Steel import levels continue to increase at ports around the U.S. SMU spoke with several ports and all but one expects imports to grow, not decrease, in the coming months. Out on the West Coast, the Port of Los Angeles is still working through congestion brought about by the recent labor dispute and chassis issues. […]
The Institute of Supply Management released their March report on April 1st. An explanation of the ISM index is given at the end of this piece. After the October surprise on the upside, the index slid back to 55.1 in December to 53.5 in January, to 52.9 in February and to 51.5 in March. Any […]
Global manufacturing continues to expand at a slow and steady pace. The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI registered 51.8 from 51.9 in February. Manufacturing growth has been sustained for twenty-eight consecutive months. “The March PMI surveys suggest that the global manufacturing sector continued to make steady progress, with rates of expansion in output and new […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its Construction Put in Place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. February data was released on April 1st. Construction Put in Place is based on spending work as it occurs, estimated for a given month from a sample of projects. In effect […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered in this analysis is currently 36. Please refer to Table 1 for the view of the present situation and the quantitative measure of trends. Readers should […]
Seaborne freight is picking up slightly primarily due to the South American grain export season, according to the March 25 MID-SHIP Report. The Baltic Dry Index continues to be at a very low level. The BDI registered 448 points on March 25, climbing to 596 as of March 27. The BDI tracks dry-bulk rates based […]
Three steel industry executives met in Washington D.C. on Thursday at the Congressional Steel Caucus to discuss state of the US steel industry and the impact unfairly traded imports have had on jobs and manufacturing. Revisions to the “material injury” standards were proposed to add language that clearly defines indicators of injury and allows relief […]
New orders for durable goods in February fell by 1.4 percent from January’s level to $231.3 billion; economists had expected a 0.3 percent gain. The three month moving average (3MMA) fell by 1.0 percent. There has been a sharp deviation from the trend line in the last three months (Figure 1). The huge spike in […]
Worthington Industries reported net sales of $804.8 million and a net loss of $25.7 million for the third quarter of FY 2015 ending February 28, 2015. Results included a non-cash impairment charge of $81.6 million related to the Engineered Cabs business and a USD 2.3 million restructuring charge for severance benefits related to the workforce […]
This morning Steel Market Update (SMU) participated in the monthly galvanized steel conference call hosted by HARDI. The conference call is for those HARDI wholesalers who sell galvanized sheet and coil to the HVAC mechanical contractors around the United States and Canada. Since the last conference call held during the later days in February, galvanized […]
This month we will start with words from Armada Executive intelligence which sum up the present situation nicely: “Last week it was made abundantly clear just how sensitive the markets are to the discussions at the Fed. There was a perception that Janet Yelled was pushing an interest rate increase off to at least September. […]
Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The IP index was reported as 105.8 for February a slight increase of 0.08 from January. The three month moving average (3MMA) was 105.87, down by 0.17 from January which was the highest value ever and the ninth straight month where the […]
The following is the Chicago Federal Reserve statement followed by our own graphical analysis. The CFNAI is an excellent reality check for much of the economic analysis that we routinely provide at Steel Market Update. An explanation of the index is provided at the end of this piece. This is normally an article reserved for […]
Based on the results from our most recent flat rolled steel market analysis which we conducted this past week, manufacturing companies and service centers reported domestic (USA and Canada) steel mills as willing to negotiate pricing on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume steel coils. As you can see by the graphic shared below, […]
Last week Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted our mid-March flat rolled steel market survey. We invited approximately 600 companies to link to our questionnaire which covers a number of issues of importance for the industry. Last week’s industry participants consisted of 49 percent manufacturing companies, 37 percent service centers, 8 percent trading companies, 3 percent […]
I want to take a moment to welcome our newest members to Steel Market Update. I want to remind all of our members that we encourage comments, questions and suggestions. Many of our best articles are done in response to questions being asked of us by the active steel community. We find if one person […]
Those involved in the flat rolled steel industry continue to be optimistic about their company’s ability to be successful both in the current market environment as well as three to six months into the future. The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index (current market) is being reported at +53. This is four points higher than two […]
According to the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report for March 2015, little change is expected in general business conditions during the next three months. PMA manufacturing members expect new orders to be the same or slightly higher in the coming months. Shipping levels were reported as steady in the March report and average […]
Steel Dynamics expects that a decline in steel shipments caused by inventory overhang, hesitant demand and margin compression will lower first quarter profitability. In the company’s first quarter guidance, SDI noted: “During the first quarter of 2015, two important industry developments occurred: – “Domestic steel product pricing declined to levels that are now globally competitive, […]
New York manufacturing activity slowed in March as the pace of new orders and shipments weakened. The Empire State Manufacturing Survey, conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, indicated general business conditions fell slightly to 6.9 from 7.78 in February and 10.0 in January. Analysts had expected the index to register around 8.0 […]
The United Steel Workers will be negotiating new contracts with U.S. Steel and ArcelorMittal later this year. The current three-year contracts expire August 31, 2015. Discussions start a few months before and serious bargaining begins about a month before contract expiration, said USW Communications Director Wayne Ranick. Contract negotiations are frequently contentious battles as evidenced […]
I thought I would wait for my Final Thoughts area of the newsletter before broaching the rumor mill which has been begun questioning at what point do the domestic steel mills go out into the market and announce price increases. I had a number of conversations over the past few days with both consumers of […]
There seemed to be three subjects on the minds of the steel buyers and executives with whom Steel Market Update spoke with over the past twenty-four hours: steel prices, demand for steel products and foreign steel (both offers and threats of dumping suits). Since it is Tuesday and we publish our flat rolled steel price […]
M&M Manufacturing, a portfolio company of TGF Management, has been acquired by MiTek Industries, Inc., a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway. The transaction, announced by Houlihan Lokey, closed on February 24, 2015. M&M Manufacturing, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, is the leading diversified manufacturer of sheet metal building products in the Southwest, primarily servicing the air […]
Over the past month we have begun to ask a new question of those responding to our flat rolled steel questionnaire. With the excessive inventories at service centers, and potentially some end users, created (in part) by high levels of imports, SMU wanted to know when we might see imports start to taper off. This […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on non-farm employment reported that 295,000 jobs were added in February, the January result was revised down by 18,000. The three month moving average, (3MMA) of gains through February was 288,000. This job recovery is now seen to be much stronger than was the case in the mid-2000s […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) concluded our 5th flat rolled steel market survey earlier today. After evaluating the responses we found buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel continue to be optimistic about their company’s ability to be successful both in the current as well as the future steel markets (3-6 months out). The SMU Steel […]
Steel buyers in the February ISM Steel Buyers Survey appeared confused about what the future may hold. There was no consensus on what the trend for general economic activity will be in the next six months. Respondents were split evenly on whether activity would be up, the same or down. This contrasted with January in […]
The following article is normally produced just for our Premium level members. We are sharing the information today with all of our readers. The article is written by Peter Wright, consultant to Steel Market Update, Gerdau and the State of Wyoming. Peter, who is a metallurgist as well as market specialist, is also one of […]
U.S. automotive sales slid during frigid February. Sales were once again led by truck and SUV sales but total sales were less than anticipated. Sales were expected to be eight to nine percent higher than a year ago for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16.6 million to 16.7 million. As results came in on […]