Steel Products
Canadian Housing Starts Slip in July
Written by Sandy Williams
August 16, 2013
Canadian housing starts in July fell slightly to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 192,853 units from 193,797 units in June. The decrease was 0.5 percent from June levels and 9.5 percent below housing starts in July 2012.
Urban starts for single units decreased by 5.5 percent to 58,732 units in July while urban multi-unit housing starts declined by a scant 0.2 percent to 114,311 units.
Housing construction surged during the spring and appears to be stabilizing said the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.
“For the past few months, total housing starts have followed the stabilizing trend observed in sales of existing homes earlier this year,” said Mathieu Laberge, Deputy Chief Economist at CMHC. “As expected, the trends in the two market segments typically follow a similar pattern with the new home market lagging behind the existing home market by a few months.”

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Products

UAW Has Upper Hand vs. Automakers: Schenker
The United Auto Workers (UAW) union has more leverage than the Detroit Three automakers in the current strike that started Sept. 15, according to Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics.

US Rig Count Drops, Canada Unchanged
The number of active oil and gas drilling rigs in the US dropped this week, while Canada’s count remains unchanged, according to the most recent data from oilfield services company Baker Hughes.

CRU: Demand-side Factors to Create Drag on Global Sheet Markets
Demand will be the determining factor in what happens to steel sheet prices globally for the remainder of the year, and most risks right now are to the downside. An autoworkers strike has started in the USA and could increase price volatility in the domestic sheet market. The longer and more severe this strike is, […]

Driving the Debate: Auto Worker’s Wage Demands in an Era of EV Transition
The LME aluminum 3-month price was up 0.8% on the morning of Friday Sept. 22. It was last seen trading at $2,238/metric tons, remaining above the $2,200/t mark for most of the past week.

Zekelman Industries Expanding ZI-Strut Line
Zekelman Industries has announced an expansion of its its ZI-Strut™ metal framing and accessories product line.