By Paul Lowrey Editor’s note: Paul Lowrey is an industry consultant and president of Steel Research Associates, LLC. He will be a featured speaker at the upcoming Steel Market Update Steel Summit Aug. 26-28 in Atlanta. Click here for more information and to register for the summit. Recent announcements of new flat rolled capacity have […]
By Paul Lowrey Editor’s note: Paul Lowrey is an industry consultant and president of Steel Research Associates, LLC. He will be a featured speaker at the upcoming Steel Market Update Steel Summit Aug. 26-28 in Atlanta. Click here for more information and to register for the summit. Recent announcements of new flat rolled capacity have […]
Zekelman Industries plans to invest $150 million to construct what it claims will be the world’s largest continuous ERW tube mill, making welded sections above 16-inch square available to the domestic market for the first time. Startup of the new mill is scheduled for September 2021. The mill will be capable of producing hollow structural […]
Ronald J. O’Malley has been appointed president of the Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST) for 2019–2020. O’Malley succeeds James F. Dudek of United States Steel Corp. O’Malley is the F. Kenneth Iverson Chair Professor in Steelmaking Technologies and director of the Kent D. Peaslee Steel Manufacturing Research Center at the Missouri University of Science […]
Ferrous scrap prices are down again in May by roughly $30 for obsolete grades and $40 for prime grades, report Steel Market Update sources. May marks the fourth month this year that has seen scrap prices decline. With the mills reportedly cranking out steel at over 80 percent of their capacity, the apparent weakness in […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: President Trump’s Twitter finger twitched on Sunday. He announced via his favorite social media platform that he has grown tired of China’s stalling. He said he will increase the 10 percent tariffs on goods imported from China to […]
U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt urged attendees at AISTech 2019, under way this week in Pittsburgh, to seek innovation for the future while preserving and improving on what worked well in the past. “We must dream big, push hard, while always doing good things,” he said. “All of us recognize that steel is the material […]
The recovery from February’s very poor rate of job creation continued through April. Net job creation in April was 263,000, February was revised up by 23,000 to 56,000 and March was revised down by 7,000 to 189,000, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Rising employment and wages are the main contributors to GDP growth […]
Job creation in manufacturing has slowed dramatically in the last three months, but construction employment is still expanding rapidly. In April, 236,000 jobs were created in the private sector and government added 27,000. Table 1 breaks total employment down into service and goods-producing industries and then into private and government employees. Most of the goods-producing […]
Steel mill shipments have declined slightly since November on a seasonally adjusted basis, while the inventory-to-shipment ratio has increased slightly since October, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Census Bureau data. Steel trade association data from the AISI and MSCI is most widely used to assess the state of the industry. In addition, […]
I got a call earlier today asking about a steel publication changing the direction of some of their flat rolled pricing. I responded that I don’t read the other trade publications, and I don’t follow their indices. I do not want to be influenced as I go through the always difficult, and sometimes tedious, process […]
Global manufacturing activity appeared lackluster in April. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI hovered just above the no change mark at 50.3, down from 50.5 in March, and at its lowest reading since June 2016. “The global manufacturing sector remained subdued at the start of the second quarter, with the PMI barely above the 50.0 […]
Southwark Metal Manufacturing Co., maker of sheet metal duct and fittings, has opened a new manufacturing plant in Phoenix, Ariz. The new facility enhances Southwark’s presence, manufacturing capabilities, and customer support throughout the Southwest, allowing the company to service customers in all 50 states. The 75,780-square-foot facility is poised to service HVAC distributors in Arizona, […]
Olympic Steel reported a 19 percent increase in its first-quarter sales, netting $446 million, thanks in part to its January acquisition of manufacturer McCullough Industries. Net income for the quarter totaled $2.1 million, down from 7.6 million in the same quarter of 2018. Returns from Olympic’s manufacturing segment are considerably higher than service center margins, […]
Another exciting week in the steel industry… A couple of reminders: With four months yet to go we are marching toward 400 registered executives for the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference, which will be held in Atlanta on Aug. 26-28. This is THE premier networking event for the steel industry during the calendar year. Here […]
