Steel Facing Stiff Competition from Other Products This article is regularly published for our Premium users, but we decided to share it with our entire readership this month. If you are interested in upgrading to a Premium subscription, contact us at info@SteelMarketUpdate.com or 800-432-3475. Steel is becoming less competitive compared to aluminum, plastic and wood. […]
Steady demand in the HVAC sector is offsetting concerns about declining steel prices, leaving members of the Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International hopeful about their prospects in 2019, reported HARDI members during the trade group’s monthly conference call on Tuesday. The distributors of galvanized steel products have seen prices slide by about $5/cwt since […]
Imagine being told to create a steel mill out of an empty field in Arkansas. How would you even begin? That was the challenge presented to Lenore Trammell, Chief Compliance Officer at Big River Steel. Moving from Detroit to the rural South, Trammell plunged herself into securing construction contracts and building a team that could […]
Economic activity expanded across the United States with the majority of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts reporting modest to moderate growth in the September-October period, according to the Fed’s Beige Book released late last month. However, several Districts indicated that firms faced rising materials and shipping costs, uncertainties over the trade environment and difficulties finding […]
I am back in my office for a few weeks after having just gone to the Pittsburgh offices of CRU. I continue to be amazed at the strength of the people CRU has hired both in the United States and elsewhere around the world. They are very supportive of the Steel Market Update business, and […]
Steel service centers are struggling to peg the spot end user markets and what price levels they need to be offering to their spot flat rolled customers, based on the results obtained from last week’s flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis performed by Steel Market Update. Steel Market Update follows the service center […]
Steel service centers are struggling to peg the spot end user markets and what price levels they need to be offering to their spot flat rolled customers, based on the results obtained from last week’s flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis performed by Steel Market Update. Steel Market Update follows the service center […]
The Census Bureau provides monthly data on total U.S. manufacturing inventories, shipments and new orders, as well as data for individual industries, including steel products. The Census Bureau data provides a useful reality check on data from steel industry trade groups such as the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Metals Service Center Institute. […]
Construction is experiencing strong growth led by nonresidential building and infrastructure expenditures. On Nov. 1, the Commerce Department released the Construction Put in Place (CPIP) expenditures data for September. The growth of total construction on a rolling 12-month basis year over year increased from 2.1 percent in January to 4.2 percent in September. On a […]
Net job creation in October totaled 250,000 positions. Construction and manufacturing gains were both strong, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Table 1 breaks total employment down into service and goods-producing industries and then into private and government employees. Most of the goods-producing employees work in manufacturing and […]
Labor productivity grew by 0.5 percent in the third quarter of 2018. The average of the last three quarters has been 0.3 percent. Unit labor costs increased 1.2 percent year over year, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. Unit labor costs and productivity changes are reported quarterly […]
The employment situation in the United States is excellent and continues to improve, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. Rising employment and wages are the main contributor to GDP growth because personal consumption accounts for almost 70 percent of GDP. Steel consumption is related to GDP; therefore, […]
Steel Market Update is sharing the following Premium-level article with its Executive-level members this issue. For more information on upgrading to a Premium subscription, email info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Economic indicators of manufacturing activity remain strong. This report summarizes 11 data streams that describe the state of U.S. manufacturing in general and the steel industry in particular. We […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Commentators and administration officials have filled the airwaves with speculation about the future course of the U.S.-China “trade war” over the last few weeks. Today, I provide a brief assessment of where this might be going. Memories of Lenin’s […]
Metals distributor Ryerson Holding Corp. reported a revenue gain of 44.6 percent year-over-year to $1.25 billion for the third quarter of 2018. Revenue was up 18.2 percent compared to the second quarter, driven by an increased average selling price and higher volume shipped. Net income attributable to Ryerson Holding Corp. was $77.5 million for the […]
Global trade protectionism and political uncertainty weighed heavily on manufacturing in October. Manufacturing slowed to its lowest level in almost two years, according to the J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI. The headline index registered 52.1, down from 52.2 in September. Weaker increases in new business and a contraction of new export orders muted production growth during […]
Except for plate, which held its own at around $1,000 a ton, steel prices generally weakened further in October, continuing a decline that began this summer. Steel Market Update data in the table below shows that the benchmark hot rolled coil price dipped below $800 per ton after sliding by about $45 during the month. […]
Construction spending hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.329 trillion and grew 5.5 percent for nine months of 2018, with continued year-to-date gains for major public and private categories, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said that while demand for construction should remain […]
Manufacturing activity continues to be strong, according to the latest ISM Report on Business, although slowing its pace of growth as it enters the fourth quarter. The October PMI declined 2.1 percentage points from September to register 57.7 percent. Most of the components of the PMI are trending at a slower rate. The new orders […]
Construction spending hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.329 trillion and grew 5.5 percent for nine months of 2018, with continued year-to-date gains for major public and private categories, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials said that while demand for construction should remain […]
Manufacturing activity continued at a healthy clip in October, although slipping on the MNI Chicago Business Barometer. The index dropped 2.0 points to 58.4 in October and plunged 10.7 points year-over-year to its lowest reading since December 2014. The decrease may signal a return to more normal levels after a year of particularly strong performance, […]
Flat rolled steel prices have stalled, despite the increase announcements out of many of the domestic steel mills. Plate steel spot prices, on the other hand, continue to remain firm in December with an expectation of a $40 price increase being collected in January. Steel Market Update canvassed the flat rolled and plate steel buyers […]
Flat rolled steel prices have stalled, despite the increase announcements out of many of the domestic steel mills. Plate steel spot prices, on the other hand, continue to remain firm in December with an expectation of a $40 price increase being collected in January. Steel Market Update canvassed the flat rolled and plate steel buyers […]
MSC Smart Steel® from Material Sciences Corporation (MSC) is one of 35 finalists for the 2019 Automotive News PACE Awards. The prestigious PACE program honors automotive suppliers for advanced levels of technical achievement, superior innovation and business excellence. “MSC Smart Steel is a new multilayer steel laminate engineered as a direct substitute for low carbon […]
Finally, I am back in my office after what seems like one long continuous trip over the last six weeks. I expect to be in my office over the next few weeks until I head to Pittsburgh in mid-November to visit the CRU offices here in the United States. We have a couple of new […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Chief Market Risk Officer, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
New orders rose 0.8 percent in September primarily due to an increase in defense spending. Defense aircraft and parts orders soared 119.1 percent for the largest gain for the sector in more three years. Stripping out the defense category, orders fell 0.6 percent for the month. Core capital goods, manufactured goods excluding defense and aircraft, […]
Ford Motor Co. is calling on the administration to resolve steel and aluminum disputes that will cost the company more than a billion dollars in annual profits this year and next. The Section 232 tariffs have pushed U.S. steel prices well above those of foreign competitors and higher than Ford was expecting. “U.S. steel costs […]
Ternium USA Inc. will invest $14.7 million to expand and upgrade its facility at The Port of Caddo-Bossier in Shreveport, La. Ternium will overhaul its galvanizing line and complete other capital upgrades to optimize plant operations and logistics. Upgrading the galvanizing line will yield an additional 42,000 metric tons per year of coated products. “In […]
Harry Moser, president of the Reshoring Initiative, is a big supporter of the Trump administration and its trade policies. But when it comes to the Section 232 tariffs on steel imports, which have dramatically raised steel prices in the U.S., domestic steelmakers have gained at the expense of steel-consuming manufacturers downstream. “Overall, I am delighted […]