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    Market Data

    SMU's April at a glance

    Written by Brett Linton


    SMU’s Monthly Review provides a summary of our key steel market metrics for the previous month, with the latest data updated through April 30.

    Following the February and March rally, steel prices ticked lower across the month of April. SMU’s Price Momentum Indicator was adjusted from Higher to Neutral on hot-rolled steel products in the last week of March, with all other sheet products following suit in early April. Sheet momentum then shifted to Lower in the third week of April, while plate momentum remained at Neutral.

    Brett Linton

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    Latest in Market Data

    Apparent steel supply remains historically strong through August

    The volume of finished steel that entered the US market increased 1% from July to August to the second-highest monthly level recorded in the past four years, according to SMU’s analysis of recently released Department of Commerce and American Iron and Steel Institute data. Apparent steel supply is calculated by combining domestic mill shipments and finished US steel imports, then subtracting total US exports. It can be used as a proxy for domestic steel demand. Supply has remained historically strong since May, when it surpassed the 9 million st mark it had previously been beneath for four years.

    US shipments of heating and cooling equipment slow further in August

    Total shipments of heating and cooling equipment cooled further in August, according to the latest figures from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). After falling 11% month on month (m/m) in July, shipments slipped another 10% in August. The monthly pace marks the third-slowest shipment rate year-to-date. Shipments of water heaters, air conditioners, and heat pumps declined m/m, while warm-air furnace shipments picked up. Compared with a year earlier, only air conditioners and heat pumps increased.