel sales up 8 percent quarter over quarter to 3.866 million tons. Crude steel production dropped 4 percent quarter over quarter due to seasonal factors […]
The Canadian International Trade Tribunal has decided that imports of hot-rolled carbon steel plate from six countries “has not caused but is threatening to cause injury to the domestic industry.” The complaint was issued by Essar Steel Algoma against plate steel originating in or exported from Brazil, Denmark, Indonesia, Italy, Japan and the Republic of […]
Five members of the Chinese military have been charged with economic cyber-espionage against American companies including US Steel, Alcoa, Westinghouse Electric Company, Allegheny Technologies Inc., United Steel Workers Union and SolarWorld. The military unit allegedly hacked into private sector companies to gain trade secrets between 2006 and 2014 to give competitive advantages to Chinese companies. […]
The “Buy America” plan for federally subsidized projects is problematic for two major U.S. steel mills owned by foreign companies. The push to use American sourced steel products in infrastructure projects is keeping NLMK USA and California Steel Industries (CSI) out of the running for bids on projects—a problem the companies are hoping to rectify […]
The “Buy America” plan for federally subsidized projects is problematic for two major U.S. steel mills owned by foreign companies. The push to use American sourced steel products in infrastructure projects is keeping NLMK USA and California Steel Industries (CSI) out of the running for bids on projects—a problem the companies are hoping to rectify […]
The terms Buy America and Buy American are not interchangeable. CSI Executive VP, Finance & Administration Brett Guge explains the difference: “The longstanding historical standard for direct government procurement is “Buy American,” which requires only that the steel products used in government projects must have been “substantially transformed” in the U.S. “Buy America,” on the […]
There has been a debate which goes back to the 1930’s regarding what “Buy American” means when it comes to steel products. The issue is whether those mills who do not make steel, such as NLMK USA (in their Pennsylvania plant) and California Steel Industries as well as the former ThyssenKrupp plant in Calvert, Alabama […]
Residential building permit authorizations and housing starts surged in April after a weak showing during the winter months. Housing starts in April increased 13.2 percent from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,072,000 and jumped 26.4 percent from the April 2013 rate, according to data released by the Department of Housing and Urban […]
Gibraltar Industries has named Frank Heard as President and Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. Heard, joins Gibraltar with more than 25 years of experience in the building products industry. He mostly recently was President of ITW Building Components Group, a division of Illinois Tool Works Inc. At ITW Heard was in charge of strategic direction […]
The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and the law firm of Stewart and Stewart recently released its publication “Surging Steel Imports Put Up to Half a Million U.S. Jobs at Risk.” The publication was released in support of the domestic steel industry and their unions and contends that unfairly traded imports are costing the U.S. jobs […]
Metalforming companies are predicting little change in economic conditions in the next three months, according to data from the May 2014 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report. Incoming orders are also expected to remain relatively unchanged during the period. Current daily shipping levels declined in May compared to three months ago according to those […]
Indicators in the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia May 2014 Business Outlook Survey were positive for the third consecutive month indicting manufacturing activity continues to expand in the Third District. The general activity index dropped slightly from 16.6 in April to 15.4 in May. New orders and current shipments decreased by 4 and 9 points, […]