Written by: Sandy Williams New construction starts leapt 23 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $530 billion according to data released by McGraw-Hill Construction. Total constructions starts for 2012 grew 6 percent to $463.6 billion for a moderate gain at a faster rate from the previous two years. Construction growth overall […]
Written by: Sandy Williams The Architecture Billings Index showed growth for the fifth straight month in December. The American Institute of Architects reported the ABI score at 52, down slightly from 53.2 in November. The ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The score reflects an […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) participates in a monthly conference call with HARDI wholesalers who sell galvanized sheet and coil into the HVAC mechanical contractors and related industries for residential and commercial construction applications. The purpose of the call is to discuss steel trends which may impact their regional businesses – this includes domestic mill and […]
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 forecast to the HARDI members located in the United […]
Written by: Sandy Williams 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 forecast to the HARDI members […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Housing starts rose at the fastest pace since 2008, showing continued recovery in the housing market. The Commerce Department said housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 954,000, up 12.1 percent from the revised November estimate and up 36.9 percent from the December rate in 2011. Starts of […]
Written by: Sandy Williams At least eight new steel plants are under construction in Asia (not including India) that will increase the annual output capacity of steel in Asia by 100 million tonnes within the next few years. Currently China accounts for nearly 50 percent of global steel demand with its own annual output capacity […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Metal forming companies are expecting a spike in business conditions in the next three months according to survey data released Wednesday by the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA). Survey data shows 32 percent of participants are expecting conditions to get better in the next three months (up from 22 percent in December) […]
Written by: Andre Marshall, Crunchrisk LLC Financial Markets On the equities markets we hit a new 5 year high reaching 1485 on SP 500 today. In this current rally you might recall our target point for this move is 1488 and so we may be near a point for a little retracement. If this current move […]
SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index improved to +27 this week, this is 6 points better than the +21 measured during the first week of January and is almost back to the levels achieved during the middle of December (+28). However, current Sentiment is well below the +49 measured during the middle of January 2012 – […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Former RG Steel assets from both Sparrow Point and Warren are headed for the auction block. Sparrow Point assets are being offered by Hilco Industrial at an onsite auction January 23-24 and will include mobile, construction, material handling and support equipment along with spare parts and production lots. An online auction […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Construction employment is expected to rise in 2013 according to survey data presented by the Associated General Contractors of America in their construction industry outlook report for 2013. Of those firms surveyed in 30 states, 31 percent expect to add new staff this year while only 9 percent plan to make […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Natural gas is providing cost savings for steel plants while at the same time creating more demand for steel products used in pipelines, drilling equipment and rigs. It is a win-win situation for the steel and the natural gas industries One of the ways natural gas is utilized by the steel […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Iron ore buyers have been watching with concern the path of Cyclone Narelle as it approaches the western shore of Australia. The west and northwest region contains 93 percent of Australia’s iron ore mines. In past years cyclones and flooding have disrupted mine operations for coal and iron ore sending steel […]
Steel Market Update received a surprise the other day when Construction Management Degree (www.ConstructionManagementDegree.com), a website dedicated as an online resource for students looking to expand their education within the management segment of the construction industry, recognized SMU as one of the top 100 construction-related websites online. The list was compiled as a service to […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Commercial Metals Company announced first quarter net earnings ending November 30, 2012, of $49.7 million, down from $107.7 million at the end of November 2011. Results were partially attributed to a drop in profit from CMC’s Americas Recycling segment which saw lower demand that affected ferrous and nonferrous pricing and volumes. […]
After months of uncertainty related to governmental policies and the fiscal cliff negotiations (or lack thereof) combined with normal end of the year seasonal factors, steel buyers and sellers finished 2012 in the Optimistic range of the SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment index. During the first week of 2013 those same buyers and sellers were slightly […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Construction spending in November decreased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $866.0 billion, down 0.3 percent from the revised October estimate of $868.2 billion according to data released by the Department of Commerce on Wednesday. “Preliminary data from the Census Bureau for November shows overall construction spending slipped 0.3 percent […]
Financial Markets Who knew it was so easy, all the Republicans had to do was to agree to over $600 bln in tax increases, kick the can down the road on spending cuts by 2-3 months and voila!; No Fiscal Cliff! And with that the markets were off. The SP has gained 60 points in […]