Builder confidence hit a two-year low, tumbling for the eighth straight month in August and bringing the housing market to a crawl. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) said that elevated interest rates, ongoing supply chain problems and high home prices continue to exacerbate housing affordability challenges. August’s HMI reading—the […]
North Star BlueScope is “substantially complete” with a $700 million expansion that will provide the Delta, Ohio, EAF sheet mill with additional annual capacity of nearly 950,000 short tons (850,000 metric tonnes). The mill produced the first coil from its expansion in June and has begun the 18-month process of ramping up the facility to […]
The prices contractors pay for construction materials and services – chiefly for new nonresidential construction – fell 1.3% month-on-month (MoM) in July, while contractors’ bid prices rose 5.4%, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) reported in its latest analysis of government data. AGC noted that despite the MoM decline, materials prices remain high and […]
United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai addressed the 2022 United Steelworkers (USW) Constitutional Convention on Wednesday, Aug. 10. The USW Constitutional Convention is a meeting of delegates from local unions, representing steelworkers from around North America and allowing them to discuss and vote on a variety of topics. Upwards of 5,000 delegates were in attendance, according […]
Eariler this week, SMU polled steel buyers on a variety of subjects including current and future steel prices, price increase announcements, supply, demand, and new mill capacity. Rather than summarizing the comments we received, we are sharing them in each buyer’s own words. We want to hear your thoughts, too! Contact Brett@SteelMarketUpdate.com to be included […]
The Dodge Momentum Index moved 2.9% higher in July, gaining ground on the upwardly revised reading for the month prior, according to data and analytics from the Dodge Construction Network. The index registered 178.7 last month, up from 173.6 in June. The leading index for commercial real estate measures data about planned nonresidential building projects […]
While steel service centers remain cautiously optimistic on their demand outlooks for the remainder of the year, most agree that the environment for mergers and acquisitions remains quite strong. This is according to executives from Reliance Steel & Aluminum, Ryerson, and Olympic Steel—some of the industry’s top players—speaking on their recent and respective second quarter […]
US construction spending in June totaled $1.762 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, 1.1% below May’s upwardly revised estimate of $1.782 trillion. Though down for the second straight month, this is only the second drop since September 2021, according to data from the Commerce Department. The decline came as outlays on single-family homebuilding declined […]
The US labor market added 582,000 jobs in July, a surprising boost in hiring and more than doubling what forecasters had projected. The economy has now regained all jobs lost during the pandemic. The result pushed the unemployment rate down to 3.5%, matching the pre-pandemic low, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. The July jobless […]
The US economy added 528,000 new jobs in July despite downbeat expectations, nearly doubling earlier estimates, according to data from the US Department of Labor. Hiring last month was far better than expected, defying multiple other signs that the economic recovery is losing steam. The unemployment rate declined to 3.5%, now back to its pre-pandemic […]
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) recently conducted hearings on the future of the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum as well as on the Section 301 tariffs on imports from China. Congress mandated the ITC investigation in response to calls for the tariffs to be reduced or eliminated to fight inflation. Unlike the […]
Ball Corp. earnings alert market to slowing can demand Ball issued its second quarter earnings results on Aug. 4, and they have unsettled the market. The company reported a loss of $174 million while taking a non-cash asset impairment for its Russian operations, which it had previously stated it would suspend future investment in and […]
Ternium executives provided an update on the company’s new Pesquería hot strip mill and plans for a greenfield electric-arc furnace in North America on the company’s second quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday, August 3. Weak demand and falling prices are impacting the company, but it remains positive on its plans moving forward. Updates on […]
While the rest of us are melting from the heat of the sun, Nucor announced it will build a new melt shop at its bar mill in Kingman, Ariz. The $100 million investment will create approximately 140 new full-time jobs and have the capacity to produce around 600,000 tons a year. Construction is expected to […]
Despite lower domestic coke sales in the second quarter, SunCoke Energy is seeing favorable export coke pricing and is increasing its earnings guidance for the year as a result. “Our domestic coke and logistics segments continued to perform well in the second quarter with the backdrop of strong commodity markets. Although our coke production was […]
