Cleveland-Cliffs is in the process of restarting the No. 7 blast furnace at its Indiana Harbor steel mill in East Chicago, Ind. “All good with the re-start procedure that is ongoing,” a company spokeswoman said in an email to Steel Market Update on Friday, Dec. 2. The Cleveland-based steelmaker said that there had been a […]
ArcelorMittal US has announced new, higher sheet prices with the opening of its 2023 order books. The company said it has also rolled out new grade extras, which will take effect on Jan 1., to reflect higher alloy costs. The price increases effectively apply to AM/NS Calvert, the Alabama mill jointly owned by Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor Michael D’Angelo is a researcher and trader at Marex. In his role, Mike performs fundamental and quantitative analysis, which directly leads to actionable trading/risk management strategies across the base, precious, and ferrous metals derivative spaces. Prior to joining Marex, Mike received a BA in economics with a minor in finance from Princeton […]
Nearly three-quarters of US metro areas added construction jobs year-over-year (YoY) through October, according to Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) figures. Despite the employment boost, job vacancies outpaced hiring as construction firms struggled to find enough qualified workers to hire, the report said. Construction employment increased in 268, or 75%, of 358 metro areas […]
The US economy’s growth was stronger than expected in the third quarter, the US Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said in its latest report. Gross Domestic Production (GDP) accelerated to a 2.9% annualized pace in Q3. That’s an improvement from the initial government reading in October which showed 2.6% growth in economic activity. […]
Cleveland-Cliffs expects to resume operations this week on the No. 7 blast furnace at its Indiana Harbor steel mill in East Chicago, Ind., after a small fire, a company spokeswoman confirmed. The fire occurred over the weekend and at the beginning of a three-day planned maintenance outage, she told Steel Market Update on Monday, Nov. […]
Demand for design services from US architectural firms declined in October. The drop came after the pace of growth had slowed in recent months. The October AIA Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score slipped below 50, ending a 20-month run of growth following the pandemic-induced downturn in 2020. Recall that the ABI is an advanced economic indicator for nonresidential […]
Rumors of a holiday-season price increase continue to ping pong around the market. Will mills announce one on Wednesday ahead of Thanksgiving, in early/mid-December, or not until early next year? Let’s leave the timing aside for a moment and consider why those rumors have been so persistent. On the spot market side, we’ve seen some […]
As steel volumes continue to grow, the Port of Hamilton, Ontario, is receiving funding from the Canadian government to increase its steel handling productivity. Canada’s National Trade Corridors Fund is providing CAD $4.9 million (US $3.65 million) in funding to relieve supply chain congestion at the port. The waterway is a critical piece of infrastructure […]
The outlook for multifamily construction closed the third quarter on a low note, as confidence in the market for new multifamily housing declined significantly during the period, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Multifamily Market Survey (MMS). The MMS’s two separate indices saw mixed results. The Multifamily Production Index (MPI) fell 10 […]
Just about half of US states added construction jobs in October, while a wave of job openings remained unfilled, according to the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). AGC said that open positions at the end of September exceeded the total number of employees hired during October. The lack of qualified applicants last month led to […]
Producer prices came in below expectations in October, adding to hopes that inflationary pressures are beginning to ease, the US Labor Department reported. Last month’s Producer Price Index (PPI), a measure of the prices received for final-demand products, advanced just 0.2% month-on-month (MoM) and 8% from a year ago, the smallest annual gain in more […]
Housing starts fell by 4.2% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.43 million units, according to a report from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the US Census Bureau. The decline came as elevated mortgage rates, rising construction costs, and waning demand stemming from high home costs drag on […]
The prices contractors pay for construction materials and services — chiefly for new nonresidential construction — jumped 20.2% year-on-year (YoY) in October and were up 3% month-on-month (MoM), the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) reported in its latest analysis of government data. AGC cautioned that higher construction costs could undermine demand for projects, and urged […]
Steel market conditions might be tough for the balance of the year, but Stelco sees the early signs of better times in the first quarter. The Hamilton, Ontario-based integrated sheet producer is also keeping a keen eye out for potential distressed acquisitions, company executives suggested during an earnings conference call with analysts on Wednesday, Nov. […]
