Steel Products
ISM Purchasing Managers Index Rises to 53.1%
Written by Sandy Williams
February 4, 2013
Written by: Sandy Williams
The New Year began with promise for U.S. manufacturers. The ISM Manufacturing PMI registered 53.1 percent in January signaling expansion in the manufacturing sector for the second consecutive month and increasing 2.9 percent from December’s seasonally adjusted rate of 50.2. The overall economy rose for the 44th consecutive month according to supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business.
Thirteen of the 18 manufacturing industries covered in the Report showed growth in January. Only Nonmetallic Mineral Products, Computer & Electronic Products, Wood Products and Chemical Products reported contraction for the month.
New orders rose 3.6 percent to 53.3 percent in January after dropping to 49.7 percent in December. Production was up 1.0 percent to 53.6 percent. Employment improved slightly, up 2.1 percent to 54 percent and on a continuous growth trend for the 40th consecutive month.
Supplier Deliveries to manufacturers decreased slightly by 0.1 percent In January, registering at 53.6 percent. Inventories are growing as evidenced by a bounce of 8 percentage points to 51 percent in January from 43 percent reported in December. Customer inventories continue to hover below the healthy 50 mark in January but rose 1.5 percentage points to 48.5 percent for the month from 47 percent in December.
The Price index registered 56.5 with 67 percent of respondents reporting prices remaining the same as the previous month. January showed a 1.0 percent gain over December.
Backlog of orders was 1.0 percent lower in January at 47.5 and the 10th consecutive month of contraction.
January New Exports registered 50.5 percent, 1.0 percent lower than reported in December. January and December were the only months of growth since May 2012 when the index was 53.5 percent. Imports registered 50 percent, slightly lower than the 51.5 percent reported in December.
Lead times increased 4 days to 120 days for Capital Expenditures, 5 days to 59 days for Production Materials, and 3 days to 28 for Maintenance, Repair and Operating (MRO) Supplies.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Products

SMU scrap market survey results now available
SMU’s inaugural ferrous scrap market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the pricing and analysis tab and look under the “survey results” section for “latest survey results.” Past flat-rolled survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, or […]

SMU flat-rolled market survey results now available
SMU’s latest steel buyers market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members.

US HR prices pulling away from offshore tags
Hot-rolled (HR) coil prices moved up again in the US this week, while tags abroad were largely flat. The result: the margin US hot band holds over imports on a landed basis widened further.

ArcelorMittal to start building Calvert NGO electrical steel line this year
ArcelorMittal announced on Thursday that it will begin the construction of its new $1.2-billion electrical steel mill in Alabama later this year. The steelmaker said it is proceeding with plans to build the new greenfield mill near its existing AM/NS joint venture in Calvert, Ala. The ArcelorMittal Calvert plant will have an annealing pickling line, […]

AISI: US steel shipments rise in December
Domestic steel shipments increased month over month and year on year in December, according to the latest data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). US steel mills shipped 7,145,016 short tons (st) in December, up 0.9% from 7,082,921 st in December 2023 and 6.6% higher than 6,702,557 st in November 2024. For the full-year […]