Steel Markets

Canada Housing Permits Muted
Written by Sandy Williams
June 7, 2014
Building permit values in Canada rose 1.1 percent to $6.0 billion in April following two months of decline. Building intentions for the residential sector offset the decline in nonresidential.
Commercial sector permit values fell 14.8 percent to $1.3 billion in April. The decline followed a 0.3 percent gain the previous month and put commercial permit values at the lowest level since March 2013.
Authorized permits for residential dwellings in April totaled 15,416, a 3.2 percent decline from the previous month. Multifamily permits declined by 6 percent to 9,641 units while single-family authorizations rose 2 percent to 5, 775 units.
From January to April 2014 63,851 units were authorized, compared to 64,147 in the same period in 2013. Multifamily units accounted for 63 percent of residential permit authorizations in the first four months of this year.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation expects housing starts to range between 172,300 and 189,900 units in 2014 and 160,600 to 203,600 units in 2015.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Markets

Steel Summit: Schneider sees SDI ‘on the edge of a very good run’
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) President and Chief Operating Officer, Barry Schneider, remains bullish about the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker’s position in the current market.

Sheet market participants say sales still in a slump
Across the US and throughout the steel supply chain, market participants are reporting another painfully quiet week for hot-rolled (HR) coil sales.

CRU: Lower sheet prices have pulled back demand for imports
Domestic sheet prices in the US remained under pressure, limiting interest in imports, while domestic prices for longs products continued to rise.

President Trump intends to set additional steel tariffs
While boarding Airforce One on Friday, US President Donald Trump stated that he would be setting more steel tariffs and putting ~100% tariffs on semiconductors and chips.

USS, government officials give update on Clairton Coke Works incident
U.S. Steel, Allegheny County executive Sara Innamorato, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro clarified details from early reports about the Clairton Coke Works facility explosion just one day earlier.