Steel Markets
Housing Starts Fall in March but Permits Rise
Written by Sandy Williams
April 17, 2017
Housing starts fell 6.8 percent in March, dropping further than expected. The rate was the biggest decline in three years but still 9.2 percent higher than the rate in March 2016. According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,215,000.
Single family housing starts fell 6.2 percent while construction starts for buildings with five units or more fell 6.1 percent. Declines were heaviest in the Midwest with total starts down 16.2 percent and single family housing plummeting 35.0 percent. The Northeast was the only region to see total starts increase with a jump of 12.9 percent entirely from multi-family housing.
Permit authorizations, an indicator of future construction, were up 3.6 percent from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,260,000. Building permits increased 16.7 percent in the West, 15.5 percent in the Northeast, and 6.0 percent in the South. The Midwest trailed the rest with a decline of 22.0 percent.
Permit growth coincides with continued confidence in the market by builders. The National Association of Home Builders reported sentiment falling three points to 68 on the April Housing Market Index after an unusually high March reading.
“Today’s numbers are aligned with our builder confidence metric, which contracted slightly this month but is on solid footing overall,” said Granger MacDonald, chairman of the NAHB.
“The three-month moving average for single-family starts has reached a post-recession high, which shows that this sector is continuing to firm,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “We can expect further gains in single-family production throughout the year, while multifamily starts should level off.”
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Markets
Steel market participants mull the impact of US/Mexico S232 negotiations
Steel market participants learned that negotiations between the US and Mexico include discussions about Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum despite President Trump’s June 3 proclamation increasing the tariffs from 25% to 50% for all steel and aluminum imports—except for those from the UK.
ArcelorMittal plans wire-drawing closure in Hamilton, shifts production to Montreal
ArcelorMittal’s (AM) Hamilton location to be shuttered, wire production shifting to Montreal.
Tariffs, ample domestic supply cause importers to shift or cancel HR import orders
Subdued demand is causing importers to cancel hot-rolled (HR) coil orders and renegotiate the terms of shipments currently enroute to the US, importers say. An executive for a large overseas mill said customers might find it difficult to justify making imports buys after US President Donald Trump doubled the 25% Section 232 tariff on imported steel […]
CRU Insight: A 50% S232 tariff will raise US steel prices and shift trade flows
This CRU Insight examines how the increase in Section 232 tariffs on steel to challenging levels will lead to significatively higher prices for end consumers in the US market.
Steel market shakes tariffs off amid weak demand
Service centers and distributors contend that weak demand is to blame for the flattening of domestic steel spot prices, as reflected in Nucor Steel’s weekly Consumer Spot Price (CSP) notice. On Monday, the Charlotte, North Carolina-headquartered steel producer left prices unchanged from the previous week. Nucor has maintained prices of plate produced in Brandenburg since March 28.