According to Baker Hughes data from May 24th, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,762 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This number represents a decrease of 7 rigs compared to last week, with oil rigs down 6 to 1402 rigs, gas rigs unchanged at 354 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs down 1 to 6 rigs. Compared to last year the 1,762 count is a decrease of 221 rigs, with oil rigs up by 19, gas rigs down by 240, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged.

Canadian rigs increased by 8 to 131 rigs this week, with oil rigs up 5 to 75 rigs, and gas rigs up 3 to 56 rigs. Compared to last year the 131 count is a decrease of 27 rigs, with oil rigs down by 37 and gas rigs up by 10. International rigs increased by 33 to 1,301 rigs last month, an increase of 123 rigs from a year ago.

About the Rotary Rig Count

A rotary rig is one that rotates the drill pipe from the surface to either drill a new well or sidetracking an existing one. They are drilled to explore for, develop and produce oil or natural gas. The Baker Hughes Rotary Rig count includes only those rigs that are significant consumers of oilfield services and supplies.

The Baker Hughes North American Rotary Rig Count is a weekly census of the number of drilling rigs actively exploring for or developing oil or natural gas in the United States and Canada. Rigs considered active must be on location and drilling. They are considered active from the time they break ground until the time they reach their target depth.

The Baker Hughes International Rotary Rig Count is a monthly census of active drilling rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas outside of the United States and Canada. International rigs considered active must be drilling at least 15 days during the month. The Baker Hughes International Rotary Rig Count does not include rigs drilling in Russia or onshore China.

West Chester, OH, May 23, 2013—AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) said today that it will increase current spot market base prices for all carbon flat-rolled steel products by a minimum of $50 per ton, effective immediately with new orders.

ArcelorMittal USA advised their customers that they were raising flat rolled steel prices earlier today Read more ...

E-Nugget North Dakota LLC will use a novel approach to make high quality iron pellets using sugar beet residue instead of coking coal in a new iron producing plant to be built near Jamestown, North Dakota. Read more ...

United States Steel Corporation (USS) sent a copy of an internal memorandum to their customers informing them of their intention to raise prices by a “minimum” of $50 per ton. The pricing was to be take effect “immediately” and no specific reasons for the increase were transmitted to the customers Read more ...

Severstal North America announced three executive leadership changes on Monday. Ronald Kostyo will replace Bruce Black as Vice-President and General Manager, Severstal Dearborn effective June 1. Read more ...

Net profit plummeted 90 percent for Russian steelmaker Severstal in the first quarter of 2013. Read more ...

Falls Church, VA, May 17, 2013 - The full US Senate passed S601, the Water Resources Development Act by a vote of 83-14 on a strongly bipartisan vote. Read more ...

AGC of America, May 17, 2013 - Construction employment declined in 32 states and the District of Columbia in April even as 29 states added jobs between April 2012 and April 2013, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data. Read more ...

Colorado Springs, CO –The Board of Directors of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) has elected Michael T. Rehwinkel, President and CEO of EVRAZ North America, to serve as Chairman of the Institute until May of 2014 Read more ...

Business conditions in New York State deteriorated in May for the first time since January. Read more ...

Shipments on America’s rivers were flat in April according to the May 7 MID-SHIP Report. Imported steel shipments picked up in early 2013 but have since softened. Volumes are expected to be lethargic for the next 60 days. Read more ...

We have a little more than three weeks before our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals workshop. We still have a number of seats left so now is a good time to pull at the boss’s sleeves and plead your case: I want to know more, I want to become a better employee and I want to grow in this business. I want to attend Steel Market Update’s Steel 101 workshop Read more ...

Falls Church, VA, May 9, 2013 – Steel exports increased in March 2013 over February 2013 by 6.1% based on government reporting. “The stronger showing for steel exports in March was due primarily to increased shipments to our NAFTA partners, but notably, exports increased to all other smaller export markets as well, with the exception of the small markets in Africa. Read more ...

Brazilian iron ore miner Vale is hoping to secure a bigger share of the U.S. market by supplying ore for DRI production. Read more ...

Steel Dynamics announced two new management appointments. Read more ...

Russel Metals, Mississauga, Ontario, announced earnings of $22 million for the first quarter of 2013, down from $33 million a year ago but showing improvement from the previous quarter. Read more ...

