Housing starts surprised on the upside in April, possibly as a result of projects delayed by bad weather in the Northeast and Midwest picked up the pace. Total starts were 1,135,000 up from 944,000 in March. Single family were up by 16 percent and multifamily by 27 percent. At SMU we prefer to work with […]
Based on Steel Market Update (SMU) analysis of the recently released MSCI service center inventory and shipment data, total service center carbon steel shipments decreased by 201,800 tons in April to 3.305 million tons. Shipping days at 22, the same as March. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments decreased from 159,400 in March […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and the Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a quarterly forecast to the HARDI members located in the […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) analysis of non-farm employment reported that 223,000 jobs were added in April but the March result was revised down by 41,000 to a mere 85,000. The three month moving average (3MMA) of gains through April was 191,000 and the combined result for March and April was the lowest since […]
The Q2 2015 February Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices was released on May 4th. This survey addresses changes in the standards and terms on, and demand for, bank loans to businesses and households on a quarterly basis and is based on the responses from 76 domestic banks and 23 U.S. branches […]
Ryerson Holding Company, a processor and distributor of metals, announced the appointment of Edward J. Lehner as President and Chief Executive Officer. Lehner will succeed Michael C. Arnold who will retire at the end of May. Lehner has served as executive vice president and chief financial officer for Ryerson since 2012. Prior to joining Ryerson, […]
Gibraltar Industries, a leading manufacturer and distributor of products for building markets, saw revenues decrease in Q1 2015 in the industrial and infrastructure product segments. Low oil prices have dampened spending in the oil and gas markets and the strong US dollar has impacted order rates and revenues. Historically, approximately 25-20 percent of revenues for […]
The Dodge Momentum Index rose a slight 0.8 percent in April to a reading of 122.6, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. Construction planning activity has been up and down in early 2015 but is higher than a year ago. In comparison, the April Index is 8.5 percent higher than April 2014. Planning for the […]
Klöckner & Co SE EBITDA was heavily impacted by the sharp price declines in the U.S. EBITDA of €10 million ($11.2 million) was reported down from €45 million ($50.7 million) in Q1 2014 Shipments for Kloeckner Metals (the Americas segment) were up 0.6 percent y/y to 682,000 tonnes (751,763 tons). US shipments were up by […]
CHICAGO, IL, May 6, 2015 – The Steel Tube Institute (STI) has announced the retirement of Executive Director Bill Wolfe after 13 years serving as head of the industry trade association. Joseph Anderson, who was named Hollow Structural Sections (HSS) Director last April, has been chosen as STI’s new Executive Director. Wolfe leaves behind a […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its Construction Put in Place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. March data was released on May 1st. Construction Put in Place is based on spending work as it occurs, estimated for a given month from a sample of projects. In effect […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered in this analysis is currently 36. Please refer to Table 1 for the view of the present situation and the quantitative measure of trends. Readers should […]
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the first estimate of Q1 2015 Annual Revision of the National Income and Product Accounts on Thursday The annualized growth rate in the first estimate of Q1 GDP was 0.2 percent down from Q4 2014 which came in at 2.2 percent. GDP is measured and reported in chained […]
The seaborne freight market has been relatively flat in the past few weeks. The Baltic Dry Index was at 602 at the end of March but has been under 600 for most of April. As of Friday, April 24, it registered at 600. The BDI tracks dry-bulk rates based on vessel size and shipping route […]
Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The IP index was reported as 105.22 for March, down by 0.64 from February. The three month moving average (3MMA) was 105.63, down by 0.34 from February. January was the highest value ever of the 3MMA at 106.11. The Y/Y growth rate […]
As we discussed at the beginning of the month April, Steel Market Update (SMU) will present our Future Steel Buyers Sentiment Index at the beginning of our Sentiment articles. Future Sentiment provides a better look at what steel buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel are thinking regarding their company’s ability to be successful three […]
The graphic below shows published data for the growth of GDP, industrial production and consumer prices through the 1st Q of 2015. The GDP and industrial production portions of this graph are three month moving averages. GDP grew 7.3 percent y/y in both the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2014, declined to 7.0 percent in […]
The drop in galvanized steel pricing from the domestic mills is creating havoc at the HARDI wholesalers. As one of the wholesalers put it during the HARDI sponsored galvanized steel conference call Steel Market Update participated in earlier today, “Demand is still reasonable. My concern is that we will have a poor second half of […]
The following is the Chicago Federal Reserve statement followed by our own graphical analysis. The CFNAI is an excellent reality check for much of the economic analysis that we routinely provide at Steel Market Update. An explanation of the index is provided at the end of this piece. This is normally an article reserved for […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. reported high levels of steel import and customer inventory reduced shipments for first quarter resulting in a 44 percent drop in consolidated operating income compared to fourth quarter. SDI adjusted net income was $40 million for first quarter 2015 with $2 billion in net sales. The adjusted income excludes $17 million in […]
Global steel production in 12 months through March totaled 1.626 billion tonnes with a capacity of 2.2 billion tonnes which yields a utilization for the 12 month period of 73.9 percent. China accounted for 50.3 percent of global production in March. Asia as a whole, including India, accounted for 68.3 percent of global production. Production […]
We have been receiving a number of inquiries regarding changing Executive level memberships and upgrading them to Premium level. This is something we can do for any company or individual at any point in time during the year. It does not have to wait until your membership is up for renewal. If you want to […]
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. […]
Starts in March rose by 14,000 to 926,000 after the revised decline of 164,000 in February. This data is seasonally adjusted by the Census department and the monthly numbers are annualized. The three month moving average, (3MMA) declined from 1,020,000 in February to 969,000 in March (Figure 1). The projection to 1.6 million in 2018 […]
Total service center carbon steel shipments increased in March by 321,400 tons to 3.507 million tons. Shipping days at 22 were 2 more than February. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments increased from 159,300 in February to 159,400 in March. In the twelve years since 2004, March shipments on average have been 1.2 […]
There has been a “calming” to the market although that has not stopped the slow trickle lower we are seeing in flat rolled steel pricing. We saw hot rolled break through the $440 level although we were told by steel buyers that were able to get those kind of numbers the last $5 per ton […]
US Steel Corp. President and CEO Mario Longhi is the recipient of the 2015 AIST Steelmaker of the Year Award. The annual award is presented by the Association for Iron and Steel Technology to notable leaders for their impact on the steel industry. The prestigious honor will be conferred at the AISTech 2015—Iron and Steel […]
This past week Steel Market Update publisher, John Packard, spoke to the financial community about the flat rolled steel industry. Most of the questions received during the Cowen & Company conference call were associated with demand for steel products. Since SMU just concluded our early April flat rolled steel market analysis (survey) late last week, […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has two Steel Buyers Sentiment Indices, current and future. We normally concentrate our initial comments on the current index, how buyers and sellers of steel feel about business conditions and their company’s ability to be successful in the current market. However, today and going forward, we will begin focusing on how […]
The Dodge Momentum Index, an initial report for nonresidential building projects in planning, slid 2.1 percent to 122.3 in March. The initial reports for project planning lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. In general, the trend has been upward for the past 12 months. The index has gained 12 percent in the first […]