The economy added 1,000 construction jobs in November and 146,000 jobs, or an increase of 2.0 percent, in the past 12 months, says an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Slowing job gains may be a sign of labor shortage rather than weaker demand, says AGC. “Contractors report they […]
On Friday, SSAB announced another plate price increase. Plate buyers were putting the new “aim to” base price around $700 per ton. Plate prices have been stubborn to move higher. SMU will watch momentum carefully this week to see if prices have finally turned the corner. This weekend I am in New Orleans attending HARDI’s […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel may be starting to level out after lengthening week after week since early November. The latest data shows slightly longer lead times for cold rolled and galvanized products, but slightly shorter lead times for hot rolled, Galvalume and plate. Lead times for steel delivery are […]
As flat rolled steel prices rise, it comes as no surprise that negotiations between mills and steel buyers continue to tighten. Responses to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week indicate that mills are less flexible on price as they work to collect three increases announced since late October totaling $110 per ton. In […]
Total light vehicle sales are likely to reach 17.1 million units this year, down 1.4 percent from 2018 and above 17 million for the fifth straight year, says J.D. Power and LMC Automotive. As usual, sales were strongest for SUVs and trucks. U.S. auto sales rose for most foreign automakers during November. Toyota sales increased […]
State and locally funded construction is relatively healthy, but privately funded work is in decline, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Commerce Department data. Construction Put in Place (CPIP) expenditures data for October was released on Dec. 2. Through October, total construction had negative momentum every month since October last year. In the […]
John Packard is traveling…. With President Trump making more headlines this week with his tweet calling for new tariffs on steel from Brazil and Argentina, the timing seems right to ask the question: Have the Section 232 tariffs helped your business? Your industry? Your country? Obviously, that depends entirely on the criteria each individual selects […]
The United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler Automotive reached a tentative labor agreement over the holiday weekend. The four-year agreement includes $9 billion of investments by the company that will add 7,900 jobs during the contract period, said the UAW in a press statement. Other terms of the contract are confidential until members are informed. […]
Trade disputes and uncertainty regarding U.S. economic growth are causing businesses to delay or cancel construction plans, said the Associated General Contractors of America in a new analysis of construction spending data. Construction spending declined 0.8 percent in October from September, but topped year-ago levels by 1.1 percent as decreases in private nonresidential, multifamily and […]
This report is designed to be a big picture summary of data SMU has reported in detail during the month. It summarizes 36 data streams that describe the state of the steel market and provide forward guidance for steel buyers and sellers. See the end of this piece for an explanation of the Key Indicators […]
Irrespective of the GM strike, light vehicle assemblies in North America slowed through October. 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 […]
Did everybody buckle up on your way to work on Monday morning? Boy, what a week it has been, and it’s only Tuesday! For those of you who are not aware of the events of the past few days, I will do a quick recap. Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, U.S. Steel had a large water […]
Last week Steel Market Update conducted our mid-November flat rolled and plate steel market analysis. We invited 480 individuals involved in manufacturing, service centers, steel mills, trading companies and toll processors to participate in our questionnaire. On purpose, the survey is heavily weighted to manufacturing companies and service centers since they purchase the vast majority […]
New home sales in October dipped slightly from September, down 0.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 733,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The dip, however, occurred after the September sales estimate was revised upward to 738,000 from 701,000. Sales for the past […]
Data from S&P Dow Jones Indices show that home prices in the U.S. increased modestly in September. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA posted an annual gain of 3.2 percent, up from 3.1 percent in August. The 20-City Composite rose 2.1 percent year-over-year, a 0.1 percent gain from the previous month. “September’s […]
Forty-one states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs between October 2018 and October 2019, while construction employment increased in 28 states from September to October, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of Labor Department data. “Construction employment continues to experience robust growth in most parts of the country,” […]
Steel Market Update will not publish on Thursday, Nov. 28, or Sunday, Dec. 1, due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. Our offices will be closed on Friday, Nov. 29, and will reopen on Monday, Dec. 2. Our early December flat rolled and plate steel market trends survey will begin on Monday, Dec. 2. We will also […]
Steel buyers’ sentiment has been trending up for the last six weeks along with steel prices, which is a positive development. But like the prices, sentiment has yet to really take off and prove it has sustained strength, according to Steel Market Update’s latest Steel Buyer’s Sentiment Index. The goal of the index is to […]
The domestic steel mills were busy on Friday with SSAB USA announcing a $40 per ton price increase on steel plate, and then U.S. Steel coming out with a $30 per ton price increase on flat rolled. The SSAB increase was the second on plate this month. Flat rolled has seen three price increase announcements […]
Pricing from the mills is considerably tighter than it was a month ago, when virtually every deal was open to negotiation. Yet Steel Market Update data indicates the flat rolled mills are still surprisingly flexible when it comes to spot prices even as they work to collect two $40 price increases announced in the past […]
Mill lead times for spot orders of flat rolled steel have lengthened by roughly a week following the mills’ price increase announcements over the past month. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level. Thus, this data indicates the mills have gotten busier as buyers step up to place […]
Existing home sales had a slight recovery in October, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales of existing homes, including single-family, townhomes, condos and co-ops, increased 1.9 percent from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.46 million. Sales were up 4.6 percent from October 2018. “Historically low interest rates, continuing job expansion, […]
So, tonight I thought I would write about a couple of text messages that I received over the past 24 hours. Both messages have to do with steel prices, just looking at information out of SMU and other publications or indices differently. The first message was from the president of a Midwest-based service center. They […]
Using U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) data, Steel Market Update has taken the import tonnage of cold rolled sheet and broken it down into coil and leveled; then it breaks out four thickness ranges and identifies how much was full hard, annealed and high strength. Through September 2019, of the total cold rolled sheet and […]
United Auto Workers have ratified a new four-year contract with Ford with the approval by 56.3 percent of union members. The new contract includes a $9,000 signing bonus for full-time workers, performance bonuses, two 3 percent annual raises and two 4 percent lump sum payments. Health care costs remain unchanged. “Every Ford employee and temporary […]
Housing starts grew 3.8 percent from September to October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,314,000 and rose 8.5 percent from October 2018, according to the latest report from the Commerce Department and U.S. Housing and Urban Development. Single-family housing starts were up 2 percent from September and housing starts in buildings of five […]
Today I was on a conference call with steel buyers associated with HARDI, the trade organization whose members sell galvanized steel and other products to mechanical contractors. We have an article about the call in this evening’s issue, but there was one fact that was brought up by multiple executives: the price increases “have not […]
Steel Market Update’s analysis of flat rolled and plate inventories and shipments for the month of October: Flat Rolled = 53 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 57 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled Sheet steel prices declined rapidly throughout October, and the SMU Service Center Inventories Report shows that service centers pared down inventories […]
Do you think the country is going to be a little distracted this week with all the witnesses in President Trump’s impeachment hearings? A reminder of the results of one of our real-time polls where 53 percent of the 493 individuals responding to a question about who they were going to vote for in the […]
Earlier this week Steel Market Update went out to a group of steel buyers to gather pricing information and market intelligence regarding how they were reacting to the recent price announcements, and if they thought this round of increases would result in yet another dead cat bounce. (A dead cat bounce is one where prices […]