Residential housing construction remains in high demand as consumers take advantage of favorable interest rates. Sales of new single-family homes in September slipped 3.5 percent from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 959,000, but were 32 percent higher than a year ago. Sales in the Northeast fell 28.9 percent from September and sales […]
We had a good conference call with HARDI wholesalers this morning. The dealers who service the mechanical contractors with galvanized sheet and coils continue to be busy. They are surprised at the steepness of the cost curve, and they are beginning to be wary of paying too high a price. One reason they are wary is […]
The agriculture market in the Midwest is on course for a profitable year despite the historic pandemic and a historic storm earlier this summer. Farmers are in the fields more than halfway done with a successful harvest. Grain prices are decent and, combined with government subsidies, “it sounds like net farm income is going to […]
Nine days to go… I don’t know about you but my cell phone is being lit up with political calls/texts from both parties – including states I don’t live in. November 4th can’t get here fast enough… Steel Dynamics reported that their mills (all products) operated at 85 percent and their sheet mills achieved a […]
Existing home sales soared in September, up 9.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.5 million. Compared to September 2019, sales were up nearly 21 percent, reported the National Association of Realtors. “Home sales traditionally taper off toward the end of the year, but in September they surged beyond what we normally see […]
COVID-19 cases appear to be surging again, and we asked steel buyers to advise if they were seeing any changes to their business due to the new cases. Most reported no impact from the virus, but there were concerns about what government might do if cases continue to rise. No one wants another shutdown of […]
Housing starts continued to grow in September supported by strong interest in single-family home construction. Housing starts climbed 1.9 percent from August and 11.1 percent from a year ago to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,415,000, reported the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. Single-family starts leapt 8.5 […]
I made a boo-boo when disclosing the date for Dr. Schultz doing one of our SMU Community Chat Webinars. The webinar will be on OCTOBER 28TH, not this Wednesday as was originally advertised. My apologies to those who were looking forward to listening to Dr. Schultz this week. I have information about the webinar a […]
Given all the contentious election rhetoric and concerns over the spread of COVID, industry sentiment, as measured by Steel Market Update, remains surprisingly upbeat. SMU’s Current Sentiment Index saw a 12-point jump since the beginning of October, reaching its highest reading since May 2018. Every two weeks, SMU asks steel buyers how they view their […]
About 72 percent of the service center and OEM executives polled by Steel Market Update this week said they expect the economy in 2021 to be better than 2020. The other 28 percent was evenly split between those who expect more of the same and those who see next year being even worse. No surprise, […]
Steel Market Update’s service center inventories data for September shows supplies on hand at very low levels. At the same time, the percentage of inventory on order is at very high levels. That suggests, say some observers, that some service centers may have waited too long to replenish their inventories, then did some panic buying […]
Have you ever attended a wedding and thought to yourself as you looked at the lovely young bride and her much older groom: “How is this going to work?” The marriage of U.S. Steel and Big River Steel is raising some of the same doubts. U.S. Steel announced today that is has exercised its option […]
Lead times for hot rolled steel now average longer than six weeks, and coated steel orders longer than eight weeks, as the mills remain busy in a market adjusting to business in a pandemic. Lead times are an indicator of steel demand—longer lead times indicate the mills have more orders to process and are less […]
Flat Rolled = 45 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 51.3 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Service center flat roll inventories fell significantly month on month as shipments increased and mill lead times extended. The SMU service center inventories data for September shows that service centers carried 45 shipping days of supply of flat […]
Welcome to the year that never ends…and the worst part is just beginning. First, the good news. According to the manufacturing and service center executives who made up 82 percent of the respondents to this week’s survey, the steel economy is going to be much improved in 2021 versus what we have seen this year. About […]
Nucor Tubular Products led the pipe and tube manufacturers announcing a $50 per ton price increase this morning on HSS, pipe, mechanical and piling products. EXLTUBE advised they were following the Nucor lead and announced their fourth price increase on HSS and A53B products matching the Nucor $50 per ton. New orders for foreign steel […]
August heating and cooling equipment shipments totaled 2.01 million units, up 12.7 percent from the same month one year ago, according to recent data from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). Total August shipments declined 1.1 percent over the previous month, but recall that we are coming down from a recent record-high; June 2020 […]
We are now 23 days from the close of the 2020 presidential election. I think all of us, no matter how we use our vote, are hoping for a quick decision and then an orderly move to either the second term of President Trump or the new Biden administration. If you have not already voted, […]
Nearly three out of four (72 percent) of the service center and OEM executives responding to Steel Market Update’s questionnaire last week said they feel upbeat about their company’s prospects in the fourth quarter. Yet SMU received twice as many negative comments as positive ones. Clearly, even the optimists are concerned about COVID and the […]
Nonresidential construction projects in planning rose in September. The Dodge Momentum Index gained 3.7 percent, climbing to 130.8 last month. Planning for commercial projects jumped 3.9 percent, while institutional projects moved 3.2 percent higher. The index has increased at a slow and steady pace since its low point in June, gaining 2.2 percent in the […]
I have been communicating with Mark Bush, CEO of JSW Steel USA, regarding their Mingo Junction steel plant. The plant has been down since late July as the company reacted to “unforeseeable business circumstances in connection with the current COVID-19 pandemic….” The plant has been rumored to begin operations in February 2021. SMU reached out […]
I began writing Steel Market Update as a way to use my experience and relationships from my 31 years of sales and management within the steel industry in order to assist the industry to make better buy/sell decisions. I wanted SMU to be a source of quality information as we ask the targeted questions of […]
Industry sentiment, as measured by Steel Market Update, has seen little change in the past month, but has stabilized at relatively healthy levels. Every two weeks, SMU asks steel buyers how they view their company’s chances for success in the current environment. The Current Sentiment reading was unchanged at +56 this week. Compared with the […]
The auto industry is expected to continue its quick pace to recovery with third-quarter retail sales up 27 percent from the second quarter of 2020, forecasts Tru Car and its subsidiary ALG, Inc. Sales in September are forecast to reach 1,221,092 units, down 12 percent from a year ago and down 4 percent from August […]
With steel mills currently having extended mill lead times, steel buyers need to be cognizant of their inventories. If one has two months of inventory and the mills are running seven-week lead times on your products, then you need to be concerned should lead times move out even further. If you are an active buyer […]
Lead times for spot orders of hot rolled and Galvalume steels continued to lengthen a bit over the past two weeks, while lead times for cold rolled, galvanized and plate products were flat to slightly lower. Lead times for hot rolled now average more than five and a half weeks, cold rolled more than seven […]
It’s a seller’s market as the mills hold firm in price talks on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steel orders, while they seek to collect the higher prices announced this week in an improving market, according to respondents to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire. About 77 percent of the hot rolled steel buyers […]
Mills continue to stand firm in price talks on hot rolled, cold rolled and coated steel orders as they seek to collect the $40-50 price increases they announced two weeks ago, report respondents to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire. Based on SMU’s latest check of the market, the benchmark price for hot rolled steel […]
Construction spending rose 1.4 percent in August primarily due to a robust residential construction sector, said the Associated General Contractors of America. AGC cautioned that without federal support, nonresidential construction will continue to stagnate. “The August spending report shows a stark divide between housing and nonresidential markets that appears likely to widen over the coming […]
Construction jobs in metro areas fell by two-thirds from August 2019 to August 2020, said the Associated General Contractors of America in their latest analysis of government data. Construction employment decreased in 241, or 67 percent, of 358 metro areas during the period. “Although residential construction is picking up in many areas, public and nonresidential […]