For the first time since Steel Market Update began hosting the SMU Steel Summit Conferences, we have officially sold out the August 28-30, 2017 Conference. This year’s conference, which is our 7th, will be the best attended as we host more than 600 manufacturing, steel service centers, steel mills, trading companies and toll processors as […]
Flat rolled lead times, the amount of time it takes for the steel mills to produce an order if placed today, have flattened out and are essentially unchanged over the past few months, according to data collected by Steel Market Update from manufacturers and steel service centers earlier this week. On Monday, Steel Market Update […]
Steel buyers and sellers reported mills slightly more open to steel price discussions, based on responses this week from Steel Market Update’s flat rolled market trends questionnaire, possibly reflecting the seasonal slowdown in sales activity. What makes the results collected on mills willingness to negotiate pricing especially interesting is the domestic steel mills began announcing […]
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer offered a stern assessment of the United States’ goals for an updated trade agreement with Canada and Mexico as talks began Wednesday to renegotiate NAFTA. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal joined Lighthizer in Washington for negotiations on the North American Free Trade […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Summit Conference registrations have been much stronger than ever anticipated, and we are reaching a threshold where we cannot physically put more people into the conference meeting area. We are still taking registrations, but we are literally within 20 people of this steel conference being totally sold out. Based on […]
Trucks needed to haul steel and other materials are in short supply and availability is likely to get tighter later this year when drivers will be required to use electronic logging devices (ELDs) rather than hand-written logs to record their hours behind the wheel. The American Trucking Associations estimate that the new ELD requirement, which […]
Manufacturing activity jumped sharply in New York State in August. The general business index of the Empire State Manufacturing Survey leapt 15.4 points to 25.2, its highest reading since September 2014. The new orders index rose seven points to 20.6 and shipments gained nearly two points for a reading of 12.4. Delivery times increased slightly, […]
Trade actions are moving ahead in the Section 337 case against Chinese steel producers. Sanctions have been placed on two of seven Chinese respondents by Administrative Law Judge Dee Lord for failure to produce documentation necessary to investigate transshipment charges brought by U.S. Steel. On June 28, 2017, U.S. Steel filed a motion for sanctions […]
By: Jack Bellissimo of Hubbell, Inc. The information technology culture is growing rapidly all around us and everyday new innovations are being developed. What is it about the IT or computer science job field that is so exciting? When was the last time we took a step back and analyzed what the allure is? What […]
By: Jack Bellissimo of Hubbell, Inc. The information technology culture is growing rapidly all around us and everyday new innovations are being developed. What is it about the IT or computer science job field that is so exciting? When was the last time we took a step back and analyzed what the allure is? What […]
The Trump administration’s effort to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and secure “a better deal for America” begins this week with talks between Canada, Mexico and the United States. The opening round will be in Washington on Aug. 16-20. The second round will take place in Mexico City around Sept. 10. Canada will […]
I was advised late on Friday afternoon that we should expect a Nucor price increase early next week. With scrap prices firming $10 to $30 per ton our expectation is for the increase to be $25-$30 per ton. Then the question will be will the industry support another increase after tepid (at best) support for […]
Even though the Trump administration has postponed a decision on Section 232, the possibility of trade action that will further restrict steel imports is still influencing the market, according to comments from service centers, manufacturers and trading companies gathered in last week’s Steel Market Update Flat Roll Market Trends questionnaire. Two-thirds of all steel buyers […]
Nucor Corporation announced today that it will acquire St. Louis Cold Drawn, Inc., a manufacturer of cold finished steel bar. The company’s cold drawn rounds, hexagons, squares, and special sections serve the U.S. and Mexican automotive and industrial markets and will add to Nucor’s value-added product portfolio. “This acquisition fits with our planned growth strategy […]
NAFTA renegotiations are under way and automakers are concerned about changes to rules of origin for automobiles. Strengthening the rules could make U.S. auto and manufacturing sectors less competitive globally, warned speakers at a Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) event on Wednesday. Representatives of American and international automotive producers charged that stronger rules of […]
