At SMU we have never previously examined the civilian participation rate or the extent to which part time employment growth is influencing the bottom line number of job creation. Since we believe that both these aspects must influence consumer confidence, consumer spending and ultimately GDP and steel consumption, we decided to dig deeper this month. […]
Written by: John Packard Steel Market Update has been conducting our twice monthly steel surveys for approximately five years now. When we started, we chose people and companies with whom we trusted and had worked with knowing we could depend on the quality of the information gathered. Having worked within the industry for over 30 […]
House Subcommittee Presentations The American Iron and Steel Institute made its presence known last week on Capitol Hill. Top steel executives encouraged members of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade to remedy government policies on tax, energy, infrastructure, environment and trade to strengthen American jobs in steel and other manufacturing […]
Manufacturing companies continue to report negligible support for higher spot prices by the distribution segment of the flat rolled industry. In our most recent survey, the vast majority of manufacturing companies reported their service center suppliers as providing stable spot prices (75 percent). Only 7 percent were reporting higher spot prices and those reporting lower […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted our mid-March steel survey this past week. We invited 682 people representing approximately 650 different companies to participate in our survey. Of those responding 49 percent were manufacturing companies, 39 percent were service centers/wholesalers and the balance were trading companies (5 percent), steel mills (4 percent), toll processors (4 percent) […]
Key Market Indicators March 23rd 2013 The key indicators chart is designed to give a snapshot of the steel market on a specific date. The chart is stacked to separate the primary indicators of the general economy, of proprietary Steel Market Update indices, of both flat rolled and long product market indicators and finally of […]
Worthington Industries, a diversified metals manufacturing company, reported a one percent gain in net sales in the third quarter ending February 28, 2013, finishing at $619.5 million compared to $611.3 million the prior year. Gross margin improved to $97 million from $83.3 million in 2012, mostly due to gains from Pressure Cylinders and acquisitions. Steel […]
Industrial Production and Manufacturing Capacity Utilization – February 2013 Federal Reserve statistics for February 2013 indicate that manufacturing is in a “Warm” growth mode which confirms the Institute of Supply Management’s manufacturing index, orders for durable goods and the rate of growth of manufacturing employment. In three months through February IP grew 2.6% year over […]
Based on the results from the Steel Market Update (SMU) steel survey which began on Monday and concluded earlier today, the SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index remained mildly optimistic and was measured at +17. This is a 2 point improvement over the +15 reported at the beginning of March. The +17 recorded for the middle […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Steel shipments will be flat in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2012 said Steel Dynamics in its first quarter 2013 earnings guidance. Galvanized sheet volume is projected to decrease but be offset by increases in long product shipments, including SBQ, standard railroad rail and wide flange products. […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Metalforming companies are expecting business to be steady for the next three months according to the March 2013 Precision Metalforming Association Business Conditions Report. Optimism has been rising since November and has flattened out in February and March. Incoming orders are not expected to change much in the next three […]
Written by: Sandy Williams The general business conditions index in New York dropped less than one point to 9.2 in March from 10.0 in February as registered by the Empire State Manufacturing Survey. New orders were positive in March although the index slipped five points to 8.2. Shipments rose at a slower pace for the […]
Written by: Peter Wright Automotive production, inventory and sales; February 2013. Within NAFTA, the Detroit three lost production share in February compared to February last year, dropping from 52.1 percent to 51.5 percent. Performance amongst the three varied wildly with GM and Chrysler loosing 2.2 percent and 0.8 percent respectively as Ford gained 2.1 percent. […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has been speaking to a number of service centers regarding their spot sales and especially those sales which are made between service centers or brokers. A number of service centers have been commenting about their spot warehouse business being off over the past three months. Lisa Goldenberg of Delaware Steel told […]
Our SMU Price Momentum Indicator continues to be at Neutral and has been for 14 weeks. We do not yet see enough momentum to cause prices to rise or fall quickly. The market appears to be in a slightly over-supplied basis and demand – at the moment – is flat. Not dead by any means, […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Steel buyers plan to shed excess inventory but are cautiously optimistic that business conditions are improving, according to the February ISM Steel Buyers Survey. More inventory was on hand with most buyers (71.4 percent) holding enough to cover shipping levels for 1-2 months. Compared to inventory levels a year ago, tons […]
Written by: Peter Wright Net job creation in January exceeded expectations with a headline value of 236,000. Built into this number is data that can validate, (or not) other statistics of interest to steel producers and processors. The big picture is 1,966,000 jobs have been created in the last 12 months and we are tracking […]
Based on the results from this past week’s steel survey, demand remains relatively stable with 70 percent of our respondents (all companies) reporting demand as “remaining the same.” The number of companies reporting demand as “improving” dropped from the low to mid 20 percent range down to 15 percent. Those reporting demand as “declining” increased […]
Service Center Spot Pricing Ignores Latest Price Increase Announcements “[Unnamed service center] They are making a big push in VA/NC HVAC market – dropping numbers all over the place. This is how a mill price increase announcement begins to die.” East Coast Distribution Company Based on the results from our most recent steel survey, service […]
SMU asked those taking this week’s steel survey if the latest price announcement stood a better chance of having at least some of the increase being collected than the one announced six weeks prior. We presented the percentages in our last issue of Steel Market Update (SMU 3/6) and now we would like to provide […]
Mill lead times grew only fractionally since the price increase announcements which began on Tuesday of this past week. Based on our SMU steel market survey results, hot rolled lead times went from 3.15 weeks to 3.28 weeks; cold rolled actually declined from 4.97 weeks to 4.65 weeks; galvanized rose slightly from 5.14 weeks to […]
Optimism waned this week as steel buyers and sellers toiled over price announcements, demand questions and a heightened sense of insecurity regarding their company’s ability to be successful in the current market environment. Based on the results from our just completed steel market survey, SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index dropped 6 points to +15 from […]
Large steel buyers with whom Steel Market Update had direct contact with over the past few working days paint a picture of the domestic mills still uncomfortable leading on pricing. Although that may be changing as word starts to spread on the newest scrap pricing. We saw a widening of the range on hot rolled […]
“No demand- it is like raising ticket prices to see a last place team.” – Service Center Domestic mill price increases have a way of touching the nerve of the steel community. Whenever there is a price increase announcement and Steel Market Update (SMU) conducts our next steel market survey – we tend to gather […]
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 […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Activity in the manufacturing sector continued to improve in February according the latest Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Report on Business. The February PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) registered at 54.2, indicating growth in the manufacturing sector for the third consecutive month since its drop below the neutral point to 49.9 in […]
Written by: Sandy Williams “Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.”—Theodore Roosevelt. When I was asked to write for SMU I did exactly what Teddy suggested and every day since I’ve been learning how. With a background […]
Written by: Sandy Williams New orders of manufactured durable goods decreased 5.2 percent to $217.0 billion in January according to Department of Commerce data. The downturn in January followed four consecutive months of increase including a 3.7 percent rise in December. Transportation equipment declined three of the last four months, dropping 19.8 percent from December […]
Written by: Peter Wright Key Market Indicators This chart is a work in progress and is designed to give a snapshot of the steel market on a specific date, which in this case is February 28th 2013. The chart is organized vertically to describe the primary indicators of the general economy, of proprietary Steel Market […]
The whole reason behind the various indices is to provide transparency to domestic mill spot transactions. This, in turn, gives buyers and sellers a basis to work from when negotiating both existing (spot) and future (contract) deals. The issue everyone has – as a buyer your job is to be at the cutting edge – […]