Steel prices continued to fall in each week of July, following declines in May and June. Hot rolled prices were $955 per ton ($49.75 per cwt) the first week of July, slipping between $35 and $45 per ton each week to reach $840 per ton as of last Tuesday. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator for […]
Monthly Key Market Indicators (KMI) fell through June and into July, while steel buyer sentiment tumbled to a two-year low, according to the latest analysis by Steel Market Update. Negative and neutral indicators have increased, while positive indicators have collapsed. Present headwinds are notable. Consumers and businesses have pulled back on spending, and rising inflation […]
There’s plenty of doom and gloom these days in steel. Our recent Community Chat with Associated General Contractors of America chief economist Ken Simonson provided a welcome respite from the dreary mood among some steel buyers. But let’s not get carried away. Simonson didn’t say prices weren’t falling. In fact, it’s not just steel prices […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. “delivered an exceptional second quarter with record-setting financial performance and outstanding operational execution,” CEO Jim Hoffman said in the service center’s second quarter results release. Reliance reported record second quarter net income of $572.8 million on sales of $4.68 billion. The company’s top results were driven by “ongoing healthy demand” […]
Although pricing continues to fall, there is a sense of cautious optimism within the HVAC realm. During this month’s call with HARDI’s Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council, many members shared the same sentiment: prices and demand are dropping. But there are open orders that still need to be satisfied. An HVAC company in the West said […]
Ken Simonson, chief economist for The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, July 27, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available free to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about big topics […]
Austal USA has been contracted to build two more towing, salvage, and rescue ships (T-ATS) for the US Navy. The latest contract for the Mobile, Ala.-based shipbuilder, valued at $156 million, is in addition to two other T-ATS contracts awarded to the company last year. The T-ATSs support the Navy fleet operations with ocean-going tug, […]
Producer prices rose moderately in June, maintaining a sustained 27-month growth run. Last month the headline index grew by just 3.3%, seasonally adjusted, but was up 23.4% compared to the same year-ago period, the US Labor Department reported. The wholesale level was hit hard by inflation as well in June. The producer price index (PPI), […]
Swedish steelmaker SSAB expects the heavy plate market in North America to remain relatively stable, reporting solid demand across most of its customer segments. SSAB Americas, which is made up of steel and plate production at its 1.25-million-tons-per-year mill in Montpelier, Iowa, reported increased operating profits in the second quarter despite lower year-on-year shipments. This […]
Demand for design services from architecture firms in the US continued to grow in June, though at a modest pace. The June AIA Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score was down marginally month-on-month (MoM) but marked the 17th consecutive month of growth following the pandemic-induced downturn in 2020. The June ABI registered 53.2, down fractionally from […]
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. saw strong profit in the second quarter and double free cash flow versus the prior quarter while predicting that even better days were ahead thanks to fixed-price contracts resetting at higher numbers. That projection comes largely because automakers, which typically buy steel on contract terms, are seeing backlogs grow because of supply chain […]
Ken Simonson, chief economist for The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), will be the featured speaker on the next SMU Community Chat webinar on Wednesday, July 27, at 11 a.m. ET. The live webinar is free. A recording will be available free to SMU members. You can register here. We’ll talk about big topics […]
Nucor Corp. experienced another record quarter on strong shipments and steel prices. The Charlotte, N.C.-based steel company saw robust demand from the nonresidential construction markets, with notable profitability at its bar and plate mills as well as within its raw materials segment. Although a decrease is expected in the current quarter’s earnings, profitability should remain […]
Leaders of the American steel industry gathered with members of the Congressional Steel Caucus on Wednesday in Washington, to discuss the state of the industry and how Congress can continue to support this critically important sector of the economy. Topics of discussion at the Caucus hearing included building and supporting critical supply chains and domestic manufacturing, […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) posted record second quarter profits despite a modest margin squeeze stemming from lower steel prices and higher scrap costs. The Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker also remains bullish about the second half of the year despite concerns about demand in some corners of the market. “Customer order entry activity continues to be […]