The U.S. labor market had a disappointing showing in April as employment’s recovery hit a snag. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that employers added just 266,000 workers to their payrolls in April, a far cry from the 770,000 new jobs added in March and 536,000 in February. Following the fastest gain in […]
U.S. steel product shipments rose by 1.9% in March after slipping by 1.7% the month prior. The rebound follows February’s decline—the first decrease since bottoming out in April 2020—which was attributed to seasonal factors. Shipments of manufactured durable goods saw a similar blip. March steel shipments posted a 9.9% increase when compared to March 2020, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according […]
2021 SMU Steel Summit Conference Revised Agenda as of May 9, 2021 The 2021 SMU Steel Summit Conference will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center on Aug. 23-25. The convention center is conveniently located next to the Atlanta International Airport (ATL). The center and the hotels surrounding it are at the first stop […]
2021 SMU Steel Summit Conference Revised Agenda as of May 9, 2021 The 2021 SMU Steel Summit Conference will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center on Aug. 23-25. The convention center is conveniently located next to the Atlanta International Airport (ATL). The center and the hotels surrounding it are at the first stop […]
The U.S. appliance industry has a chip on its shoulder when it comes to competing with automakers for the scarce supply of semiconductors. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturing (AHAM) has joined two of its sister industry associations—the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)—in appealing to the Department […]
Price, Price, Price… I might as well begin where I left off in our last issue of Steel Market Update on Thursday. Everyone wants to know when this market will peak, then tip over, and how far it will then fall. There are a wide range of opinions within the steel community, from prices will […]
I have been “out” for the past few days as my daughter has received her shots and has been visiting us for the first time in well over a year. A special thank you to the SMU team for picking up the slack in my absence. Jumping right back into the fray, as Michael mentioned […]
Jumping right back into the fray, as Michael Cowden mentioned in his Final Thoughts in Tuesday’s issue of Steel Market Update, the talk is about nothing but price, price, price. As we look for signs of possible steel mill order book weakness, we are seeing conflicting signals. There are a couple of steel mills who […]
As the days pass, more people get vaccinated and business begins to return to normal after a year of dealing with the pandemic. We are looking forward to being together in person this summer on Aug. 23-25 in Atlanta for the 11th Annual SMU Steel Summit Conference. Many of you are planning your trip down to […]
U.S. industrial production, manufacturing and durable goods orders continued to show improvement from the coronavirus pandemic downturn through March and April data. The health of the manufacturing economy has a direct bearing on the health of the steel industry. The Industrial Production Index The IP index is a gauge of output from factories, mines and […]
Hot rolled steel prices hit a new eyebrow-raising milestone this week, taking another big jump to an all-time high of $1,500 per ton as supplies continue to fall short of demand. Prices for flat rolled steel products, which have been on a relentless uptrend for the past eight months, rose by a further $60-100 per […]
Hot rolled steel prices hit a new eyebrow-raising milestone this week, taking another big jump to an all-time high of $1,500 per ton as supplies continue to fall short of demand. Prices for flat rolled steel products, which have been on a relentless uptrend for the past eight months, rose by a further $60-100 per […]
U.S. automotive sales were robust in April despite production challenges from the continuing shortage of semiconductor chips. April sales were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of over 18 million vehicles and may be one of the best months ever, said Cox Automotive. April sales were well over Cox Auto’s forecast of 16.5 million. […]
Global manufacturing accelerated in April, strengthening to its best reading since April 2010 for the J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI. The PMI rose to 55.8 from 55.0 in March. Of the 24 nations covered by the index as of April 23, only the Philippines, Mexico and Myanmar remained in contraction. “The latest PMI surveys show […]
Limited supply and strong demand continued to push steel prices higher throughout April, now the eighth consecutive month in which prices have increased. Hot rolled steel prices increased an average of $25 per ton each week, reaching $1,440 per ton by the end of April, exceeding any historical price by far. The SMU Price Momentum […]
