Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. This month the historical data has been revised and we have updated our files back to January 2000. The index had an all-time high of 106.40 in January 2015 but on a month over month basis has declined for 13 of the […]
Below is the latest release issued by the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) regarding residential and commercial heating and cooling equipment shipments through November 2015. You may read the press release on their website here. Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for February 2016 decreased 8.5 percent to […]
We have include an abridged statement from the IMF that was released on Tuesday this week and in which the commodity situation continues to loom large. Our SMU data analysis follows with comments about the future of global and domestic steel demand through 2021. We believe that an understanding of global influences is essential if […]
The following analysis was done by Peter Wright who writes a number of analytical articles for Steel Market Update. The energy markets are key markets for steel so it is important for our readers to understand oil and gas prices as well as the tubular products associated with drilling and transportation of oil and gas. […]
US Steel CEO Mario Longhi criticized the European Union and United Kingdom for being “negligent” in in addressing dumping of steel from China and blamed the UK steel crisis on “misguided policies.” In an interview with the Financial Times, Longhi said the willingness of the British government to grant market economy status to China will […]
The ocean bound freight market had a bit of good news last week—the Baltic Dry Index rose to 517 on April 7 and closed the week out on April 9 at 539, nearly an 86 percent increase from mid-February’s historic low of 290. MID-SHIP Report says a celebration is not yet warranted since the BDI […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its Construction Put in Place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. February data was released on Friday April 1st. Construction Put in Place is based on spending work as it occurs, estimated for a given month from a sample of projects. In […]
US Steel will lay off about 25 percent of its salaried workers in its latest cost cutting effort. It is estimated about 750 employees in the 3,000 North American salaried positions will be laid off. “This is part of the ongoing adjustment to staff levels and operations due to challenging market conditions, including fluctuating oil […]
On Friday and Saturday of this past week, Steel Market Update attended the Association of Steel Distributors spring meeting. The following are some of the notes made during the presentations and during discussions with ASD members. Dr. Chris Kuehl of Armada Corporate Intelligence reported that he is “a little optimistic” when it comes to the […]
According to Baker Hughes data from April 11, 2016, the U.S rig count for the week was 450 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This is a decrease of 14 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 10 to 362 rigs, gas rigs down 4 to 88 rigs, and […]
According to Baker Hughes data from April 8, 2016, the U.S rig count for the week was 443 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This is a decrease of 7 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 8 to 354 rigs, gas rigs up 1 to 89 rigs, and […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday in their analysis of non-farm employment that 215,000 jobs were added in March, down from 245,000 in February but up from 168,000 in January. January and February were revised down by a total of 1,000. An explanation of the BLS report is included at the end […]
A quick survey of ports shows good warehouse availability for incoming steel products. Los Angeles and Gulf ports saw a significant decline in steel imports in 2015. At the Port of Houston steel import tonnage dropped 28 percent from 6.5 million tons in 2014 to 4.6 million tons in 2015. Tubular product imports are expected […]
The Chicago Business Barometer, or Chicago PMI as it is commonly called, surged six points in March to 53.6. The bounce back from February’s 8 point contraction was due to strong gains in production, new orders and order backlogs. The employment index rose above 50 in March to its highest level since April 2015. Inventories […]
The Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) issued a final determination today (March 29) that finds Canadian producers have been injured due to the dumped and subsidized imports of certain carbon and alloy steel line pipe from China. The investigation was initiated by the CBSA on August 28, 2015 following complaints filed by EVRAZ North America […]
According to Baker Hughes data from March 24, 2016, the U.S rig count for the week was 464 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This is a decrease of 12 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 15 to 372 rigs, gas rigs up 3 to 92 rigs, and […]
Worthington Industries reported net sales of $647.1 million for third quarter 2016, ending February 29. Sales were down from second quarter and year over year as a result of lower volume in Pressure Cylinders and Engineered Cabs, combined with lower average selling prices in Steel Processing due to a decline in the market price of […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and The Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a forecast to the HARDI members located in the United […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and The Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a forecast to the HARDI members located in the United […]
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) puts out its series of producer price indexes, for thousands of goods and materials. For an explanation of this program see the end of this piece. The latest release last week reported results through February. We run this analysis every three or four months to give readers […]
US Steel says it will idle tubular operations in Alabama, Texas and Ohio, laying off nearly 800 workers. The steelmaker will temporarily idle Lone Star Tubular Operations in Texas and Fairfield Tubular Operations in Alabama in response to market conditions in the energy industry. “As we adjust operations throughout our tubular organization, we are right-sizing […]
The following analysis was done by Peter Wright who writes a number of analytical articles for Steel Market Update. The energy markets are key markets for steel so it is important for our readers to understand oil and gas prices as well as the tubular products associated with drilling and transportation of oil and gas. […]
According to Baker Hughes data from March 11, 2016, the U.S rig count for the week was 480 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This is a decrease of 9 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 6 to 386 rigs, gas rigs down 3 to 94 rigs, and […]
Below is the latest release issued by the the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) regarding residential and commercial heating and cooling equipment shipments through January 2016. You may read the press release on their website here. Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for January 2016 decreased 14.2 percent […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday in their analysis of non-farm employment that 242,000 jobs were added in February, up from 172,000 in January, December and January were revised up by a total of 30,000. More detail on this report is included at the end of this piece. The three month moving […]
Ryerson CEO Eddie Lehner called 2015 “one of the harshest and most difficult metal environments we have seen in terms of magnitude and duration.” Ryerson Holding, a service center company, announced fourth quarter and full year results on Thursday. The company posted a net loss of $20.5 million for the quarter. Revenue was down 23 […]
US Steel revealed a new corporate structure for its tubular operations last week. Ownership of the Lorain, Ohio and Fairfield, Ala., operations has been transferred to a new, wholly owned subsidiary US Tubular Operations, LLC. US Steel Seamless Tubular Operations, LLC and the existing US Steel Tubular Products, Inc. (a subsidiary of US Steel Corporation), […]
As negotiations between the domestic steel mills and their ferrous scrap suppliers conclude we are seeing scrap prices rise with the Chicago markets “catching up” with some of the other regions. Dealers are reporting robust sales, especially to sheet mills as they are picking up spot market share from the integrated mills. Chicago area prices […]
The following is a reprint of an article by Dr. Mark J. Perry in response to the Wall Street Journal article about the duties imposed on imports of cold-rolled steel from China that SMU publisher John Packard was quoted in. Dr. Perry is a Scholar at The American Enterprise Institute and Professor of Finance and […]
US Steel’s Lorain Tubular steel operations will be idled beginning March 27. The plant is expected to remain down for an unspecified time period until order books improve. US Steel spokesperson Sarah Casella said, “We continue to adjust operations at Lorain to meet customer demand.” The sprawling steel complex in Lorain workers includes both US […]