The following article was reprinted with permission from John Burns Real Estate Consulting. True statements can lead to misleading conclusions, especially in a busy world full of sound bites and analysis limited to 280 characters. Thank you to one of our clients for several long exchanges that pushed me to clarify our thinking on numerous […]
The 2021 SMU Steel Summit Conference will be the first major steel conference to be held in person since the pandemic shut down all events across the world. Our conference will begin at 9 a.m. ET with our Pre-Summit Programs on Monday, Aug. 23. The official opening of the conference will be at 1 p.m. ET […]
The U.S. economy expanded at a moderate pace from early April to late May as vaccine rates increased and social activity began to normalize, said the Federal Reserve in its latest Beige Book report. Consumers spent more dollars on leisure travel and restaurants, giving a boost to the tourism industry that was among the hardest […]
It has been a busy day trying to condense two days of data collection into one as we produce our flat rolled and plate indices for this evening. It should come as no surprise our numbers did track higher this week, and our Price Momentum Indicator continues to point toward higher prices over the next […]
Good news on the global manufacturing front in May: The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI showed production accelerating at one of the fastest rates in a decade and new order growth was at an 11-year high. The PMI, produced by J.P Morgan and IHS Markit, rose to 56.0 in May. Only six of the 20 […]
Global manufacturing remained in a strong growth phase in June, with output, new orders and employment all rising and business optimism at robust levels. However, stressed global supply chains continued to disrupt production schedules and delay input deliveries resulting in sharp price increases. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI dipped slightly to 55.5 in June, […]
Steel prices continued to climb higher in May, now the ninth consecutive month prices have increased. Hot rolled steel prices increased an average of $23 per ton each week, reaching $1,590 per ton as of last week when this article was filed. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator has remained unchanged since the August 2020 adjustment […]
New orders, production and employment picked up in May despite slower supplier deliveries and lengthening backlogs, said the Institute for Supply Management in the May 2021 Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The Manufacturing PMI rose 0.5 percentage point to 61.2 after contracting in April and indicates expansion for the overall economy. “Manufacturing performed well for the […]
Zekelman Industries plans to build a fully automated warehouse at its Wheatland Tube facility in Warren, Ohio. The highly automated, 83,000-square-foot warehouse is scheduled to begin operating in December 2022. The new warehouse will convey pipe from the production lines of the manufacturing facility into the warehouse storage system. From there, pipe is automatically moved […]
Durable goods orders took a surprising tumble in April, dipping 1.3% instead of rising 7-9% as predicted by economists. The volatile transportation category was responsible for most of the decline, falling 6.7%. Automotive orders fell 2.6%, sliding for a second time in the past three months as production slowed due to supply issues with semiconductor […]
Steel Market Update spot prices on flat rolled moved higher today and our Price Momentum Indicator continues to point toward higher prices on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, Galvalume and plate steel over the next 30 days. However, having said that, we spent a good portion of today in conversation with steel buyers around the […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to announce that one of the top woman steel mill executives in North America will mentor the 2021 SMU NexGen Leadership Award recipient. Barbara Smith is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Commercial Metals Company. Barbara joined CMC in June 2011 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to announce that one of the top woman steel mill executives in North America will mentor the 2021 SMU NexGen Leadership Award recipient. Barbara Smith is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Commercial Metals Company. Barbara joined CMC in June 2011 as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. […]
Ah, remember the good old days… In this month’s galvanized steel conference call with HARDI wholesalers, one of the manufacturing companies discussed the frustrations of buying foreign steel, issues with late deliveries and then difficulties moving the steel from the port to his manufacturing facilities. Traders expressed frustrations related to freight issues (ship and truck). […]
Ah, remember the good old days… In this month’s galvanized steel conference call with HARDI wholesalers, one of the manufacturing companies discussed the frustrations of buying foreign steel, issues with late deliveries and then difficulties moving the steel from the port to his manufacturing facilities. Traders expressed frustrations related to freight issues (ship and truck). […]
