The White House released its infrastructure plan this week offering $200 billion in federal funds, far short of the $1 trillion promised during the Trump election campaign. The plan is to “stimulate” $1.5 trillion in investment over the next 10 years to be accomplished through a combination of incentives, asset divesture and reductions in regulations. […]
The release of President Trump’s infrastructure plan drew mixed responses from trade groups involved with the steel industry. Although all support the much-needed infrastructure work, several question the president’s plan to fund it. Thomas J. Gibson, president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute supported the streamlining of permits proposed in the plan. […]
First, tomorrow (Wednesday) is Valentine’s Day. The heat is turning up on Section 232 discussions as trade groups, individual businesses and congressmen lean in and provide their opinions to President Trump. He still sounds like he is going to do something “disruptive,” but we just don’t know for sure. As you can see from tonight’s […]
Today is Feb. 11 and it has been one month since Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross sent his recommendation regarding Section 232 to the office of President Trump. Since then, there has been much speculation but nothing of substance as the industry waits for the president to remove the uncertainty. Over the past week, I […]
Current and future sentiment among flat rolled steel buyers remains at or near record highs, according to the latest Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index. The index measures changes in buyers’ optimism levels, which offers insight into their likely decision-making. Three out of four respondents to SMU’s flat rolled market trends questionnaire this week […]
Mill lead times on flat roll continue to extend as buyers order steel ahead of further price increases. The latest data from Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire indicates that the average lead time for hot roll has now topped five weeks, while lead times for cold roll, galvanized and Galvalume are now approximately seven […]
Suppliers of hot roll and galvanized products are less willing to talk price than they were in mid-January, reported steel buyers, as the mills seek to collect their latest price increases. Cold roll negotiations are unchanged, and Galvalume talks may have loosened a bit. Overall, about 40 percent of respondents to Steel Market Update’s latest […]
Nearly 90 percent of the respondents to Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire say they see flat roll prices heading even higher. The other 10 percent are uncertain and see no clear-cut price direction right now. Will steel prices keep rising? Following are some of respondents’ comments: “Hot roll yes, cold roll a slight […]
The Dodge Momentum Index fell 5.1 percent in January to 143.7 from December’s revised score of 151.5. On a year-over-year basis, the index gained 7.7 percent. The Dodge Momentum Index, published by Dodge Data & Analytics, is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which has been […]
We are working on an article about what companies are doing with the tax windfall they will be receiving this year. We have noticed a couple of companies like Mill Steel that are giving their employees a bonus check. We would like to include your company in our article should you be doing something special […]
Flat rolled steel inventories being held on service center floors dropped as of the end of January, according to the Steel Market Update (SMU) Flash Report. SMU reached out to the companies registered to participate in our inventory analysis today to produce our initial “Flash Report.” This report provides early guidance on changes in inventory […]
As the steel industry continues to wait for President Trump’s decision on restricting steel imports on national security grounds, steel prices continue to rise. Has the market already factored in Section 232? In Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire, SMU asked steel buyers: Do you believe existing steel prices include a positive Section 232 […]
Another note regarding our SMU Service Center Flat Rolled Steel Inventories report. This information is provided first to those companies who supply data. So, if you are a service center or wholesaler selling prime flat rolled and/or plate products and you would like to participate as a confidential data provider, please contact me at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com. […]
It’s Super Bowl Sunday so my remarks will be very short this evening. Good luck to both teams and their fans. We have a busy week coming up, which will begin at 8 AM tomorrow (Monday) morning with the invitations to our early February flat rolled steel market trends survey. If you receive an invitation, […]
U.S. automotive sales were a mixed bag in January. General Motors’ sales climbed mildly by 1.3 percent. Ford and FCA saw sales drop, while Toyota gained 16.8 percent year over year. Asian manufacturers, in general, did well in January. Mazda had its best January since 1994, reporting double-digit growth along with Kia and Nissan. Honda […]
The automotive industry downturn is slight, especially considering the past two years have been record years, said Bernard Swiecki, Senior Automotive Analyst at the Center for Automotive Research, during a presentation Jan. 25 at the regional meeting of the Association of Steel Distributors. Total light vehicle sales slipped 1.8 percent in 2017, but the […]
I am excited about this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference. The pieces of the puzzle are carefully fitting into place. As always, our program will be cutting edge as we address issues of the day, as well as those that will change the steel and manufacturing industries very soon. Much is happening, and you will […]
Steel Market Update publisher, John Packard, traded comments with a financial analysts who was of the opinion that demand was under duress and the future of the steel using markets was in doubt. This does not match our belief based on a review of the SMU Key Market Indicators. We are sharing this report with […]
Home prices are rising faster than the rate of inflation, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices. Data for November shows a year-over-year gain of 6.2 percent for the National Home Price Index. The 20-city composite posted a 6.4 percent annual gain with Seattle, Las Vegas and San Francisco reporting the highest year-over-year […]
The steel community was probably disappointed this evening when President Trump failed to mention anything about the Section 232 investigation that has been hanging over the heads of the industry for one year. We will all need to wait to see if the president will do anything on the subject of steel and aluminum imports. […]
I am hearing from some of AK Steel’s customers that the hot end of the mill will be back up early this week. One told me on Friday, “I spoke with AK yesterday and was told there will be little impact from the ladle accident…” I got a question from a steel buyer dealing with […]
Architecture firms saw increases in billings in 10 out of 12 months last year. December was no exception with an Architecture Billings Index score of 52.9, a decrease from November’s score of 55, but still firmly in growth territory. Firms reported strong backlogs and inquiries into new projects. The new projects inquiry index registered 61.9, […]
Auto and light truck production continued to decelerate in December, even in Mexico, according to the latest Steel Market Update analysis of auto production in the NAFTA region. U.S. Vehicle Sales Economy.com reported that a tumultuous 2017 ended on a high note. “U.S. December vehicle sales posted a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 17.85 million […]
Sales of existing homes slowed last month, reports the National Association of Realtors. Existing home sales slipped 3.6 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million, down from November’s revised rate of 5.78 million. Single-family home sales were down 2.6 percent, while condo sales fell 11.6 percent. Sales for 2017 totaled […]
The wheels are moving and things are happening that are going to affect the momentum behind this market. First, there are new price increase announcements being made, first out of California and now by ArcelorMittal USA, which has put new base prices into the market. Second, Big River Steel put their customers on allocation for […]
Steel Market Update forecast December 2017 flat rolled steel shipments from U.S. service centers would be 87,850 tons per day. The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) reported last week that sheet distributors shipped 87,805 tons per day. We missed being perfect by 45 tons per day. Receipts coming into the service centers has been harder […]
We have mentioned this elsewhere in today’s newsletter, but it bears repeating. The recent Section 201 decision by President Trump on residential washers and solar equipment may well be a blueprint for what we might see when the Section 232 decision is made on steel. The formula seems to be pointing toward some form of […]
Most steel buyers agree that prices are on the increase, it’s just a question of how high and how fast. About 92 percent of the respondents to Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire concur that steel prices are heading higher, while the remainder say they see no clear price direction. Following are some of […]
Is demand strong enough to support the latest wave of mill price increases? The majority (53 percent) of respondents to Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire say demand is unchanged, while 6 percent describe it as declining. Only 41 percent consider steel demand to be improving as the new year begins. Following are a […]
Service center shipments in December were stronger than the seasonal norm, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Metals Service Center Institute data. Daily shipments in December were 11.8 percent lower than in November. On average since 2009, December shipments have decreased by 13.1 percent; therefore, these latest numbers were seasonally better than the […]