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 – […]
Something to make the domestic mills a wee bit happier – but they won’t see the results for a few months. According to the results from last week’s survey, both manufacturing companies and service centers reported the lowest percentage of interest in placing foreign steel orders since we began asking the question. For manufacturing companies, […]
Manufacturing companies reported service center spot prices as either stable (82 percent) or decreasing (18 percent) during our most recent SMU steel market survey. When compared to the results taken at the beginning of February we found no longer were any of the manufacturing companies reporting any attempts by the distributors to raise prices. In […]
Split on Increase, Lead Times, Sentiment for Sideways Pricing – Market has Little Direction Steel Market Update (SMU) continues to set a new record each week we hold our Price Momentum Indicator at Neutral. The longest previous record for a Neutral indication for market price direction was five weeks (back in late May/June 2011) for […]
Written by: John Packard, Publisher An important piece of the value behind Steel Market Update is based on the relationships I developed during my 31 year tenure in the flat rolled steel business. Over that period of time I interacted with hundreds of companies in various capacities but primarily in a sales or management function. […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Reliance Steel reported an 18 percent drop in net income of $80.4 million in fourth quarter 2012. Net income for the year rose 17.4 percent year over year to 403.5 million. Sales of $1.89 billion for the fourth quarter were 7.1 percent lower than a year ago and down 8.1 percent […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted our mid-February steel survey beginning on Monday and concluding on Thursday afternoon of this week. We invited approximately 685 active participants (buyers, sellers or executives) involved in the flat rolled steel segment of the industry to respond to our questions regarding market trends, pricing and Sentiment. SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment […]
Steel Market Update received the following information from an ArcelorMittal spokesperson this evening: On February 19, 2013, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) posted a Notice of Allowance of a re-issue of ArcelorMittal pioneer patent US 6 296 805 on aluminum pre-coated steel product for hot stamping, worldwide known as Usibor®, confirming its […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Metalforming companies are expecting a spike in business conditions during the next three months. The February 2013 Precision Metalforming Association reported that 37 percent of participants predict that economic activity will improve during the next three months (up from 32 percent in January), 55 percent believe that activity will remain unchanged […]