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 […]
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) puts out its series of producer price indexes, for thousands of goods and materials. For an explanation of this program see the end of this piece. The latest release last week reported results through February. We run this analysis every three or four months to give readers […]
Based on Steel Market Update (SMU) analysis of the recently released MSCI service center inventory and shipment data, total service center carbon steel shipments increased by 125,500 tons in February to 3.034 million tons. Shipping days at 21, were up by one from January. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments decreased from 145,400 […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel continue to smile when asked about their company’s ability to be successful both in the current market environment as well as looking out into the future three to six months. The result has taken the SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index higher and we are approaching record levels in […]
Housing starts jumped 5.2 percent in February led by an eight year high in single-family construction. After a slow start in January, the Commerce Department reports housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,178,000, up 5.2 percent from January’s revised rate of 1.12 million and 30.9 percent from February 2015. Single-family construction […]
Steel Dynamics anticipates stronger earnings results in first quarter 2016 due to higher steel shipments. A significant increase in flat rolled product volume is expected due to better aligned customer inventories and a decrease in import volumes. Lower average realized steel product pricing will more than offset savings from lower ferrous scrap costs, said SDI. […]
Nucor guidance for first quarter 2016 came in below analyst consensus. Nucor expects first quarter results in the range of $0.20 to $0.25 per diluted share compared to $0.21 in Q1 2015 and adjusted net earnings of $0.45 per diluted share in Q4 2015. Analysts polled by Reuters expected earnings results of $.29 per share. […]
IHS Global Insight China Steel Analyst reported Hebei province was to remove 200 million metric tons of steelmaking capacity. Steel Market Update asked the IHS analyst (Brian Jackson) whether the Chinese mills were taking the issue of closing down capacity seriously, as these sort of promises have been made in the past with little to […]
The Great Lakes 2016 shipping season commenced on March 2 with a load of iron ore for ArcelorMittal Cleveland. The tug/barge Dorothy Ann/Pathfinder loaded 14,600 tons of iron ore at the Cleveland Bulk Terminal to deliver to ArcelorMittal on the Cuyahoga River. The barge was about 4,600 tons shy of a full load due to […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday in their analysis of non-farm employment that 242,000 jobs were added in February, up from 172,000 in January, December and January were revised up by a total of 30,000. More detail on this report is included at the end of this piece. The three month moving […]
Ryerson CEO Eddie Lehner called 2015 “one of the harshest and most difficult metal environments we have seen in terms of magnitude and duration.” Ryerson Holding, a service center company, announced fourth quarter and full year results on Thursday. The company posted a net loss of $20.5 million for the quarter. Revenue was down 23 […]
The fundamentals of the Chinese steel markets do not support the recent surge in iron ore prices, according to Goldman Sachs and Li Xinchuang, deputy secretary of the China Iron and Steel Association (CISA). Iron ore prices rose earlier this week on an expectation that new government measures to stimulate the economy would result in […]
In Sunday evening’s issue of Steel Market Update we warned our readers that something was happening in China that could impact US steel prices. We have been working on this project ever since and this is what we have learned from multiple sources around the world: Iron ore and steel prices are surging in China. […]
As negotiations between the domestic steel mills and their ferrous scrap suppliers conclude we are seeing scrap prices rise with the Chicago markets “catching up” with some of the other regions. Dealers are reporting robust sales, especially to sheet mills as they are picking up spot market share from the integrated mills. Chicago area prices […]
The following is a reprint of an article by Dr. Mark J. Perry in response to the Wall Street Journal article about the duties imposed on imports of cold-rolled steel from China that SMU publisher John Packard was quoted in. Dr. Perry is a Scholar at The American Enterprise Institute and Professor of Finance and […]
The Dodge Momentum Index rose 0.5 percent in February to 126.1 from a revised reading of 125.5 in January, a third consecutive monthly increase. The index is a monthly measure of the initial report for nonresidential building projects and has been show to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. Commercial planning […]
AGC Press Release: Construction firms added 19,000 workers in February, as the number of unemployed construction workers was at the lowest February total since the series started in 2000, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said, however, that sluggish gains in nonresidential construction employment […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its Construction Put in Place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. January data was released on Tuesday March 1st. Construction Put in Place is based on spending work as it occurs, estimated for a given month from a sample of projects. In […]
Construction spending soared in January from a month earlier and all major segments posted hefty year-over-year gains, pushing the total to the highest level since October 2008, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said the new spending figures indicate that demand for construction remains robust amid broader economic […]
The following article is one of the key proprietary products produced for our Premium level members. We wanted to share it with all of our readers this evening to give everyone a feel for how we are seeing the steel economy based on “the numbers.” An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at […]
A 0.4 increase in January purchases pushed existing home sales to their highest annual rate in six months, according to data from the National Association of Realtors. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.47 million in January was 11 percent higher than a year ago. The uptick in sales was accompanied by higher home pricing […]
Once a month HARDI wholesalers conduct a conference call for those member companies who are involved in the sale of galvanized sheet and coils to the mechanical contractors involved in residential and commercial construction. Steel Market Update publisher, John Packard, has been involved with the HARDI organization for many years going back to his steel […]
“We will follow the market,” is what Mark Bula, Chief Commercial Officer at Big River Steel, told SMU during a phone interview late last week. We asked Bula to outline the progress of the mill and when they anticipate beginning production. We learned that with the strength of the cold rolled markets, Big River Steel […]
There has been too little attention paid to the passage of the ENFORCE Act by the U.S. Congress a few weeks back. At least that is how trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz sees it. He warned those at our 2015 Steel Summit Conference that the domestic steel mills were trying to build a “dam” against steel […]
The Department of Commerce has announced affirmative preliminary determinations in the antidumping investigations of imports of heavy walled rectangular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes from Korea, Mexico, and Turkey. The investigations cover heavy walled rectangular welded carbon steel pipes and tubes, which are rectangular (including square) welded carbon steel pipes and tubes that have […]
Metalforming companies in the U.S. and Canada are expecting slightly improved business conditions in the next three months. Surveyed members of the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) reported average daily shipping levels in February were higher than three months ago and anticipate steady order activity for the next three months. Companies reporting workers on short time […]
The article below is normally published to our Premium members as a supplement to the Executive write up. The author is Peter Wright who produces a number of articles for both our Premium and Executive level newsletters. Peter is also one of our Steel 101 instructors where he shares both his marketing and metallurgical knowledge […]
Based on Steel Market Update (SMU) analysis of the recently released MSCI service center inventory and shipment data, total service center carbon steel shipments increased by 264,500 tons in January to 2.909 million tons. Shipping days at 20, were down by two from December. On a tons per day basis (t/d) shipments increased from 120,200 […]
Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The index had an all-time high of 107.9108 in December 2014 but on a month over month basis has declined for nine of the last thirteen months. January was a welcome respite with an increase of 0.92 percent, which is huge, and […]
Residential construction is beginning the new year with slower momentum. A blast of winter weather in the Northeast slowed construction starts in January after a warmer than usual December. The Commerce Department reports U.S. housing starts fell 3.8 percent from December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.099 million in January, the lowest rate […]