Steel Products
Steady Business Conditions Ahead Says PMA Report
Written by Sandy Williams
March 18, 2013
Written by: Sandy Williams
Metalforming companies are expecting business to be steady for the next three months according to the March 2013 Precision Metalforming Association Business Conditions Report. Optimism has been rising since November and has flattened out in February and March.
Incoming orders are not expected to change much in the next three months. Average daily shipping levels have increased slightly in March compared to three months ago and are not expected to change much in the next three. Lead times are similar to those of three months ago.
Metalforming companies reporting layoffs or short time dropped to 11 percent in March down from 19 percent in February making it the lowest level since March 2012 when 10 percent of workers were on short time or layoff.
“PMA’s manufacturing member companies reported fairly strong orders and shipments in the first quarter of 2013 vs. the last quarter of 2012,” said William E. Gaskin, PMA president. “However, compared to the first quarter of 2012, they are operating at similar levels. In calendar year 2012, orders and shipments started strong, then fell off substantially in early summer, recovered somewhat in early fall and then fell sharply again at year-end. In 2013, the trend line looks pretty similar so far. The real question will come as summer approaches, as to whether there will be a pull-back in consumer spending that impacts the rest of the year.”
The PMA Business Conditions Report, an economic indicator for manufacturing, is a monthly survey based on a sampling of metalforming companies in the United States and Canada. This month 114 metalforming companies participated in the survey.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Products

Domestic CRC prices accelerate, closing gap with landed Japanese product
The price spread between US-produced cold-rolled (CR) coil and offshore CR products widened again in the week ended Feb. 14, as prices for US product accelerated ahead of imports. Domestic CR coil tags jumped week on week (w/w), while offshore markets moved higher at a slower pace. The result? The US premium over imports widened […]

US HR prices surge ahead of offshore tags
Hot-rolled (HR) coil prices rose further in the US this week, while tags abroad saw minor gains. The result: the margin US hot band holds over imports on a landed basis increased.

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.