Total light vehicle (LV) auto production in NAFTA in December was at an annual rate, of 15.171 million units, down from 17.921 million in November. In cases where seasonality is more than a weather effect, we like to compare the monthly result with the monthly norm over a number of years. On average since 2004, […]
SMU sources advised that US Steel Great Lakes had a furnace issue due to a leaking water line and a weld gas explosion. They were down for about a shift and are now back up and working for the time being. I wrote the Price Momentum article this evening to make sure that there was […]
The Final Thoughts section is the area where I get to provide my opinions about what I am seeing and sensing in the market. I have been debating over the weekend whether or not now is the time to adjust our Price Momentum Indicator from Higher to Neutral. A Neutral reading would mean prices are […]
The steel industry does not seem to be concerned about the transition of power as Donald Trump becomes the 45th President of the United States. There have been a number of cabinet appointees who have testified about the domestic steel industry and the need to “level the playing field” by taking governments, such as China, […]
Steel mill lead times, the amount of time it takes for steel mills to produce new orders of hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized or Galvalume products, continue to remain extended according to the results of Steel Market Update flat rolled steel market trends analysis conducted during the course of this week. Hot rolled lead times […]
Flat rolled steel buyers reported the domestic steel mills as not willing to negotiate prices on flat rolled steel products. This is a continuation of the position we reported beginning in November after the initial flat rolled steel price increase announcements being made in late October. Only 17 percent of the respondents to our flat […]
Housing starts rose 11.3 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,226,000 from a November revised rate of 1,102,000. Starts were up 5.7 percent year over year. Single family starts slipped 4 percent from the previous month but apartment type housing of 5 units or more rose 53.9 percent as new project […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained positive for the tenth consecutive week, following a 17 week long negative streak. MoMo is a trailing indicator and shows the relationship between the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the previous 12-week average price […]
The Chinese represent only 7 percent of the total plate imports into the United States. The CTL plate dumping/CVD suits will now focus on the countries that represented 66 percent of the plate imports: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The Final Determination on these countries is due on March 30th. The […]
Our next Steel 101 workshop will be held in Toledo, Ohio on April 11-12th. Included will be a tour of the North Star Bluescope steel mill. We should have details and registration available on our website by the end of the week. Late today I received a note from one of my pig iron sources. […]
The Environmental Protection Agency announced fuel economy standards for 2025 on Friday, rejecting appeals to roll-back miles per gallon requirements for fleet-wide fuel efficiency. The 2025 target will remain unchanged at an average of 50.8 miles per gallon. “My decision today rests on the technical record created by over eight years of research, hundreds of […]
Below is the latest data release issued by the the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) regarding residential and commercial heating and cooling equipment shipments through November 2016. You may read the press release on their website here. Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for November 2016 increased 16.8 […]
A special thank you to the companies who have stepped up early to be sponsors at this year’s Steel Summit Conference: Our Conference Sponsor – Pacesetter as well as our two Corporate Sponsors – Bank of America and Mill Steel. We also have one break sponsor at the moment – Kenwal and we have two […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained positive for the ninth consecutive week, following a 17 week long negative streak. MoMo is a trailing indicator and shows the relationship between the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the previous 12-week average price […]
I got a note from one of my Asian trading sources yesterday explaining the reason for some of the price volatility seen in the Chinese markets earlier this week. He told us, “We see Ore at below USD50/mt in 2017. Reasons being that China is shutting down capacity big time, probably about 150 million MTS […]
Another major automaker says it will invest in U.S. facilities and add jobs to the industry. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US said on Sunday that it will invest $1 billion at plants in Michigan and Ohio to produce new Jeep vehicles in a plan that was originated long before the presidential election. The investment is the […]
The Dodge Momentum Index increased 2.9 percent in December to a reading of 136.7. The index is at an eight year high although more than 25 percent below its peak in 2007. Commercial construction planning drove the increase in December, gaining 5.7 percent and offsetting a 1.7 percent decline in institutional planning. Commercial planning gained […]
As expected, the domestic steel mills began 2017 right where they left off. Another $30-$40 per ton of price increases on top of the $140 per ton of increases leveled on their spot customers since late October through the end of 2016. The key from here is if business, both at the steel mills, as […]
During the first week of January Steel Market Update conducted our flat rolled steel market trends analysis. We invited 630 people associated with the flat rolled steel industry to participate. Of those responding 46 percent were manufacturers, 41 percent were steel service centers or wholesalers, 7 percent were steel mills, 4 percent steel trading companies […]
Welcome back to any of you who managed to extend your New Year Holiday until the 9th of January. The year started slow but increased speed once we got toward the end of this past week. Ferrous scrap prices are up $30-$45 per gross ton and AK Steel has started the ball rolling with a […]
On a single data basis both our Current Steel Buyers Sentiment Index and Future Sentiment Index are at the record highs for our index. Current Sentiment, which is how buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful in the existing market environment, came in at +71 this week. […]
Flat rolled lead times remained essentially unchanged from what we reported during the middle of December. Steel mill order books appear to be “good” without creating excessive anxiety at their customers. At the moment, we will call lead times as being not too short and not too long but, just about right… Since early Tuesday […]
Steel mills continue to feel comfortable when negotiating with their customers. We found that only one quarter of the steel buyers responding to our survey for this week reported the mills as willing to discuss the possibility of adjusting (lowering) steel spot prices. We found this to be consistent across all flat rolled products: hot […]
US automakers set a new record for annual sales with a total of 17.465 million light vehicles in 2016, a 0.4 percent increase from 2015’s record year, according to WardsAuto. Sales in December reached 1.68 million units as consumers were attracted by manufacturer discounts. Incentives of 10 percent off sticker price were offered in December […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained positive for the eighth consecutive week, following a 17 week long negative streak. MoMo is a trailing indicator and shows the relationship between the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the previous 12-week average price as […]
It has been a busy (albeit short) week. I mentioned in my last newsletter that we are actively in the process of reviewing and building a new website. Beginning this evening, we have our website designers (K3 Technologies out of Atlanta) here in our Florida offices for the next few days so we can work […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its Construction Put in Place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. November data for CPIP was released on Tuesday, January 3rd. The most notable feature of this update was the apparent response to the $305 billion infrastructure in the bill that Congress […]
Ford Motor Company announced today that it is canceling plans to build a new plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico and will invest in electrical vehicle production in the U.S. About half of the $1.6 billion that was designated for the Mexican plant will be used instead to expand the Flat Rock Assembly Plant in […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. This will explain the difference between our view of the present situation which is subjective and our analysis of trends which is based on the latest facts available. Looking back from the […]
Well, we made it through 2016 in one piece and we are excited to see what the New Year has in store for the steel industry and those affected by the steel industry. I want to thank all of you who sent messages to me over the weekend. A special note of thanks to Chris […]