Ford has joined General Motors in extending North American assembly plant outages into the third quarter because of a persistent shortage of microchips. “Our teams continue making the most of our available semiconductor allocation and will continue finding unique solutions to provide as many high-quality vehicles as possible to our dealers and customers,” a Ford […]
The manufacturing sector can expect continued growth for the remainder of this year, says the Institute for Supply Management in their Spring 2021 Semiannual Economic Forecast. ISM raised its projections for several components of the survey that covers 18 manufacturing industries. “Expectations for the remainder for 2021 have strengthened somewhat compared to December 2020, as […]
A coalition of U.S. steel industry lobbying groups and the United Steelworkers (USW) union want the Biden administration to keep Trump-era Section 232 tariffs and quotas on imported steel in place. The groups say the tariffs – rolled out in March 2018 on national security grounds – are necessary for the survival of the domestic […]
“We are focused on availability more than price.” This morning Steel Market Update participated in a very subdued galvanized steel conference call with members of the Heating, Air-conditioning, Refrigeration, Distributors International trade group. HARDI members are wholesalers who supply the mechanical contractors doing work on residential and commercial construction jobs. The key takeaway I got […]
“We are focused on availability more than price.” This morning Steel Market Update participated in a very subdued galvanized steel conference call with members of the Heating, Air-conditioning, Refrigeration, Distributors International trade group. HARDI members are wholesalers who supply the mechanical contractors doing work on residential and commercial construction jobs. The key takeaway I got […]
New York manufacturing activity continued at a solid pace in May, according to the May 2021 Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The index headline dipped two points to 24.3, but indexes for new orders and shipments gained two and five points, respectively. Thirty-seven percent of survey respondents said conditions had improved over the month with only […]
Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of monthly Key Market Indicators shows that the Present Situation markers have improved when compared to the month prior, while the Trend change saw a marginal contraction during the same period. Overall, the marketplace continues to recover from the pandemic as key metrics show further improvement. SMU’s Key Market Indicators […]
Japanese automaker Toyota continues to grapple with shortages of microchips and other parts at its North American manufacturing facilities. But some market participants are looking beyond automotive plant idlings to a potential rebound in auto builds in the second half of the year. “Toyota is currently experiencing a supply shortage that is affecting production at […]
Honest answer: I don’t know… One of the questions asked in last week’s flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis has been repeated many times over the past five months. The phrasing of the question changes as steel prices continue to rise and surprise those taking our steel market survey. We asked last week, […]
“It’s a miserable boat, but at least we are all in this together.” Large manufacturing company A new hole in the boat today…NLMK USA lost their Farrell, Pa., hot strip mill for one to two weeks. Price becomes irrelevant when your customers need product and there is nowhere else to go. That is what one […]
“It’s a miserable boat, but at least we are all in this together.” Large manufacturing company A new hole in the boat today…NLMK USA lost their Farrell, Pa., hot strip mill for one to two weeks. Price becomes irrelevant when your customers need product and there is nowhere else to go. That is what one […]
U.S. Steel’s surprise decision to pull the plug on the $1.5-billion upgrade at its Mon Valley Works pleased environmental advocates but came as a serious blow to the economic environment in the Pittsburgh area. Government officials, unions and citizen groups cried foul over what they see as the loss of thousands of jobs from a […]
Pressure is building on the Biden administration to provide relief for numerous manufacturing companies in the U.S. that say Section 232 tariffs are making supply chain problems worse. The Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users, the National Foreign Trade Council and other steel and aluminum users collaborated on a May 6 letter to President […]
Reibus, an online industrial marketplace, has expanded its footprint outside the United States with the hiring of Doug Thompson as its country leader for Canada. Thompson brings more than 30 years of steel manufacturing and supply chain experience to his new role. Most recently, he served as president of Coilplus Canada. “After having spent a […]
Record-high steel prices result not from Section 232 tariffs or industry consolidation but instead from uniquely strong supply-demand fundamentals, Cleveland-Cliffs’ top executive said. And an ambitious infrastructure package would go a long way toward keeping those fundamentals, and the resulting investment in the domestic steel industry, stronger for longer, he suggested. “We in this country […]