Today I attended the Port of Tampa Steel Conference. This is a 28th conference put on by the Port of Tampa and I have been to about 8-10 of them. I have found them to be a good place to learn more about key subjects affecting the trading company and import communities of which the […]
Please be advised that I will be traveling to Tampa, Florida and will be at the Port of Tampa Steel Conference on Monday and Tuesday of this week. I will return to my office on Wednesday. For those of you who have not been to a steel conference, the Port of Tampa is a good […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained positive for the eleventh 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 […]
Existing home sales softened after an exceptional year, decreasing 2.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.49 million in December from an upwardly revised 5.65 million in November. The National Association of Realtors called 2016 the best year for existing home sales in a decade. Sales for the year totaled 5.45 million, surpassing […]
New residential sales of single-family homes fell 10.4 percent from November’s revised rate of 598,000 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 536,000 in December. The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reports year-over-year sales were down 0.4 percent. The drop in December was much sharper than expected by economists. […]
I want to take a moment to thank all of the attendees who attended our Steel 101 workshop in Huntsville, Alabama. We had a great two days and the Nucor team at Decatur did a great job hosting our mill tour on Tuesday of this week. Thank you again to Nucor for supporting our educational […]
SMU Price Momentum Indicator has been pointing to Higher flat rolled steel prices since late October (12 weeks). Based on our analysis of last week’s steel market trends survey as well as direct contact with buyers today, SMU Price Momentum has not changed and our expectation is for prices to move higher over the next […]
The Associated Steel Distributors regional meeting in Detroit on January 19 very appropriately focused on the automotive industry. The meeting was held during the last weekend of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit where a vast array of technological innovation was showcased through virtual reality, simulators and presentation of current models and concept […]
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 […]