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There are zombie factories in China. No, they are not making zombies but the factories themselves are the equivalent of the walking dead–steel mills hanging on by a thread, not making money, reducing workforces, but clinging to life when they are all but dead. The China Iron and Steel Association (CISA) is painting a grim […]
On Tuesday evening ArcelorMittal advised their customers of their intention to raise carbon flat rolled sheet prices. In an email to their customers the mill advised that they would be raising prices on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steels (galvanized and Galvalume). The mill told their customers: “Effective immediately with all new quotations, ArcelorMittal […]
Steel Market Update received the following press release from the US Department of Commerce International Trade Administration regarding the release of the preliminary determination for the hot rolled countervailing duty portion of the hot rolled trade case: On January 11, 2016, the Department of Commerce is scheduled to announce its preliminary determinations in the CVD […]
The Institute of Supply Management released their December report on January 4th 2016 with a value of 48.6 which is the lowest since June 2009. An explanation of the ISM index is given at the end of this piece. After seven straight months of decline the three month moving average (3MMA) of the index had […]
Consumer confidence improved from 92.6 in November to 96.5 in December. The very disappointing November result was revised upwards. The three month moving average (3MMA) declined from 98.1 in November to 96.1 in December. As we have reported in earlier write-ups on this subject, 2015 has been tremendously more variable month to month than 2014. […]
Both of these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The index had an all-time high of 107.9108 in November last year but on a month over month (m/m) basis has declined for nine of the first eleven months of 2015. This contrasts sharply with last year when in only one […]
The following article was written by Xavier Boucherat and appeared in the Q4 2015 issue of Automotive Megatrends Magazine and is being reprinted by Steel Market Update with permission. It may be lighter, but aluminium is fundamentally a quick fix, and OEMs currently using aluminium will convert those parts back to steel to reduce mass […]
The Institute of Supply Management released their November report on December 1st with a value of 48.6 which is the lowest since June 2009. An explanation of the ISM index is given at the end of this piece. After seven straight months of decline the three month moving average (3MMA) of the index had positive […]
Ryerson Holding Corp, a distributor and processor of metals, reported revenue of $790 million in third quarter, down 6 percent from second quarter and down 16.7 percent from Q3 2014. Net income was $6.7 million compared to income of $15.8 million in Q2 and a net loss of $34.7 million in Q3 2014 which included […]
The Institute of Supply Management released their October report on November 2nd. An explanation of the ISM index is given at the end of this piece. After seven straight months of decline the three month moving average (3MMA) of the index had positive growth on a month over month basis in June and July but […]
SEWICKLEY, PA – OCTOBER 6, 2015 – Esmark, Inc., a diversified holding company and parent company of Esmark Steel Group, today announced that Michael J. Bush, a Principal of Esmark Steel Group, has been named Vice President of Commercial Sales for Esmark, Inc., effective immediately. Bush will report to Esmark, Inc. and Esmark Steel Group […]
The September Institute of Supply Management (ISM) PMI registered 50.2 percent, a decrease of 0.9 percentage points from the 51.7 percent reading in August. The PMI is at its lowest point since May 2013 when it registered 50.1 percent. The three month moving average has been see-sawing since June when it gained points after seven […]
As expected, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has made a preliminary determination that cold-rolled steel produced in seven foreign countries (Brazil, China, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea and UK) is causing or threatening to cause injury to the domestic steel industry. The Netherlands, which was also named in the antidumping suit, was dropped from […]
The Institute of Supply Management released their August report on September 1st. An explanation of the ISM index is given at the end of this piece. After seven straight months of decline the three month moving average (3MMA) of the index gained 0.67 points in June and 0.40 points in July. August gave back 0.57 […]
The Institute of Supply Management released their July report on August 3rd. An explanation of the ISM index is given at the end of this piece. After seven straight months of decline the index gained 1.3 points in May a further 0.7 points in June then declined by 0.8 points in July to 52.7 with […]
U.S. Steel and four other domestic steel mills filed antidumping suits on cold rolled steel against 8 countries. The following information was released to the steel community this morning (Tuesday, July 28th). In an email last night, USS incorrectly named SSAB as one of the petitioners in the CR suit. SSAB did respond to our […]
The Institute of Supply Management released their June report on July 1st. An explanation of the ISM index is given at the end of this piece. After seven straight months of decline the index gained 1.3 points in May and a further 0.7 points in June to end at 53.5 with a three month moving […]
The Institute of Supply Management released their April report on May 1st. An explanation of the ISM index is given at the end of this piece. After the October surprise on the upside, the index slid back to 55.1 in December to 53.5 in January, to 52.9 in February and to 51.5 in March it […]
Respondents in the April 2015 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report found little to get excited about for the coming months. A third of participants in the monthly survey expect improved economic activity during the next three months but 58 percent forecast no change. Incoming orders are expected to remain steady during the period. […]
The Institute of Supply Management released their March report on April 1st. An explanation of the ISM index is given at the end of this piece. After the October surprise on the upside, the index slid back to 55.1 in December to 53.5 in January, to 52.9 in February and to 51.5 in March. Any […]
There is no joy in Mudville in the middle of March, the scrap market is dead and no mills are looking to add to their inventories. For that matter the dealers have very little to offer as the weather has yet to clear up north and the big move lower in scrap prices in February […]
As Steel Market Update has discussed in previous articles on the subject of scrap pricing, the original projections by buyers of scrap were for prices to drop $20 per gross ton on all products for the month of March. The projected March reduction would have been on the heels of an $80 to $110 per […]
The Institute of Supply Management released their February report on March 2nd. An explanation of this data set is given at the end of this piece. After the October surprise on the upside, the index slid back to 55.1 in December to 53.5 in January and to 52.9 in February. The three month moving average […]
The Consumer Confidence Index as reported by the Conference Board declined in February after a very strong increase in January. In addition, the January results were revised upwards. In February the composite fell from 103.8 to 96.4, the view of the present situation fell from 113.9 to 110.2 as expectations fell from 97.0 to 87.2. […]
The Institute of Supply Management released their January report on February 2nd. An explanation of this data set is given at the end of this piece. After the October surprise on the upside, the index slid back once again from 55.1 in December to 53.5 in January. The three month moving average has declined for […]
The consumer confidence index as reported by the Conference Board rose strongly in January and the December results were revised upwards. The composite rose from 93.1 to 102.9, the view of the present situation rose from 99.9 to 102.6 as expectations rose from 88.5 to 96.4. This was the first time for the composite to […]
The ISM Manufacturing Index retreated again in December. The Institute of Supply Management released their December report on January 2nd and after the October surprise on the upside, the index slid back once again from 59.0 to 58.7 in November and to 55.5 in December, however this is still equal to the average for the […]
The Consumer Confidence Index as reported by the Conference Board rose in December and the November results were revised upwards. The composite rose from 91.0 to 92.6, the view of the present situation rose from 93.7 to 98.6 as expectations fell from 89.3 to 88.5. The three month moving averages (3MMA) of the composite and […]
The Institute of Supply Management released their November report on December 2nd and after the October surprise on the upside, the index slid back slightly from 59.0 to 58.7. However, this is still the third best result of the year. Any number >50 indicates expansion and this was the eighteenth straight month for which this […]