Economy

Key Pricing Driver for the Month: Supply
Written by John Packard
September 4, 2013
The key factor holding prices firm was the continuation of supply issues at the domestic steel mills.
During the month we had ArcelorMittal Indiana Harbor lose their #3 blast furnace for a week. The furnace is back online as of the end of the month.
We also had U.S. Steel performing maintenance on a furnace at Great Lakes and the lockout of their Lake Erie Works in Canada continued throughout the month of August.
AK Steel had furnace issues in July and spent the month of August catching up on orders affected by the July outage.
ThyssenKrupp Steel USA (Calvert, AL) sister plant in Brazil lost a furnace in May which came back online in late July. Due to production and transportation issues TKS USA was not able to rebuild their slab inventories as they had hoped to during the month of August.

John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Economy

Dodge Momentum Index jumps to record high in January
The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) rose to a record high in January, according to the latest data released by Dodge Construction Network.

CRU: China hits back with retaliatory tariffs on US
Targets include coal, liquified natural gas, crude oil, and other commodities

ISM: Manufacturing expands in January for first time in years
Following more than two years of contraction, US manufacturing activity rebounded in January according to the Institute for Supply Management.

Tampa Steel Conference: Trade attorney says brace for turbulence
Steel and aluminum have been identified as high priorities for trade

Chicago Business Barometer rises in January
Despite the gain, the index remains below both the levels of November 2024 and the 2024 average.