Orders for durable goods fell 2.8 percent in February for the third decline in four months. The latest report from the Commerce Department shows transportation equipment leading the decrease, down 1.2 percent last month. Civilian aircraft orders plunged 27.1 percent leading the transportation equipment descent. Inventories continued to decrease as manufacturers struggle to bring inventories […]
AK Steel followed the rest of the steel mills as they announced a $30 per ton price increase just 17 days after announcing their last flat rolled increase. This is the third price increase out of AK Steel so far this year. With the latest round of increases, AK Steel minimum base price levels are: […]
Manufacturing activity expanded in the Fifth District in March, according to the latest survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The composite manufacturing index registered 22, surging from -4 to its highest level since April 2010. Shipments and new orders both jumped this month. The shipments index gained 38 points climbing to a reading […]
The Chicago Fed National Activity Index dropped lower than expected in February for reading of -0.29 percent from +0.41 percent in January. The reading of -0.29 indicates below average growth for the national economy. The four main components of the headline index, production and income; employment, unemployment, and hours; personal consumption and housing; and sales, […]
AK Steel announced Monday that its Board of Directors has approved the following executive promotions, effective immediately: Brian K. Bishop has been named Vice President, Carbon Steel Operations. He will also assume responsibility for Manufacturing Planning. Bishop has served as Director, Carbon Steel Operations since 2015 with overall responsibility for the company’s four carbon steel […]
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 […]
Last week Steel Market Update conducted our second flat rolled steel market trends analysis for the month of March. We commit four days to canvass buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel. Then we put the vast majority (but not all) of the results into a Power Point presentation which we share with our Premium […]
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 […]
A quick reminder that our next Steel 101 workshop which will be held just outside of Toledo, Ohio on May 17-18th of this year, is about half full. We already have an excellent group of manufacturing companies, service centers and steel mills attending. On the afternoon of the first day we will tour the North […]
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 […]
There is much more to each of the trade cases than the preliminary and final announcements might have you believe. There are inconsistencies in the rulings where attorneys and clients alike scratch their heads to figure out how the U.S. Department of Commerce came up with their preliminary determination deposit rates. The second item not […]
The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey for March rose sharply to the first positive reading in seven months. The index gained 15.2 points to register 12.4. The index for new orders jumped 21 points to 15.7, returning to growth status, while shipments climbed 20 points. Both unfilled orders and deliver times improved in March, […]
U.S. manufacturers are taking a firm stance against market economy status for China. AISI announced formation of a coalition, Manufacturers for Trade Enforcement, to oppose China’s request for market economy designation at the end of 2016. The coalition says China does not meet the established criteria for a market economy. “Our industries can compete against […]
Flat rolled steel prices continued to move higher over the past week. We are seeing even the weakest product, hot rolled, gaining traction as lead times move out due to the shutdown of US Steel and AK Steel mills (Granite City and Ashland). SMU was advised by both steel mills and steel buyers that orders […]
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey recorded its first positive reading since July of 2015. The March general business conditions index rose 17 points to 0.6 bolstered by increases in new orders and shipments. New orders jumped 21 points to 9.6 after several months of decline. Shipments surged 25 points to register 13.9 Survey results suggest […]
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 […]
Mill lead times, especially on cold rolled and coated products, continue to be a concern as buyers navigate/negotiate pricing and deliveries on future orders. The longer the lead time the more steel that is needed in the pipeline at both manufacturing companies and distributors. The longer lead times provide ammunition to the domestic steel mills […]
Brian Jackson, China economist for IHS Global Insight, issued the following note on China’s Steel Production Capacity. Key Points At the National People’s Congress, Hebei Province governor Zhang Qingwei announced he plans to cut just under 200 million of steel production capacity by 2020, or about 60% of current production capacity. By the end of […]
The Association of Steel Distributors (ASD) has selected the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International® (FMA) to manage their association. ASD will continue to operate as an independent association, but will rely on FMA for management of its day-to-day affairs, membership relations and development, event planning, compliance and reporting issues, and general operation needs. For 73 […]
One of the key items Steel Market Update reports on twice a month to our Premium level members is the manufacturing view of service center spot pricing and the distributors’ view of how their companies are handling spot pricing into the end users. From this report we are able to determine if domestic mill price […]
Platts publishes a monthly China Steel Sentiment Index. The following is a press release from Platts regarding the latest survey results: BEIJING, March 8, 2016 – Optimism has returned to the Chinese steel market on the back of buoyant domestic demand for steel and stronger prices, resulting in the Platts China Steel Sentiment Index (CSSI) […]
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 […]
Ted Cruz said it best the other night while debating Donald Trump, “breathe, breathe, breathe….” While speaking to one of my longtime steel buying contacts we began discussing the mentality to this market as there are many “unknowns” such as exactly what the heck is going on in China. We were discussing the difference between […]
A quick note to our Premium level and free trial subscribers: We have just published the results from this week’s flat rolled steel market trends analysis (survey) on our website. It is available to you once you have signed into the www.SteelMarketUpdate.com website. The power point presentation can be found under the analysis tab. A […]
Earlier this week Steel Market Update (SMU) began canvassing the flat rolled steel markets in order to better appreciate how buyers and sellers of steel are viewing their company’s ability to be successful in the market today (Current) as well as out three to six months (Future). Their responses result in the publication of the […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), and financial futures markets was written by Dave Feldstein. As Flack Steel’s director of risk management, David Feldstein is an active participant in the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market and we believe he will provide insightful commentary and trading ideas to our […]
Factory orders for manufactured goods grew 1.6 percent in January, following a 2.9 percent decrease in December and showing the largest increase since June. Durable goods orders rose 4.7 percent led by transportation equipment orders that were up 11.4 percent in January. Nondurable goods dropped 1.4 percent to $226.8 billion. Factory orders came in below […]
Steel prices continued their three month hike higher as SMU benchmark hot rolled price index (average) for the month was $408 per ton. Even with some minor stumbles noted in hot rolled and cold rolled during the second half of the month, our Price Momentum Indicator is still pointing toward higher prices over the next […]
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 […]