Flat Rolled = 46.1 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 49 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled As prices eroded in February, service centers further reduced their flat rolled inventories 4.6 percent month on month by month’s end, according to adjusted February data compared with January’s final. With 20 shipping days in February compared to […]
We had to change the way we calculate the adjusted data, which will also change how we derive our analysis. Previously, we adjusted the data to mirror the exact mix of service centers that responded to the previous month’s survey. We saw a decrease in participation in the March survey, which we can understand given […]
The world is changing, it is not ending. I expect the steel industry will go through some changes as well. In Europe, the car makers are closing manufacturing facilities. Europe seems to be a couple weeks ahead of us here in the United States. Will we see the same plant closures in a couple of […]
January heating and cooling equipment shipments came in at 1.56 million units, down 3.2 percent from the same month one year ago, according to recent data from the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). This is the largest year-over-year decline in total shipments since June 2019 (down 5.8 percent). As a three-month moving average, total […]
Using U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) data, Steel Market Update has broken down the import tonnage of cold rolled sheet into coil and leveled, four thickness ranges, and how much was full hard, annealed and high strength. This update examines the total cold rolled sheet and strip imports into the U.S. for 2019 as a […]
Well, isn’t this special… Being Americans, I have seen my share of videos and cartoons where people are selling toilet paper and hand sanitizer like a drug deal. I must say I normally don’t have much food in the house. My freezer is now full. My son is a professional musician and last week he […]
The Department of Labor announced its final rules for the Industry-Recognized Apprenticeship Programs with the glaring exclusion of programs for the construction industry. “It remains troubling that the administration has wasted so much time, energy and political capital in creating a new apprenticeship program that is both deeply flawed and fails to address construction workforce […]
Is it me, or has the world become much more complicated recently? The NBA has suspended games indefinitely. The NCAA “March Madness” basketball tournament will be played in empty stadiums. Princess Cruises just announced they are cancelling cruises for the next 60 days. Europeans will not be allowed to fly to the United States for […]
The world is changing in nanoseconds before our eyes. Did anyone think the whole country of Italy would be restricted/quarantined a few weeks back? Yesterday, Saudi Arabia decided to go to war with Russia over the price of oil, and voila the price drops 30 percent in one day. The U.S. has hardly begun testing […]
In January, total construction continued to boom with a 5.1 percent year-over-year growth rate Total construction is enjoying a remarkable turnaround with positive momentum in all sectors. The January results for total construction spending yielded the best growth rate for 15 months. Growth is being led by state and locally funded work including infrastructure, but […]
Steel buyers sentiment, as measured by Steel Market Update, has moved up and down within a small, three-point range since the beginning of the year. Both Current and Future Sentiment registered a very slight uptick in the past few weeks and remain in optimistic territory well above the average of +47 to +51 in 2019. […]
Average mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel saw little change this past week. In fact, according to Steel Market Update’s surveys of the market, lead times have moved up or down by just a day or two, depending on the product, since the beginning of the year. Lead times for steel delivery […]
Price negotiations have tightened up noticeably as the mills seek to collect the $40 price increase they announced last week. Significantly more of the service center and manufacturing executives responding to Steel Market Update’s questionnaire this week said the mills are holding the line on prices, especially for hot rolled and galvanized. In the hot […]
Last week’s price hike by the mills did little to change the outlook of most steel buyers. The majority (52 percent) of those responding to Steel Market Update’s canvass of the market this past week still believe prices will remain the same, despite the latest $40 increase announced by the mills on Feb. 27. Another […]
The construction industry’s unemployment rate hit a new February low of 5.5 percent, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Construction employment increased by 42,000 jobs in February and by 223,000, or 3.0 percent, over the past 12 months. AGC officials said some of the gains were […]
Nonresidential construction planning slowed in February, according to the latest report from Dodge Data & Analytics. The Dodge Momentum Index moved 1.8 percent lower to 148.7 from the revised January reading of 151.4. The Momentum Index is a monthly measure of initial reports for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead […]
We get all kinds of reactions to articles we publish. However, I was a bit surprised when one of our readers sent a note regarding our coverage of IHS Markit’s forecast of the impact of the coronavirus on the U.S. economy. The note said, “Article on coronavirus was despicable. Let’s just start a panic.” Usually, […]
February was a good month for auto sales, with automakers posting higher sales as buyers took advantage of incentives and President’s Day discounts. Toyota sales moved up 12 percent to 194,152 units, while Honda sales gained 4.2 percent. Hyundai sales were driven by consumer enthusiasm for crossover vehicles, gaining 15.8 percent for the month. Most […]
Over the past two days Tim Triplett and I have been participating in the FMA Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. The mood of the steel buyers I met with was moderately negative when it came to the ability of the steel mills to collect the price increases announced. One very large service center buyer […]
Construction spending increased 1.8 percent to $1.369 trillion in January, according to a new analysis of federal data by the Associated General Contractors of America. “Public spending on infrastructure, along with single-family housing, was exceptionally robust in January,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “While overall economic conditions remain favorable, future construction spending levels […]
U.S. Steel continues to make interesting moves having now purchased the balance of the ownership in USS/Posco (UPI), 49.9 percent of Big River Steel with an option to purchase the balance, the $1 billion+ capital investment in the endless casting, rolling and cogeneration at Mon Valley Works and the $750 billion investment in Gary Works. […]
John Packard is traveling… The mills announced another $40 increase in flat rolled prices this week in the hopes of reversing the recent downturn in steel prices. Instead of an increase, ArcelorMittal released minimum base prices of $620 for hot rolled and $820 for cold rolled and coated. Steel Market Update puts the current benchmark […]
Steel Market Update raised its Flat Rolled Price Momentum Indicator to Neutral yesterday from Lower in anticipation of a price hike believed imminent from the mills. As expected, Nucor and U.S. Steel both announced increases today of $40 per net ton on all new spot orders of hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steel, effective […]
Steel Market Update is revising our Price Momentum Indicator on flat rolled to Neutral from Lower. Sometimes you need a bit of a prod in order to see things clearly. We’ve had many conversations and reviews of the spot pricing data and came to the conclusion the timing of our move to Lower was incorrect. […]
Sales of new homes in January jumped 7.9 percent from December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 764,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sales were 18.6 percent higher than the January 2019 estimate. “The January sales pace matches what builders are saying in NAHB surveys – […]
On Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020, one of the most important people in the development of my career in the steel industry and in my personal life passed away—Earl Goode. Earl the Pearl. I met Earl Goode for the first time 38 years ago in Marietta, Ga. It was a beautiful spring day in May 1982. […]
Key Market Indicators show that the improvement in market trends in December and January translated to a jump in the present situation in February. This report is designed to be a big picture summary of data on which we have reported in detail during the month. In it we summarize 36 data streams that describe […]
This report is based on data from LMC Automotive for automotive assemblies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The breakdown of assemblies is “Personal” (cars for personal use) and “Commercial” (light vehicles less than 6.0 tonnes gross vehicle weight rating, heavy trucks and buses are not included). In this report we will briefly describe light […]
Heavy equipment manufacturer John Deere sees early signs of improvement in the U.S. agriculture sector, following the passage of USMCA and the Phase 1 trade agreement with China. “U.S. farm cash receipts are expected to increase in 2020, aided in part by the recently announced third tranche of market facilitation payments, which totaled $3.6 billion, […]
Home prices, as reported by S&P Dow Jones, rose at a modest rate in December 2019. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. Census divisions, reported a 3.8 percent annual gain in December, up from 3.5 percent in November. S&P Dow Jones noted that following a period of […]