Steel Products
Philly and NY Survey's Post Slower Manufacturing Growth
Written by Sandy Williams
August 16, 2013
Manufacturing continued to expand in the Philadelphia region in August but with slightly less optimism for the current pace of growth. The general economic index of The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s Business Outlook Survey fell to 9.3 this month from 19.8 in July (its highest reading since March 2011) and has been in the expansion range now for three consecutive months.
Demand slowed in August as indicated by a drop of 5 points in the new orders index to 5.3. Shipments, unfilled orders and delivery times all showed negative readings this month suggesting weaker conditions. The employment index dropped 4 points but more firms surveyed reported more increases in hiring than decreases.
The future indicators still suggest growth in business activity but with less strength.
New York manufacturers indicated modest improvement for August in the Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The general business index held relatively steady at 8.2 for the month while new orders and shipments indexes fell, indicating flattening conditions. The number of employees increased in August along with the average workweek, reaching their highest levels in a year.
The outlook for the future was positive with the future general business index rising five points to 37.4. Capital expenditures are expected to pick up while the technology spending index fell six points to 4.8.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Products

Asian HR remains much cheaper than US, EU product
Domestic hot-rolled (HR) coil prices were flat this week after declining seven of the last nine weeks. Offshore prices have also eroded in recent weeks, though not nearly as significantly as in the US.

Galv buyers less optimistic about short-term market
“It was a little more of a seller's market as contractors seemed to be protecting themselves against a potential run up in prices," one buyer said.

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. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the pricing and analysis tab and look under the “survey results” section for “latest survey results.” Past survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, or if […]

US, offshore CRC prices continue to fall
US cold-rolled (CR) coil prices were down again this week, slipping six weeks in a row and seeing the sharpest drop-off since last July.

Asian HR remains much cheaper than US, EU product
Domestic hot-rolled (HR) coil prices fell this week, now down seven of the last eight weeks.