The Bureau of Economic Analysis’s third estimate of GDP growth in the second quarter was 2.46 percent q / q, little changed from the 2nd estimate and up from 1.1 percent in the first quarter. The official news release is included below. All major sub components made positive contributions except government expenditures and net exports […]
In August China’s steel production exceeded 50 percent of the global total for what we believe to be the first time. Global production in August was 130.352 million tonnes with a capacity utilization of 76.0 percent. In three months through August production was at an annual rate of 1.572 billion tonnes with a capacity utilization […]
TSI Iron Ore: Prices Wobble in Signs Market is Cooling… Iron ore prices have softened over the past couple of weeks, but are still holding the recent range above $130 per ton. Mixed news out of China regarding steel demand has cooled off buying for the time being as the market has failed to break […]
Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The IP index (industrial production) was reported as 99.36 for August, up from 98.96 in July. This was an increase of 0.4 percent and moved the 3MMA up by 0.17 percent. Growth of the 3MMA was 2.0 percent year over year reversing […]
Financial Markets Two weeks back we were 1640 on SP 500 and technically it looked like we were headed to 1550-1560 zone as part of a larger retracement. Well the market has dumbfounded the chartists again, and we have since rebounded to today’s level of 1682. We are likely headed now to the 1770-80 zone […]
Year to date through July, net imports of steel sheet products have been steadily declining as those of long products have been steadily increasing, (Figures 1 and 2). Net imports are defined as imports minus exports and at times can be negative for individual products when exports exceed imports. In the case of flat rolled […]
American Institute for International Steel Press Release Falls Church, VA, September 9, 2013 – Steel exports increased in July by 2.2 percent over June according to government reporting. “NAFTA steel demand improved in July compared to June by 6 percent, offsetting declines in other smaller international markets. NAFTA market’s increase reflects the timing of the […]
Apparent steel supply for July was up slightly compared to the same month one year ago by 1.53 percent. This is due to a 4.60 percent increase in domestic shipments, which was offset by a decrease in both total steel imports and finished steel imports, down 9.24 percent and 9.92 percent respectively. The net trade […]
July ferrous scrap exports totaled 1,203,282 metric tons (1,326,390 net tons) with Turkey, Taiwan, China, Mexico, and Canada being the top five importing countries of U.S. scrap. Of the higher ranking countries in the table below, there was month-over-month increase in exports going to Turkey, China, Mexico, Canada, and Indonesia over the June figures, but […]
By the end of August SMU had adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Higher to Neutral, SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index averaged +40 which is higher than the average from June and July and well within the optimistic range of our Index. Benchmark hot rolled prices moved essentially sideways as the numbers show below. […]
The Far East and Southeast Asian ferrous scrap markets have been on the uptrend since the end of July. Since mid-July, scrap prices have risen approximately $20-$25/metric ton. This coincides with Tokyo Steel in Japan increasing scrap prices twice by approximately $24/MT. The increase in scrap prices were reactionary as steel stockists ramped purchases from […]
Currency update August 22nd 2013. The Federal Reserve publishes a trade weighted index of the value of the US dollar against a basket of the currencies of our major trading partners on a daily and monthly basis. This is referred to as the Broad Index. The Broad Index appreciated strongly in the 3rd Quarter of […]
Financial Markets: When I last wrote, I mentioned that the SP 500 was likely headed to 1720 before a retracement and then an eventual rally up the 1775 zone. Well the SP 500 reached 1709 on August 2nd from which we have since retraced to 1640 yesterday. We settled today at 1657. In this retracement […]
Manufacturing activity is improving in the Tenth Federal District that includes the western third of Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming and the northern half of New Mexico. The summary from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City follows: Tenth District manufacturing activity improved further in August, and producers’ expectations also edged higher after easing […]
Chinese imports of iron ore in July were 73,140,000 metric tons, an increase of 17.4 percent from the previous month and an increase of 26.4 percent from July 2012. Year to date iron ore imports are at 457,230,000 MT through June. July imports of steel scrap were 280,000 MT, down 26.3 percent from June and […]