The ISM Manufacturing Report on Business came in lower than expected in April. The PMI dipped four points to a reading of 60.7% as both the new orders and production indexes edged downward to 64.3% and 62.5%, respectively. A score above 50, however, indicates expansion, which means demand continued to improve in April. Fabricated metal […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen and Principal Economist Alex Tuckett from CRU’s Global Economic Outlook This month has seen strong signs that the speed of the recovery in the global industrial sector is feeding through to costs throughout the supply chain. Although this does present a risk to our forecast, our baseline case remains […]
By CRU Consulting CEO Rebecca Gordon and Principal Consultant Alex Laugharne The increasing momentum behind transportation electrification is driving new supply chains to evolve rapidly. Historically, long and lean automotive supply chains led to cost efficiencies. The challenges of developing entirely new suppliers and embedding sustainability objectives mean: working with many completely new suppliers who […]
Hot rolled steel prices have been on the rise since last August and hit a new record of $1,440 per ton this week as nine-week lead times have tightened supplies and made spot tons scarce. Can steel prices possibly continue rising for the rest of the year? Chris Shipp is convinced steel prices have a […]
Sometimes it seems like the faster I move the further behind I get…. I think steel buyers are beginning to realize they have precious little control over this market, and they are just along for the ride. As I reviewed the results of this week’s flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis (our steel […]
When I started Steel Market Update in August 2008 and I began to look at steel prices, I did so from a different viewpoint than the indexes that already existed. Having just completed a 31-year career in selling flat rolled steel, I believed what was most important for steel buyers to understand was the range […]
Orders for durable goods—products expected to last three years or more—recovered partially in March, increasing 0.5% after dipping 0.9% in February, said the Commerce Department on Monday. Orders for the month totaled $256.3 billion, increasing for the 10th time in the last 11 months, but at a much lower rate than the 2%-plus uplift expected by […]
Nucor, SDI and Cliffs all announced earnings last week. All of the CEOs are quite bullish as all of their flat rolled mills are running at full capacity. And with pricing now in excess of $1,400 per ton for benchmark hot rolled, the mills are reporting record or near record quarterly profits for first-quarter 2021. […]
The United Steelworkers (USW) union and Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) appear to be far from making a deal as a strike against the company enters its fourth week. The USW says ATI is under pressure because it finds itself unable to fulfill existing customer orders a result of the labor action. An ATI spokeswoman said the company is […]
Everything You Want to Know About This Year’s Conference There is much to talk about at this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference as the industry deals with record high prices, strong demand, challenges to supply, questions about trade, new steel mills about to come onstream and more recently announced, automotive moving to electric vehicles, questions […]
Everything You Want to Know About This Year’s Conference There is much to talk about at this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference as the industry deals with record high prices, strong demand, challenges to supply, questions about trade, new steel mills about to come onstream and more recently announced, automotive moving to electric vehicles, questions […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., the nation’s largest metals distributor and processor, reported record pretax income of $359 million in first-quarter 2021, fueled by the unexpectedly high steel prices and solid demand in most of the markets the company serves. “The combination of a record quarterly gross profit margin, average selling prices well above our […]
The global semiconductor shortage continues to disrupt North American vehicle production roughly four months after the issue emerged in a key steel end market. The result: Production at multiple North American assembly plants is down through the end of this month, and some are down in May as well. Here is where things stand to date. General Motors […]
U.S. steel product shipments slipped in February by 1.7%, the first decrease since bottoming out in April 2020 when COVID nearly brought the economy to a standstill. Despite the decrease month on month, which may be due to seasonal factors, steel shipments have recovered to pre-pandemic volumes and posted an increase of 5.5% compared to February […]
My first job in the steel industry started in July 1977. I have been involved with the industry ever since. I’m coming up on 44 years in a few months. That either makes me old or wise…well, old anyway. What I can tell you is during those 44 years I have never seen a market […]