Steel Market Update (SMU) is changing the way we look at the import license data. As we have mentioned on numerous occasions, the steel import license data can only provide an idea as to how imports are shaping up for the current month. The licenses received have been tending to surge at the beginning of […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) made the following statement this week: “Despite setbacks, an uneven global recovery continues. Largely due to weaker-than-expected global activity in the first half of 2014, the growth forecast for the world economy has been revised downward to 3.3 percent for this year, 0.4 percentage point lower than in the April […]
Cliffs Natural Resources will begin using trucks to transport taconite pellets to the docks from its Minnesota facility due to rail congestion in the upper Midwest. In an announcement on Friday, the company said it will immediately begin utilizing 100 trucks per day to ship iron ore pellets from Hibbing Taconite to the Duluth-Superior harbor […]
It was nice to see that US Steel was able to get a contract with their USW Local 1005 at Hamilton Works in Canada. Their contract was set to expire tomorrow (October 15th). For our Premium level members, we should have the Imports by Product, Port and Country for August on our website by sometime […]
Below is the latest data issued by the The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) regarding residential and commercial heating and cooling equipment shipments through August 2014. You may read the press release on their website here. Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for August 2014 decreased 4.0 percent, […]
According to Baker Hughes data from October 10th 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,930 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count represents an increase of 8 rigs compared to last week, with oil rigs up 18 to 1,609 rigs, gas rigs down 10 to 320 rigs, and […]
Final steel imports totaled 3,698,435 net tons (3,355,168 metric tons) for the month of August, down 4.2 percent from 3,858,692 tons in July but up 28.5 percent from 2,878,367 tons August of last year. On a 12 month moving average (12MMA) basis, total steel imports through August are at the highest level recorded in our […]
The World Steel Association has downgraded it Short Range Outlook for apparent steel usage for 2014 and 2015 to 2 percent each year-over-year from it’s previous April forecast of 3.1 percent in 2014 and 3.3 percent in 2015. The slowing markets in China, South American and CIS were cited as reasons for the changed in […]
Hot-rolled coil steel from Germany, China and France may soon be subjected to antidumping duties from Mexico. Mexico’s Ministry of economy has launched an investigation following a complaint by Ternium Mexico and Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA) that imports of HRC from the three countries between 2011 and 2013 lowered prices and harmed Mexican producers. […]
Our Price Momentum Indicator has been stuck in “Neutral” since the last day of June 2014. We are now entering our 4th month and hot rolled steel prices have barely budged from the center line (OK, there have been some mild gyrations but no clear cut path up or down during the past three months). […]
Barge availability is becoming an issue on U.S. waterways. According to the MID-SHIP Report, demand for barges to move record grain production is putting upward pressure on shipping costs. MID-SHIP also reports berth congestion for some breakbulk facilities along the Mississippi River due to strong steel shipments. Availability constraints in trucking and rail are adding […]
The Canadian economy was flat in July following six months of gains according to data released by Statistics Canada on Sept. 30, 2014. GDP growth was unchanged, failing to meet economist forecasts of 0.2 to 0.3 percent growth. Manufacturing output grew by 1 percent. Durable goods rose 1.6 percent with notable increases in transportation equipment, […]
Armada Executive Intelligence released its monthly trends report that focuses on economic issues that are likely to have short and long term impact on business. The following is a summary of the important issues to watch in the coming months and year. Trend 1: U.S. Dollar Strengthening Banks around the world are taking their cue […]
According to Baker Hughes data from September 26th 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,931 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is unchanged compared to last week, with oil rigs down 9 to 1,592 rigs, gas rigs up 9 to 338 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at […]
Foreign steel imports accounted for 27 percent of the August 2014 monthly usage and a like percentage for annual steel usage according to data just released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Foreign imported steel tonnage was lower in August than the prior month but is way ahead of the tonnage received in […]
The Canadian International Trade Tribune (the Tribunal) determined last Friday that there is reasonable indication that dumping and subsidization of OCTG products from nine countries have caused or may cause injury to the domestic market. The countries named in the investigation are Chinese Taipei, the Republic of India, the Republic of Indonesia, the Republic of […]
According to Baker Hughes data from September 19th 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,931 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is unchanged compared to last week, with oil rigs up 9 to 1,601 rigs, gas rigs down 9 to 329 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at […]
Esmark Industrial Group (EIG) announced the acquisition of Pittsburgh Annealing Box, Inc, for an undisclosed multi-million dollar purchase price. EIG is a metals and fabrication and manufacturing subsidiary of Esmark Inc. Pittsburgh Annealing Box, a maintenance, steel fabrication and repair operation, was founded in 1893 and has conducted business under the name KMA Manufacturing since 2003. […]
Industrial production (IP) and manufacturing capacity utilization for August 2014: Both of these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The IP index was reported as 104.12 for August, a decline of 0.1 percent from July. This is another example where the individual month’s result can be misleading. The three month […]
At least once per month, Steel Market Update produces an update on the various currencies associated with steel trading nations. The following information is as of late last week and was produced by SMU contributing writer Peter Wright. Explanation of data sources: The broad index is published by the Federal Reserve on both a daily […]
Below is the latest press release issued by the The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) on residential and commercial heating and cooling equipment shipments through July 2014. You may read the press release on their website here. Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for July 2014 increased 7.5 […]
According to Baker Hughes data from September 12th 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,931 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 6 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 8 to 1,592 rigs, gas rigs down 2 to 338 rigs, […]
For months there have been rumors circulating in the marketplace that the domestic steel industry was contemplating filing dumping suits against the Chinese on cold rolled and potentially a number of Asian countries on galvanized and/or Galvalume products. To date there have not been suits filed and the foreign steel continues to arrive at ever-greater […]
Esmark, Inc. announced it will convert the former Ohio Cold Rolling Company steel finishing mill, in Yorkville, Ohio, into a tri-modal services terminal to support oil and gas companies operating in the Marcellus and Utica shale plays. Ohio Cold Rolling was acquired by Esmark two years ago and subsequently closed. The repurposed facility will be […]
Are foreign steel prices too low or are US steel prices too high? That is a question faced by trade litigation attorneys Robert Schagrin and Lewis Leibowitz at the recent SMU Steel Summit conference in Atlanta. There is a $300 delta between China and US prices and a $200 delta between Europe and the US […]
The following is a press release by the Associated General Contractors of America: ACG, Sept 2, 2014 — Growing demand for construction services comes as new study finds one-in-four construction firms turning down work because of growing labor shortages for the industry. All major categories of construction spending increased in July and total construction reached […]
According to Baker Hughes data from August 29th 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,914 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 18 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 11 to 1,575 rigs, gas rigs up 8 to 338 rigs, […]
Falls Church, Va. August 26, 2014. Steel imports into the United States continued to grow in July, expanding by more than 6 percent from June and nearly 56 percent from a year earlier. July imports totaled 3.8 million net tons, 221,000 net tons more than in June. Imports from South Korea and Russia showed the […]
The US International Trade Commission announced Friday that it will impose anti-dumping duties on imports from six of the nine countries accused by U.S. steel producers of dumping OCTG in the US market. The decision includes Korea, who was previously excluded in the preliminary decision, India, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine and Vietnam. The Philippines and Thailand […]
According to Baker Hughes data from August 22, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,896 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 17 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 25 to 1,564 rigs, gas rigs up 9 to 330 rigs, […]