Written by: Brett Linton June ferrous scrap exports totaled 1,405,041 metric tons (1,548,791 net tons) with Turkey, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Egypt being the top five countries where scrap was sent. Exports to most of the big players in the market, with the exception of Taiwan, South Korea and Vietnam, dropped dramatically from the […]
In three months through May exports of flat products declined as those of long products remained unchanged (see graphic below). Compared to May last year total exports were up by 311 tons. This result breaks down to flat products down 21,166 tons, longs down 29,114 tons and tubulars up 43,176 tons. In all three cases […]
By Peter Wright Shipments of sheet steel products in the 2nd quarter averaged 4,114,539 tons / month, down from 4,138,875 in the 1st quarter, 0.6 percent, and down by 4.8 percent from Q2 2012. Year to date (YTD) shipments of all sheet products through the first half were 24,682,298 tons, down by 5.6 percent from […]
Written by: John Packard and the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) The U.S. Department of Commerce released June export data on Tuesday evening. We have two analyses of the data. First, we are reproducing the AIIS press release and then after their release we have our quick analysis of hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized […]
U.S. Midwest #1 Busheling Ferrous Scrap (AMM) Prices Drop as an April Pullback Looks Likely After prices for March settled up $40+ the market for April already is starting to shape up significantly weaker. Dealers succeeded in pushing up prices last month but currently it looks like April will be down at least $20 t […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Iron Ore slid this week to its lowest level since mid-December. As of March 15, ore price at Tianjin Port reported by The Steel Index was $134.6 /dry tonne (Fe62%)—a drop of 8 percent in one week. Coking coal fell as well, dropping to $161 a tonne on March 14 from […]
The U.S. Department of Commerce released ferrous scrap export data a little earlier this week. Total exports of scrap in January 2013 were 1,532,498 metric tons (1,689,288 net tons) to all countries. This is a little less than December shipments but above the January 2012 total. Below is a chart of the top 10 countries […]
Written by: Peter Wright Rolled steel exports in January increased 11.6 percent from December but were down by 193,000 tons from January 2012. The table below summarizes export steel trade by product with trend comparisons. Percentage changes are all on a three month moving average basis to reduce the noise in the data. Total exports […]
Domestic mill shipments declined in January 2013 compared to the same month one year earlier. Shipments fell by 3.38 percent. Imports also declined in January 2013 versus January 2012 by 7 percent, led by a 22 percent drop in semi-finished (slabs, billets). Exports during the month of January were 14.64 percent lower than last year. […]
Written by: Peter Wright Sheet steel shipments in January were 4,343,000 tons, an increase of 322,000 tons over December’s volume. These figures are shipments to domestic locations plus exports based on the AISI AIS10 and Commerce Department trade reports. The following table breaks the total down into individual products and measures the growth and contraction […]
Written by: Damon Sun, Daido International The Far East and Asian markets are in a definite flux versus the USA market. I will preface my explanation with, the ferrous scrap markets in Asia increased in February first while the USA scrap markets were down in February. With that in mind, the scrap markets in North […]
Written by: Sandy Williams The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI slipped to 50.8 from 51.4 in January indicating a slowing in manufacturing. Global manufacturing output rose for the fourth month in a row with the U.S. leading the upward momentum. India, Mexico and Brazil also saw acceleration in production. China showed slowing in February while […]
Apparent steel supply for the month of December 2012 came in at 8,317,920 net tons. This represents a decrease of almost 2 percent compared to the previous December. We found imports rose by 19 percent (semi-finished – which are brought in by the domestic mills – rose by 39 percent) while exports dropped by 19 […]
Falls Church, VA, February 12, 2013 – Steel exports continued to fall in December, declining another 2.9 percent compared to November after declining nearly 16 percent in November compared to October, according to government data. “Steel exports softened at the end of 2012 due to economic uncertainty in many international markets, very much mirroring the […]
Written by: Sandy Williams The JPMorgan Global Manufacturing PMI was at a ten month high in January—rising three months in a row and posting at 51.5. Growth was led by the U.S. and Mexico, with China also showing its highest output in two years. Emerging markets did well but Europe and Japan dominated the lower […]