The Institute of Supply Management Purchasing Managers Index, (PMI) registered 50.7 percent in April, a decrease of 0.6 percentage point from March's reading of 51.3 percent, indicating expansion in manufacturing for the fifth consecutive month, but at the lowest rate of the year. With the exception of August last year, the three month moving average of the index has been above the 50 thresh-hold every month since August 2009, (Fig 1). The New Orders Index increased in April by 0.9 percentage point to 52.3 percent, and the Production Index increased by 1.3 percentage points to 53.5 percent. The Employment Index registered 50.2 percent, a decrease of 4 percentage points compared to March's reading of 54.2 percent. The Prices Index registered 50 percent, decreasing 4.5 percentage points from March, indicating that overall raw materials prices remained unchanged from last month. On a three month moving average basis, all the major sub indices were down compared to three months through March and all except supplier deliveries were down year over year, (Table 1).

Comments from the panel indicate a range of strong/steady growth, to flat/declining volumes, depending upon the particular industry." Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 14 are reporting growth in April in the following order: Furniture & Related Products; Printing & Related Support Activities; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; Fabricated Metal Products; Paper Products; Machinery; Nonmetallic Mineral Products; Primary Metals; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Petroleum & Coal Products; Plastics & Rubber Products; Transportation Equipment; and Computer & Electronic Products. The three industries reporting contraction in April are: Wood Products; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; and Chemical Products.

Explanation; The Manufacturing ISM Report On Business® is published monthly by the Institute for Supply Management™, the first supply institute in the world. Founded in 1915, ISM exists to lead and serve the supply management profession and is a highly influential and respected association in the global marketplace. ISM's mission is to enhance the value and performance of procurement and supply chain management practitioners and their organizations worldwide. This report has been issued by the association since 1931, except for a four-year interruption during World War II. The report is based on data compiled from purchasing and supply executives nationwide. Membership of the Manufacturing Business Survey Committee is diversified by NAICS, based on each industry's contribution to gross domestic product (GDP). The PMI is a diffusion index. Diffusion indexes have the properties of leading indicators and are convenient summary measures showing the prevailing direction of change and the scope of change. A PMI™ reading above 50 percent indicates that the manufacturing economy is generally expanding; below 50 percent indicates that it is generally declining. A PMI™ in excess of 42.2 percent, over a period of time, indicates that the overall economy, or gross domestic product (GDP), is generally expanding; below 42.2 percent, it is generally declining. The distance from 50 percent or 42.2 percent is indicative of the strength of the expansion or decline. With some of the indicators within this report, ISM has indicated the departure point between expansion and decline of comparable government series, as determined by regression analysis.

When reviewing our flat rolled price assessments it is important to note that our opinion is the range is more important than the average. Our index is nothing more than the average of our high and low. Our SMU Price Momentum Indicator which is currently at “Lower” provides the trend we see in our price evaluations. This past week our range on base thickness hot rolled coil was Read more ...

One week ago today (Sunday) U.S. Steel Canada locked out the union workers associated with USW Local 8782 which represents the Lake Erie Works facility in Canada. Late last week U.S. Steel Canada spokesperson Trevor Harris provided a letter to two Canadian news organizations which were published. Steel Market Update published a blog post on Friday regarding the issues raised by USS Canada. Today we are publishing the union response Read more ...

An “unfortunate circumstance” is how U.S. Steel CEO John Surma described the lock out of nearly 1000 employees at Lake Erie Works in his company conference call remarks. Read more ...

Overall Volume and OI Trends
• Positive volume growth in ferrous complex with new market participants entering the market
• Pick up trend in iron ore futures ahead of their launch on CME Globex on 5/13/2013 Read more ...

Residential Contractors Add Jobs at Robust Clip for the Month and Year While Nonresidential Employment Rises Relative to 2012 Level but Slips from March; Association Warns of Potential Future Worker Shortages Read more ...

Samuel, Son & Co., located in Ontario, announced the acquisition of Vancouver-based Wilkinson Steel and Metals. Read more ...

Construction employment levels are reported below by the Associated General Contractors of America:

Construction employment increased in Read more ...

AM Castle reported a net loss of $10.6 million for the first quarter of 2013, compared to a net loss of 4.3 million in the prior year quarter. Read more ...

Steel Market Update (SMU) has been conducting discussions in various LinkedIn groups (ours is called Steel Market Update) regarding the practice of selling contracts to an index and the repudiation of the CRU-minus contract deals by ArcelorMittal, Nucor and Severstal who have vowed not to discount off CRU in future contract negotiations Read more ...

The Lake Erie Works union workers were locked out of their jobs by U.S. Steel management at 9 AM Sunday morning. This is the second time USS has locked out USW Local 8782 since the company bought the former Stelco facilities in 2007. They have also locked out Lake Erie sister plant, Hamilton Works when its contract expired in 2010 Read more ...

U.S. Steel has sent a letter of intent advising employees at Lake Erie Works that a lock out will take effect at 9:00 a.m. April 28, 2013. Read more ...

