Tag: Manufacturing

The United Auto Workers (UAW) unexpectedly expanded its strike against Ford on Wednesday evening, when 8,700 union members walked out of the automaker’s Kentucky Truck Plant.

Canada’s Unifor union reached a tentative labor agreement with General Motors on Tuesday, Oct. 10.

The US and European Union will continue trade talks on Friday, Oct. 20, according to a statement from the European Council.

The LME aluminum three-month price was broadly unchanged on Friday morning, Oct. 6, and was last seen trading at $2,243 per ton. Due to the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day celebrations, the SHFE is closed for holidays from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6. According to a report from Bloomberg, leaders from the EU and the […]

A recap of SMU's Oct. 4, 2023, Community Chat featuring AGC chief economist Ken Simonson and his outlook for the construction markets.

US manufacturing activity improved in September, nearing a recovery, but remained in contraction territory, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

US plate prices have been relatively flat this year, especially when compared to sheet products. Case in point; SMU's plate prices stands at $1,455 per ton ($72.75 per cwt) on average, down 7% from a $1,560 per ton peak in April. Our HRC price is at $645 per ton, down 44% from an April peak of $1,160 per ton.

The US scrap market for October is a bit unsettled as the UAW strike against the Big Three automotive companies has expanded and shows scant signs of an imminent settlement.

Pessimism grew among metalformers in September’s business report from the Precision Metalforming Association.

The latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members.

SMU's weekly survey reflects what people in the market are talking about. Lately, a popular topic has been the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union expanded its strike on Friday, calling on an additional 7,000 workers at Ford and General Motors plants to strike as of 12 p.m. ET.

Despite economic headwinds in the headlines, the near-term future could prove brighter than expected, according to members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) speaking on the Tuesday, Sept. 26, meeting of its Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council.

Tom Conway, international president of the United Steelworkers (USW) union since 2019, has died at age 71.

We’ve been busier than usual lately covering two major events (in addition to our pricing and data services) – the potential sale of U.S. Steel and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike. Let’s review some possible developments in each. U.S. Steel Sale – Back in the Headlines We learned last week that Stelco had […]

Last week, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers gave a major speech challenging the views of anti-trade leaders, such as (but not limited to) Bob Lighthizer.

After a quiet couple of weeks, the futures market has recently come to life over the last three days, and is starting to show some bullish signals.

As the world works to decarbonize and limit greenhouse-gas emissions to reach the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement, many steel companies have joined others in setting their own targets to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Flat Rolled = 54.1 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 61.2 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel inventories eased back in August with stronger shipments. At the end of August, service centers carried 54.1 shipping days of supply, according to adjusted SMU data, down from 56.1 shipping days of supply […]

he latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members.

Steel prices kept falling throughout last month. Hot-rolled coil (HRC) prices ended August at $725 per ton ($36.25 per cwt) on average, having fallen by $105 per ton during the month.

The US Federal Reserve said that although overall economic activity was modest in July and August, per its latest Beige Book Report released on Sept. 6, the report was still slightly more optimistic than the previous one.

We’re just a week away from a potential United Auto Workers (UAW) strike against one, or potentially all three, union-represented automakers. The latest turn of the screw: UAW President Shawn Fain said an offer from Detroit-based General Motors was “insulting.”

Activity in the US manufacturing sector continues to slow, according to the latest monthly report on business from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

President Biden downplayed the prospect of a strike by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union in comments on Monday, according to a report by Detroit’s WXYZ’s news.

Last week the Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, visited China for high-level meetings with the Chinese government. Her counterpart, Wang Wentao, China’s Commerce Minister, participated in the discussions. The four-day meeting included an announcement of two new working groups dealing with US-China economic relationships. The first was a forum to explain US export controls relating […]

Leading voices in US the scrap industry discussed the current outlook and future challenges at Steel Summit 2023’s panel on Scrap and Metallics: Navigating the Boom in EAF Sheet Production.

In a Steel Summit fireside chat, Karla Lewis, president and CEO of service center group Reliance Steel & Aluminum, sat down with SMU managing editor Michael Cowden to talk about current demand trends and where she’s leading her company.

The LME aluminum 3-month price moved higher this week wrapping up the week at $2,170 per ton on Aug. 25.

After four months of increases, orders for durable goods in the US dropped in July.