Monthly Key Market Indicators (KMI) have steadily improved since reaching their most recent low in July, though steel buyer sentiment recently tumbled to a 26-month low, according to the latest analysis by Steel Market Update. Positive and neutral indicators have increased, while negatives have eased. Despite some recent improvements, present headwinds are still notable. The […]
Is this the week that prices bottomed, or do we still have room to fall? If you think ~$600 per ton ($30 cwt) is the bottom, you might point to some positive big-picture developments: strong energy prices, moves by China to prop up its property sector, or the weakening of the US dollar. You might […]
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects including current and future steel prices, inventory strategies, supply, demand, and new mill capacity. We are sharing the comments we received in each buyer’s own words rather than summarizing them in ours. We want to hear your thoughts, too! […]
Housing costs continue to rise in the third quarter. New homes are now more expensive than they’ve been in more than a decade, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) said. The result: the housing market has tipped into a recession. The trend has been driven by rising mortgage rates, ongoing building material supply chain […]
The construction industry added just 1,000 employees in October as firms competed to hire from a small labor pool, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) reported after analysis of new government data. The dynamic has continued to drive hourly wages higher, illustrating the struggle construction firms face in their search for qualified workers, the […]
ArcelorMittal reported sharply lower revenue and profits in the third quarter on falling prices, customer destocking, and weaker demand – notably in Europe. “The strong market conditions enjoyed for much of the past two years deteriorated in the third quarter,” company CEO Aditya Mittal said. “The short-term outlook for the industry remains uncertain and caution […]
US construction spending in September totaled $1.811 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR), just 0.2% above August after August’s 0.6% decline. The unexpected rebound in September came amid a surge in nonresidential investment that offset declining outlays on single-family homebuilding, according to data from the US Commerce Department. The month-on-month (MoM) increase was […]
The US labor market added 261,000 jobs in October, down from an upwardly revised total of 315,000 payroll gains the month prior. Last month’s total, though better than expected, still marked the slowest pace of job gains since December 2020, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The decline in payroll gains […]
The US economy added 261,000 new jobs in October, outperforming consensus expectations but still decelerating to the slowest pace since December 2020, according to data from the US Department of Labor. In contrast, the unemployment rate moved higher last month to 3.7%, after estimates expected the October measure to remain sideways and match the five-decade […]
After posting reduced profits in the second quarter (ended Sept. 30) of its fiscal 2023 year, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario-based Algoma Steel expects to continue to be impacted in the current quarter by operational challenges and overall softness in the steel market. Company executives commented on these challenges and provided an update on operations during […]
The Dodge Momentum Index registered 199.7 in October, up 9.6% from 182.2 September, according to data and analytics from the Dodge Construction Network. Dodge is the leading index for commercial real estate, using the data of planned nonresidential building projects to track spending in the sector for the next 12 months. For October, the index’s subcomponents also […]
Sticking with a business model that’s proven successful over the past three decades, David Stickler and his team at Global Principal Partners (GPP) hope to make their next endeavor with Hybar’s two new rebar minimills another prosperous one. Steel Market Update sat down with the industry veteran this week in an exclusive interview to discuss […]
The Hard Work Starts Now, Executing on the Announced New Aluminum Capacity After the flurry of announcements in May and July of this year, the three new greenfield aluminum rolling mills are in various stages of execution. Novelis Breaks Ground Official ground breaking took place on Novelis’ Bay Minette, Ala., mill on Oct. 7. The […]
Spending on nonresidential construction now outpaces residential construction projects, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) reported. Construction spending hit $1.811 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in September, a 0.2% increase versus August and up nearly 11% year-on-year (YoY). “Demand remains strong for a range of nonresidential construction segments despite supply chain challenges […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor Michael D’Angelo is a researcher and trader at Marex. In his role, Mike performs fundamental and quantitative analysis, which directly leads to actionable trading/risk management strategies across the base, precious, and ferrous metals derivative spaces. Prior to joining Marex, Mike received a BA in economics with a minor in finance from Princeton […]