Lake Erie union workers soundly rejected the final contract offer from U.S. Steel on Tuesday. With 92 percent of the membership turning out to vote, 70 percent voted against the package. Read more ...

Chicago, April 22, 2013 – In defense of its patent rights, ArcelorMittal filed complaints before the District Court of Delaware on April 16 to demonstrate that AK Steel, Severstal North America (SNA) and SNA’s coating partner, Wheeling-Nisshin, have infringed upon its Usibor® aluminum silicon coated products patent (Usibor®-AS) by selling steel grades protected under the Usibor®-AS patent to automakers and their supply chains. Read more ...

ThyssenKrupp AG announced on Monday the appointment of Carsten Spohr and Dr. Lothar Steinbach to the Supervisory Board. Read more ...

The following is a letter received by SMU regarding U.S. Steel's Final Contract Offer to USW Local 8782: Read more ...

Steel Market Update (SMU) has a LinkedIn steel group (also named Steel Market Update) and one of our members left the following comment to our ongoing discussion about the contract negotiations at US Steel Lake Erie Works and the potential for a steel strike at the flat rolled steel producing mill located in Canada Read more ...

The international headquarters of the United Steelworkers has ordered Lake Erie steelworkers in Local 8782 to vote on the final contract offered by U.S. Steel. The mandate came after the local union voted 796-4 not to put the company’s final offer to vote, opting for a strike instead Read more ...

The following letter was received by Steel Market Update with an official CRU comment on U.S. Mill announcements to move away from discounted CRU indexed-based deals: Read more ...

The United Steelworkers Union Local 8782 which represents the workers at the United States Steel (USS) Lake Erie Works steel mill in Canada, has voted to give their 72-hour notice of a potential strike. Below is the text of a notice posted on the union website dated today Read more ...

Steel Market Update and the CRU believe it is important for the steel industry to understand what the domestic mills are Read more ...

Steel exports dropped in February according to the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) report below:

"Falls Church, VA, April 18, 2013 – Steel exports declined 3.8 percent in February 2013 compared to January according to government data Read more ...

Severstal NA has announced effective base prices on new spot flat rolled steel orders as of April 22, 2013. The base prices announced, if collected, would result in price increases of approximately $40-$50 per ton above our most recent price indices (the average of the SMU price range) Read more ...

Arkansas House legislators gave final approval to fund the $125 million incentive package offered to Big River Steel in Osceola, Ark. Read more ...

United Steelworkers Local 8782 which represents the workers at Lake Erie Works has been unable to reach an agreement on a new contract with U.S. Steel. Their contract expired at 12:01 AM this morning (Tuesday, April 16th). However, the two parties have a “protocol” in place whereby either side must provide a 72-hour notice if they intent to strike or lockout the union. The union has told their workers that the 72-hour protocol has not yet been started by either side Read more ...

Now that Big River Steel is getting government financing to set up shop in Arkansas, Nucor-Yamoto Steel is asking Blytheville City Council for bond assistance for its $115 million steel mill expansion. Read more ...

Written by: Sandy Williams

A strike or a lock-out is possible this week at U.S. Steel’s Lake Erie Works in Nanticoke, Ontario, Canada. The contract between U.S. Steel and Local 8782 of the United Steel Workers is set to expire at 12:01 a.m. April 16. Read more ...

Steel service center, Metals USA, will become part of Reliance Steel & Aluminum at the close of business today (Friday, April 12, 2013). Metals USA has three primary sales groups - flat rolled, plate & structural (long products) and fabricated construction products Read more ...

CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 12, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) announced today that Executive Vice President of Fabricated Construction Products, Hamilton Lott, Jr., plans to retire on June 3, 2013 after more than 37 years of service with Nucor. Read more ...

Worthington Industries announced the acquisition of Palmer Manufacturing and Tank for $113.6 million. Kansas based Palmer manufactures steel and fiberglass cylinders for oil and gas, chemical processing, agricultural and industrial markets expanding Worthington’s product offering in the energy market. Read more ...

Final details have been completed and registration is open for our next Steel 101 workshop which will be held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. We believe this is by far the best way to learn about the steel industry. Read more ...

Pascagoula, Miss. and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas Are Top Gainers While Monroe, Mich. Had Largest Percentage Decline, Northern Virginia Lost the Most Jobs Read more ...

Falls Church, VA, April 5, 2013 – In welcoming Congress back from its Easter Recess, AIIS urges Congress to action on a pressing need to pass the Water Resources Development Act, with a particular focus on the provision that would require the full expenditure of funds collected under the Harbor Maintenance Fee for the purpose for which it has always been intended – dredging and maintenance of our blue and brown water ports. Read more ...