Twice per month Steel Market Update conducts an analysis of the flat rolled and plate steel markets and market trends. We are searching for what is moving the markets, and what buyers and sellers of steel should anticipate in the coming weeks and months. One of the key questions associated with our analysis: Are the […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: President Trump’s Twitter finger twitched on Sunday. He announced via his favorite social media platform that he has grown tired of China’s stalling. He will increase the 10 percent tariffs on goods imported from China to 25 percent […]
Caterpillar manufacturing costs escalated in first quarter by $375 million compared to a year ago on higher steel prices, freight and variable labor costs. “These higher costs, while unfavorable, were improved from the fourth quarter levels. Material costs included a direct tariff expense in the first quarter of about $70 million, in line with what […]
The recent mining accident in Brazil leading to lost production of iron ore at Vale is “shaping up to be a multi-year shortage of iron ore and pellets,” said Cleveland Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves during earnings remarks on Thursday. “The catastrophic events in Brazil have provoked a radical change in the supply-demand dynamics of iron […]
Durable goods orders jumped 2.7 percent in March for the fourth increase in five months. Transportation equipment led the increase, leaping 7.0 percent to $93.8 billion. Aircraft orders rose 31 percent, primarily for Boeing jets. Boeing reported 44 aircraft orders in March compared to five in February. None were for the grounded 737 Max aircraft […]
Like the mills, service centers enjoyed robust returns in 2018. With one quarter in the books, it appears this year is setting up to be more challenging. Steel Market Update has recruited three of the industry’s top distribution execs to share their perspectives on steel demand in 2019 during SMU’s Steel Summit Aug. 26-28 in […]
Like the mills, service centers enjoyed robust returns in 2018. With one quarter in the books, it appears this year is setting up to be more challenging. Steel Market Update has recruited three of the industry’s top distribution execs to share their perspectives on steel demand in 2019 during SMU’s Steel Summit Aug. 26-28 in […]
Steel Dynamics has narrowed the choice for its new flat rolled steel mill to either Texas or Louisiana. The planned $1.8 billion EAF mill will have an annual production capacity of 3 million tons and include a 450,000-ton galvanizing line and 250,000-ton paint line with Galvalume capability. The mill will differentiate itself by producing higher […]
The official economic statistics out of China show a surge in industrial production in March and a steady growth in fixed asset investment. Once each quarter, Steel Market Update publishes the official statistics for Chinese GDP, industrial production, consumer price inflation and fixed asset investment. We don’t know the accuracy of these numbers but we […]
Economic indicators of manufacturing activity are strong, though the growth rate is slowing. This report summarizes 11 data streams that describe the state of U.S. manufacturing in general and the steel industry in particular. We have reported on most of these separately in our Steel Market Update publications, and therefore will be brief in this […]
Most indicators of manufacturing activity are still positive, but evidence of a slowdown is indisputable. This report summarizes 11 data streams that describe the state of U.S. manufacturing in general and the steel industry in particular. We have reported on most of these separately in our Steel Market Update publications and therefore will be brief […]
The metalforming industry is expecting a dip in business conditions in the next three months, according to the April 2019 Precision Metalforming Association survey. “The Business Conditions Report reflects the growing concern of metalforming manufacturers that the Section 232 steel tariffs are creating a drag on the U.S. manufacturing sector,” said PMA President David Klotz. […]
ArcelorMittal received approval from the European Commission to sell several of its European steelmaking assets to Liberty House Group. The sale is part of a divestment agreement made by ArcelorMittal with the Commission to acquire the Italian steel mill Ilva. Included in the transaction is ArcelorMittal Ostrava (Czech Republic), ArcelorMittal Galati (Romania), ArcelorMittal Skopje (Macedonia), […]
AK Steel announced that longtime engineering employee, Laura Szpot, was recognized by the Manufacturing Institute as one of the 2019 STEP Ahead Award honorees who exemplify leadership in Science, Technology, Engineering or Production. Laura was among honorees recently recognized by the Manufacturing Institute in Washington, D.C. The Manufacturing Institute is an authority on the attraction, […]
First, please be aware that Sunday is Easter and Steel Market Update will not publish an issue on Sunday evening. Our next issue will be on Tuesday, April 23. We have been receiving calls and getting comments associated with our release of the SMU Service Center Inventories Analysis in Sunday evening’s issue where we showed […]