Shortly after the 2016 edition of the SMU Steel Summit Conference was concluded, we began planning for the 2017 conference. One of the first things you do when planning a large steel conference is put together a budget. Our budget called for us to register a minimum of 400 manufacturing and steel executives. In 2016, […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) regularly receives questions from those who have already registered to attend our SMU Steel Summit Conference, as well as those who are contemplating attending (there is still time and space). In order to help both groups, here are some of the Frequently Asked Questions about our conference: General Conference Questions Q: […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) regularly receives questions from those who have already registered to attend our SMU Steel Summit Conference, as well as those who are contemplating attending (there is still time and space). In order to help both groups, here are some of the Frequently Asked Questions about our conference: General Conference Questions Q: […]
A quick update to the steel community regarding our upcoming SMU Steel Summit Conference as well as our Fort Wayne, Indiana Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop. We currently have 584 people registered to attend the 2017 SMU Steel Summit Conference which will be held in Atlanta, Georgia at the end […]
The lack of a committed market direction by service centers, coupled with strong imports and inventories that SMU believes are balanced to slightly bloated at the distributors, has prompted us to move our SMU Price Momentum Indicator to Neutral from Higher. In an interesting development, twice as many manufacturing companies reported that flat rolled steel […]
Responses to two questions in Steel Market Update’s latest flat roll market trends analysis elicited a clear consensus from our participants: The Trump administration’s delay in acting on Section 232 could open the door to more foreign steel imports. But the government should not necessarily penalize foreign countries just because they export a high rate […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment report for July was released on Friday with a gain in jobs that exceeded analysts’ expectations. The May result was revised down by 7,000 and June was revised up by 9,000 positions. Using a three-month moving average (3MMA), the July result was 195,000 jobs, which was pulled down […]
Despite getting pressure to adjust our SMU Price Momentum Indicator due to uncertainty associated with the Section 232 investigation and the lack of a recommendation to date, along with small signs of a need by one or two steel mills for orders on galvanized, SMU is continuing to reference flat rolled steel prices as moving […]
Flat rolled lead times have seen little change in the past month. Twice per month, Steel Market Update conducts an analysis of the flat rolled sheet and plate markets based on responses to a comprehensive questionnaire. When looking at lead times, the analysis is restricted to responses from manufacturers and distributors, who accounted for 84 […]
Over the course of this week, Steel Market Update has been canvassing active participants in the flat rolled steel markets as we try to capture any changes in market trends. The more than 100 respondents we had this week provided us a snapshot on how steel mills are handling price negotiations. As a group, respondents […]
Total construction expenditures are expanding slowly, but the contraction of infrastructure expenditures is accelerating, according to June data for construction put in place (CPIP) released by the U.S. Department of Commerce on Aug. 1. Total construction still shows positive growth, but slowed to 1.3 percent year/year in the latest three months of data. Privately funded […]
Construction spending is suffering from a decrease in public investment said Ken Simonson, chief economist at the Associated General Contractors of America. “Construction spending is still increasing overall but growth has become much more uneven across categories in recent months,” said Simonson. “There has been a steep decline in public investment in nearly all types […]
As a monthly average, prices on all flat rolled steel products recovered in July following a dip in June. The month of July ended with SMU’s Price Momentum Indicator continuing to point higher as the market waits to see if and when the Trump administration will act on Section 232 trade measures that could further […]
Manufacturing activity in the U.S. expanded in July, though the PMI declined 1.5 percentage points to a reading of 56.3, reports the Institute for Supply Management in its latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. The PMI has remained above the neutral 50.0 point for 11 consecutive months indicating growth in manufacturing. Although still at robust […]
The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI registered 52.7 in July indicating continued manufacturing growth across the globe. During the last four months, manufacturing expansion has remained steady at 52.6 in June and May, and 52.7 in April. Growth in June was again led by European nations with eight of the ten best-performing countries in Europe. […]