The prices of oil and natural gas drive the consumption of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) and related steel products. The energy markets represent a large portion of the hot rolled coil used to make welded tubular goods as well as equipment used to drill and pump oil and natural gas. Figure 1 shows historical […]
Construction has expanded in the U.S. for over 30 quarters, and it still has legs, said Alex Carrick, Chief Economist at ConstructConnect. ConstructConnect presented a webinar May 11, entitled “Bump or Slump? 2017 Prospects for Design & Construction. AIA chief economist Kermit Baker and AGC of America Chief Economist Ken Simonson joined Carrick in discussing […]
This report summarizes total steel supply from 2003 through March 2017 and year on year changes. It then compares domestic mill shipments with total supply to the market. It quantifies market direction by product and enables a side by side comparison of the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron […]
We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about regional import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis of tonnage by district of entry is to describe in detail what is going on in a company’s immediate neighborhood and thus provide a negotiating advantage for our premium subscribers. We are […]
The latest license data was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis system of the US Commerce Department on May 2nd and closed out the April data. An explanation of the methodology that we at SMU use to analyze the trade data is given at the end of this piece. All volumes in this […]
Flatbed trucks are generally first choice to move steel products from mills to distribution centers to manufacturing clients. What determines what freights will be for this workhorse of the steel industry? Freight costs are influenced by fuel costs, weather, seasonal demand, historical costs, and load-to-truck ratios. Flatbed rates are particularly vulnerable to weather conditions in […]
March 2017 steel exports totaled 948,606 net tons (860,562 metric tons), up 14.6 percent over February and up 22.4 percent from March 2016. This is the highest export level seen since November 2014 when 953,828 tons of steel were exported out of the US. The total March export figure is above the three month moving […]
According to the latest data released from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute, apparent steel supply for the month of March 2017 was 9,300,718 net tons. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished US steel imports, then subtracting total US steel exports. This is […]
A look by Steel Market Update at shipping conditions… Seaborne Freight Rates have eased in all four of the major shipping segments (cape, panama, Supramax and handy) in second quarter, according to April’s MID-SHIP Report. Rates are expected to continue to ease throughout this month creating a potential early summer slump. Coal and steel raw […]
It is the first week of May and the negotiations between the long and flat rolled steel mills have been in full swing all week. By late today (Thursday) word of how the scrap dealers had fared has been coming into our offices. The first region to settle was Detroit which was up $10 on […]
Ferrous scrap prices settled in Detroit with prime grades (bundles/busheling) settling at $360 per gross ton. At the same time there is Chinese auto bundles for sale at very low prices FOB China. Chinese scrap exports are new for the Chinese and there are issues that need to be overcome before they become major suppliers […]
The headline report of GDP growth in Q1 came in at 0.7 percent a decline from 3.53 percent in the third quarter and 2.08 percent in Q4 2016. Economy.com had this to say about first quarter tendencies. “The first quarter can be full of surprises; during this expansion, first quarter GDP growth has come in […]
The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI dipped slightly to 52.8 in April from 53.0 in March. The PMI has shown expansion (above the 50 no-change mark) for 14 months. Manufacturing conditions slowed in the U.S. but was offset by acceleration in Europe, Japan and the United Kingdom. China expanded at its weakest rate in seven […]
The Commerce Department is seeking input from American businesses on what factors contribute to the trade deficit. Commerce is collecting information to submit to President Trump as an information base for renegotiating trade deals and to deter and punish trade abuse. “Many trade abuses are well known to American companies, but because different Federal agencies […]
The Tenth District joins the Dallas and Richmond Federal Reserves in reporting slower manufacturing activity in the region. The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in its April Manufacturing Survey reported its month-over-month composite index was 7 in April, after readings of 20 in March and 14 in February. Most of the indexes that make […]
Once each quarter we publish the official statistics for Chinese GDP, industrial production, consumer price inflation and fixed asset investment. Currently available data is through the first quarter except for CPI which is through February. Many analysts don’t believe these Party self-serving figures but we include them in our reports because of the importance of […]
The following is a press release on steel exports from the American Institute for International Steel with updates from AIIS on 4/18/2017: Falls Church, VA. April 17, 2017. Steel exports rose slightly from January to February to total 827,559 net tons. February exports were 1.1 percent higher than in January and 6.2 percent higher than […]
We believe that misinformation (or lack of) about regional import volumes is often used to influence purchase decisions. Our intent with this analysis of tonnage by district of entry is to describe in detail what is going on in a company’s immediate neighborhood and thus provide a negotiating advantage for our premium subscribers. We are […]
This report summarizes total steel supply from 2003 through February 2017 and year on year changes. It then compares domestic mill shipments with total supply to the market. It quantifies market direction by product and enables a side by side comparison of the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron […]
Freight shipment on the seas, rivers, rails and by truck moved without many complications in the past few weeks. The seaborne freight market spot rates are recovering and foreign steel industries are boosting cargos of coal and iron ore. Spot rates have caught up with demand for the trucking industry and rail traffic was up. […]
We managed to squeeze in an extra day off for our crew due to the Easter Holiday. So, if you were looking for a newsletter on Sunday evening – sorry, we skipped a day. But, we are making up for it today with an issue that if you printed it you could use as a […]
Around the middle of the month Steel Market Update (SMU) will analyze the US Department of Commerce Steel Import Monitoring & Analysis (SIMA) system to see how foreign steel imports are tracking and project total imports for the month based on the mid-month daily average. What we have been tracking is a very high number […]
There have been many press reports regarding the rumor that the Trump Administration is going to call for an “investigation” aimed at steel and aluminum. What our readers may find interesting is there are suggestions that the order may include manufactured products We have seen reports from the press and attorneys for steel service centers […]
In July 2015 the domestic steel mills filed Antidumping (AD) and Countervailing Duties (CVD) against seven countries: Brazil, China, India, Korea, Russia, Japan and the United Kingdom. The final determinations were affirmed by the ITC in late June (Japan, China) and early September (all others) 2016. Antidumping deposit rates ranged from zero (Japan & UK) […]
February 2017 steel exports totaled 827,559 net tons (750,750 metric tons), up 1.1 percent over January and up 6.2 percent from February 2016. This is the highest export level seen since June 2015 when 885,190 tons were exported out of the US. The total February export figure is above the three month moving average (average […]
According to the latest data released from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the American Iron and Steel Institute, apparent steel supply for the month of February 2017 was 8,501,854 net tons. Apparent steel supply is calculated by adding domestic steel shipments and finished US steel imports, then subtracting total US steel exports. February apparent […]
Licensed data for March was reported by the Steel Import Monitoring System of the US Commerce Department on March 4th. An explanation of the methodology that we at SMU use to analyze the trade data is given at the end of this piece. All volumes in this analysis are reported in short tons. The total […]
We are continuing our investigation to quantify the players in the global trade of both HRC and CRC. We now have data for all of 2016. This information is sourced quarterly from the Iron and Steel Statistics Bureau in the UK. Data is not very current because many countries are slow in reporting but we […]
Cyclone Debbie passed through Australia’s metallurgical coal region last week doing minimal damage to the mines and ports but shut down railway lines. Damage to the major coal carrying Goonyella rail corridor was extensive and may take as long as five weeks to repair. Australian companies estimate 15-20 million tonnes of met coal may be […]
For the thirteenth consecutive month, manufacturing across the globe expanded. The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI posted at 53.0 in March, the same as its February 69-month high. First quarter 2017 averaged a reading of 52.9, the best quarter since Q2 2011. As expected with a no-change reading, components of the PMI were little changed […]