Tag: Construction

SMU caught up with Barry Zekelman, executive chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, on Wednesday’s Community Chat. As one of the largest independent steel pipe and tube manufacturers in North America, his company is also one of the largest steel buyers in the region. This year alone, the Chicago-based company will buy roughly 2.8 million tons of steel. As such, Zekelman provides a great perspective on the steel industry and the markets it serves.

CMC’s earnings slid in its fiscal second quarter vs. the same period last year as the company cited seasonal issues and challenging weather conditions in several key areas.

The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) indicated architecture firm billings continue to decline through February, according to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Deltek. While the latest reading does not indicate improving business conditions, it is one of the higher measures seen in recent months, suggesting the recent slowdown may be diminishing.

Earlier this week SMU polled steel buyers on an array of topics, ranging from market prices, demand, and inventories to imports and evolving market chatter.

Across industries and nations, it’s clear sustainability is the path towards the future. Moving ahead means creating dialogue and building bridges. For Nucor, building bridges means reaching out to new audiences. Actually, it also literally means soon building bridges from the plate made at its Brandenburg mill in Kentucky.

Eastern Metal Building Products LLC has announced the acquisition of construction products manufacturer Super Stud Building Products.

U.S. Steel expects higher earnings in the first quarter of this year vs. the previous quarter.

Are we still looking for a bottom on sheet prices? In what direction are steel and scrap prices headed? How’s demand holding up at the moment?

The CRUspi fell by 8.3% month over month (m/m) in March to 206.6 as weaker-than-expected demand weighed on markets around the world. Price falls were notable across all regions, with elevated inventory levels pushing prices in the US and Europe, and disappointing stimulus measures from the Chinese government weighing on those in Asia.

Strength in its flat-rolled steel operations is pushing Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) to guide to higher sequential earnings in the current quarter.

The construction sector added 23,000 jobs in February, boosted by nonresidential, according to the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).

The LME three-month price continued to strengthen through Friday, March 8, defending its position close to its five-week high and rising further to $2,262 per metric ton (mt), up 0.3%, on the day. Gains were also noted over the last week in other industrial metals, including copper, zinc, and lead. The price gains appeared to be due to weakness in the US dollar, which fell sharply against a basket of currencies after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that rate cuts were still expected this year.

The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) slipped in February from the previous month, according to the latest Dodge Construction Network (DCN) data.

Economic activity across the US increased marginally from early January through the end of February, according to the latest Beige Book report from the US Federal Reserve.

India’s JSW Steel has selected steel industry veteran Robert Simon as CEO of JSW Steel USA.

A clear consensus has emerged among respondents to SMU’s latest steel market survey that hot-rolled (HR) coil prices will bottom this month or in April. Seventy-five percent of respondents to our latest survey think that prices will find a floor before May as the chart below shows:

The strong resilience of iron ore prices has come to an end with the weak steel performance worldwide and significantly improved iron ore availability in China.

SMU’s Current Steel Buyers’ Sentiment Index eased to an eight-week low, according to our most recent survey data.

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai has voiced the United States’ unease at a marked increase in steel and aluminum imports from Mexico, and what she termed a lack of transparency about Mexican imports of the metals from third countries.

In the period between mid-February and mid-March, CRU forecasts global demand for steelmaking raw materials to change little from the previous month,but buying activity will improve towards the end of next month

The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) reading from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Deltek showed a slight uptick in January but continued to signal soft conditions. The index inched up from 45.4 in December to 46.2 in January. While the index has moved higher consecutively each month since October, it remains in contraction territory. […]

Falling steel prices at present are not a symptom of demand but of imports arriving into the US and to some parts of Mexico, Ternium’s CEO Maximo Vedoya said this week.

Nucor Corp. announced plans to build a new rebar micro mill in the Pacific Northwest.

Latin American steelmaker Ternium posted a strong uptick in earnings in its fourth quarter, and sees increasing steel demand growth in Mexico.

US housing starts fell for the second consecutive month in January, according to the most recent data from the US Census Bureau.

Algoma Steel has restarted its blast furnace and resumed steelmaking at its mill in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

Reliance Inc. – formerly Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. – introduced its “new company identity” that emphasized its “evolution to more than steel,” the company said in its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report.

Prices for galvanized products have been falling for more than a month, and market participants expect this trend to continue in the near term.

Bull Moose Tube Co. (BMT) is now offering jumbo hollow structural sections (HSS) in the US market.

Steel prices stabilized in early January before they began to inflect lower midway through last month. Tags peaked at $1,045 per short ton (st) during the first week of January, even as some mills tried to push prices higher, to no avail. Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices ended January at an average of $1,000/st, declining by $45/st during the month.