As the thunderstorms erupt around our offices one of our indices is quite calm. The calming blue color of our bar graph depicts what buyers and sellers are telling us is happening during the negotiation process between mills and their customers: take it or leave it. Respondents to our mid-May flat rolled steel market trends […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained positive this week for the 20th consecutive week, following a 21 week negative streak. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the […]
I saw a headline in another steel periodical stating that the USS/POSCO price increase was a reaction to the US DOC Final Determination on cold rolled. That doesn’t make sense to me. My understanding is UPI was behind in its pricing and needed to catch up. The new pricing is not outrageous when compared to […]
Housing starts in April increased 6.6 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,172,000, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Commerce Department. On a year over year basis housing start were down 1.7 percent. Single-family housing starts in April were at a […]
I am in Sylvania, Ohio at our Steel 101 workshop. I want to thank North Star BlueScope for working with us and coming to our workshop this afternoon to discuss their mill, what happened that caused them to cancel our tour and to discuss their mill with our attendees. By the way, it’s a little […]
Below is the latest release issued by the the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) regarding residential and commercial heating and cooling equipment shipments through March 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 March 2016 decreased 21.6 percent […]
I am in Ohio as we will be hosting another one of our Steel 101 workshops in Sylvania, Ohio. The accident at North Star BlueScope has resulted in the loss of our mill tour. However, I believe this program will be one of the strongest presented as we have been working overtime to fill the […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained positive this week for the 19th consecutive week, following a 21 week negative streak. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the […]
One of the most over used and misunderstood terms in the steel industry is “value added.” What exactly does “value” and “value added” mean when discussing steel distribution in particular? When asking the question, the first response I tend to get is about the “value proposition” or how perceived value relates to price, service and […]
Good evening (or Good Morning depending on when you read our newsletter) from Chicago. The mood is upbeat by most attending the Boy Scout Dinner due to the rising steel prices which have helped service centers and steel mills get healthier. A couple of secondary steel service centers told me that their business has also […]
Last week SMU asked those responding to our flat rolled steel market trends questionnaire about when they expected a break in the current flat rolled steel pricing cycle and for prices to begin heading lower. There was no consensus as 50 percent of those responding felt the change would occur prior to the 4th Quarter […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its Construction Put in Place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. March data was released on Monday May 2nd. Construction Put in Place is based on spending work as it occurs, estimated for a given month from a sample of projects. In […]
My final thoughts are going to be short this evening. The word that keep going through my head today as I spoke with buyers and sellers of steel was “worry.” The number of people who worry about what is going to happen next seems to be growing by leap years on a daily basis. I […]
Economists participating last week in the CMD Webinar: Is Construction Gaining or Waning were generally optimistic about the economy and forecast for construction growth. Although some sectors of construction peaked last year, growth is continuing in almost all areas, although at a slower pace. During the webinar, chief economists Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of […]
The Dodge Momentum Index rose 0.6 percent in April to 116.5 from a revised March reading of 115.8. Planning for commercial construction increased 0.8 percent and institutional planning rose 0.4 percent. Institutional planning, although volatile on a month-to-month basis, continues to recover and is now seven percent above year ago levels. The pace for commercial […]
A quick note to those who will be attending the Chicago Metals Industry Boy Scout Dinner on Thursday of this week. I will be there as well. If you want to get a moment to chat send me an email or text. My email is John@SteelMarketUpdate.com. While communicating with a service center executive late on […]
SMU canvasses buyers and sellers of steel to see how they feel about their company’s ability to be successful in both the existing (Current) market conditions as well as what they perceive those conditions will be three to six months into the future (Future). All of our participants are involved in the flat rolled steel […]
Domestic mill lead times: the amount of time it takes to receive flat rolled steel on an order placed this week, continue to be extended and are averaging at least one week longer than one year ago according to those participating in this week’s SMU flat rolled market trends analysis. Earlier this week we began […]
Steel Market Update asks our flat rolled steel market trends analysis participants to comment on the status of negotiations between their company and their steel mill suppliers. We want to know how stringent are the mills being when it comes to collecting the announced or original quoted steel price and are they able to collect […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained positive this week for the 18th consecutive week, following a 21 week negative streak. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the […]
I had a long conversation with a service center this afternoon regarding the steepness of the rise in flat rolled prices out of the domestic mills. This buyer was frustrated with the pace of the increases and the unnecessary (in his opinion) tension the increases have caused between their company and their customers. During the […]
The Associated General Contractors of America, on May 1, released their March analysis of construction spending. Construction spending in March 2016 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.138 trillion. SMU looked back at past March analyses and found an upward trend in spending for the month. In March 2014 construction spending totaled $943 […]
U.S. automakers reported strong sales in April. WardsAuto expects the seasonally adjusted annual rate to reach 17.6 million units, surpassing last month’s rate of 16.6 million and 2015’s rate of 16.7 million. Volume sales for the month are expected to reach 1.51 million units exceeding the previous record for the month set in 2005. Sales […]
The move by ArcelorMittal USA today was anticipated and the price levels noted in their increase email to their customers are in line with expectations. I expect the rest of the mills will follow along within $10-$20 per ton of the levels suggested by AMUSA. Some of the mills may wait for scrap prices to […]
Last year in conjunction with Steel Success Strategies I had a lunch with a number of steel buyers, executives and two derivatives traders (one being Andre Marshall of Crunch Risk, LLC). We all gave our opinions as to where we thought benchmark hot rolled coil would be by early June 2016 when we will return […]
Last week Steel Market Update reported our Steel Buyers Sentiment Index as being at record highs. Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel are very optimistic about their company’s ability to be successful not only in the current market but three to six months out into the future as well. When looking at Sentiment from […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained positive this week for the 17th consecutive week, following a 21 week negative streak. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the […]
The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index indicated home prices continued to rise over the past 12 months but at a slower growth rate. The 20-City Composite gain was 5.4 percent year over year in February, down from 5.7 percent in January. The composite gained just 0.7 percent on month over month base after seasonal […]
I am going to start my Final Thoughts today with a question. I am working on an article as part of my The Truth About Selling Steel series and I want to learn more from buyers and sellers of steel as to what the term “Value-Added” means? We hear this term used a lot in […]
This evening I was talking with a large steel buyer about the fundamentals of the steel market and how long can prices continue to go higher. I told him that I had spoken with another large steel buyer earlier today who told me they could not understand how the fundamentals have changed in China. They […]