Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index was measured at +53 earlier today based on the results of our most recent flat rolled steel analysis conducted this week. The +53 is 7 points higher than what we reported at the beginning of the month. Our Steel Buyers Sentiment Index measures how buyers and sellers […]
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) released their Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score for the month of January on Wednesday this week, reporting that the latest index is at a nine month low. The ABI score for January was 49.9, down 2.8 points from December’s score of 52.7. Note that the index is centered around […]
The Coface Group, a worldwide leader in credit insurance, publishes country risk assessments for 160 countries, based on its unique knowledge of company payment behavior and on the expertise of 350 underwriters located close to clients and their debtors. The following a reprint of their risk outlook for 2015. Laborious Global Recovery, Subject to Multiple […]
USW Local 2251 reports that Essar Steel Algoma is terminating 55 positions due to a decline in plate steel orders. According to a report by Soo Today, most of the employees have not completed their probationary period. The job cuts follow an announcement Jan. 23 confirming a contract for 1500 tonnes of plate for construction […]
Over the past two days Steel Market Update (SMU) has been attending the 26th annual Port of Tampa Steel Conference in Tampa, Florida. The Port of Tampa sits on 5,000 acres and is the closest U.S. port to the Panama Canal. Early in we got a taste of the rebirth of the downtown construction market […]
The Dodge Momentum Index fell 4.8 percent in January as a result of decreased planning activity in both commercial and institutional construction sectors. The January decline to 121.1 follows a jump of 11.7 percent in final three months of 2014, continuing a hesitant upward trend. On a year over year basis, the Index rose 5.8 […]
January steel exports from China in rose to an all-time monthly record of 10.29 million tons, surprising analysts who were expecting reduced shipments this month. Steel shipments were expected to fall after China canceled the export tax rebate for Boron-added steel on January 1. Analysts predicted steel export volume would drop as much 30 percent […]
The Q1 2015 February Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices was released on February 2nd. 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 73 domestic banks and 23 U.S. branches […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on non-farm employment indicated that 257,000 jobs were added in January. As we were analyzing this date we noticed massive historical revisions and had to go back to January 2000 (15 years!) before were confident we had caught them all. In the 12 months of 2014, job creation […]
SSAB Americas posted sales of SEK 3.5 billion ($421.8 million) in Q4, a 17 percent increase from third quarter. For the full year 2014, the Americas segment had sales of SEK 13.2 billion ($159 million) up from SEK 11.1 billion ($133 million) in 2013. Fourth quarter external steel shipments were down 13 percent year over […]
The following article is normally produced just for our Premium level members. We are sharing the information today with all of our readers. The article is written by Peter Wright, consultant to Steel Market Update, Gerdau and the State of Wyoming. Peter, who is a metallurgist as well as market specialist, is also one of […]
The United States Senate passed the Keystone XL oil pipeline bill by a vote of 62-36 on Thursday, Jan. 29. Nine Democrats joined the Republican-controlled Senate in supporting the bill. The House is expected to vote on the Senate version of the bill early next week. The Keystone XL legislation includes two energy-efficiency programs that […]
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the first estimate of Q4 2014 Annual Revision of the National Income and Product Accounts on Friday. The annualized growth rate in the 4th Q disappointed economic pundits by coming in at 2.64 percent after increasing by almost 5.0 percent in Q3. GDP is measured and reported in […]
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 […]
Steel Dynamics reported a record setting year and fourth quarter 2014. Steel shipments for the quarter were up 51 percent to 2.3 million tons from 1.5 million tons in Q3 2013. Steel fabrication had operating income of $22 million following a loss of $122,000 a year ago. For the full-year 2014 steel shipments totaled 7.4 […]
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 in The Steel Market Update. An explanation of the Index is provided at the end of this piece. Index shows economic growth slowed in […]
Nucor Corp. reported net earnings of $210.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to $245.4 million in the third quarter of 2014 and $170.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2013. The drop was expected due to typical seasonality in the fourth quarter and downward pressure on the industry from steel imports. Net […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel continue to be optimistic about their company’s chances of being successful in both the current market conditions as well as three to six months into the future. However, there have been some clouds building as our 3MMA has been trending lower over the past four months. We have […]
Alaskan plans to upgrade the Prince Rupert ferry terminal have been scrapped after Canada moved to bar a Buy America requirement for contract bids on the project. The enactment of a ruling under the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act would have imposed fines of up to $1.5 million (US $1.2 million) and/or jail time for corporations […]
The Architecture Billings Index rebounded to 52.2 in December from 50.9 in November, according to the American Institute of Architects. Demand for design services increased in ten of the twelve months of 2014. The new projects inquiry index dropped slightly to 58.2 from 58.8 in the previous month while design contracts were at 49.9 after […]
A lot has already been written about the dramatic decline in oil prices, the persistent high imports of energy tubulars, and related issues. What is missing, in my opinion, is some perspective and context to pull it all together. The purpose of this article is to show why the energy sector is so important to […]
Gulf ports are not experiencing the horrific congestion issues seen in the West. Fleetwood Port Logistics, out of Houston and Savannah, that deals primarily in break bulk steel products, has seen little to no congestion at the primary discharge terminal of North City Docks, Port of Houston. There has been some congestion at the smaller […]
The following article is a continuation of our Steel Buyers Basics series written by Mario Briccetti. Mario is Principal of Briccetti & Associates, a Supply Chain consulting firm, and can be reached at Mario@mbriccetti.com. Briccetti wrote the following article as part of our Steel Buyers Basics series of articles, many of which can be found […]
Nucor and Big River Steel met in federal court on Friday in a continuation of Nucor’s bid to stop construction of the rival steel mill. Nucor claims the air permit granted to Big River Steel was issued incorrectly and that emissions from the future plant will raise pollution levels in the county, violating the Clean […]
Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The IP index was reported as 106.51 for December a decline of 0.1 percent from November. The three month moving average (3MMA) was 106.13 which was the highest value ever and the seventh straight month where the growth of the 3MMA exceeded […]
While speaking with a couple of the secondary flat rolled steel distributors this past week, we got into a discussion about the advanced high strength steels (AHSS) and what impact they were having on the secondary market. A number of service centers pointed out that the product was fine for flat parts or those with […]
Each quarter ITR Economics and HARDI offer a forecast on the construction industry. Steel Market Update provides a summary of that forecast on a national and regional basis. This week we are going to change our format slightly and provide the national forecast summary based on ITR’s Interactive Regional Economic Forecast Webinar. We will provide […]
The Dodge Momentum Index, a monthly measure of initial reports for nonresidential building projects in planning, rose 4.0 percent from a revised 123.8 in November to 128.7 in December. The reading is the highest since February 2009 and an increase of 17 percent year over year. “The increases seen in the Index in 2014 are […]
Flat rolled steel prices have been dropping over the past few weeks and the wholesalers who service the mechanical contractors are concerned as the pace of the price decline quickens. Earlier today Steel Market Update participated in the HARDI sponsored galvanized steel conference call. HARDI (Heating, Air-conditioning, Refrigeration Distributors International) wholesalers supply galvanized sheet and […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on non-farm employment indicated that 252,000 jobs were added in December, November and October were revised up by a total of 50,000. The three month moving average (3MMA) of gains in December was second only to November as the highest since May 2010 at 289,000. This job recovery […]