The American Institute of Architects’ Architecture Billings Index continued to show demand for design services with a seventh month of growth in August.The ABI gained 1.8 points last month for a solid score of 53.7. The new projects inquiry index rose to 62.5 from 59.5 and the new design contracts index slipped to 54.2 from […]
Are “Buy American” policies good for the U.S. economy and the U.S. steel industry? President Trump issued an executive order in April instructing all federal agencies to conduct comprehensive assessments aimed at cracking down on weak enforcement of Buy American policies, and targeting the abusive use of waivers and exceptions that undermine Buy American laws. […]
The latest data on automotive production offers potential ammo to U.S. trade officials as they work to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Assembly of both cars and light trucks is shifting from the U.S. to Mexico, with Canada largely on the sidelines. Total light vehicle production in the U.S. and Canada has declined […]
The U.S. dollar is continuing to collapse on the international foreign exchange markets. Through Sept. 8, the Broad Index value of the U.S. dollar had depreciated by 9.3 percent since Jan. 3 and the decline is accelerating. See the end of this report for an explanation of data sources. The analysis of currency trends is […]
The value of the U.S. dollar on the international exchange markets has been in freefall since Dec. 12, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of currencies. From Jan. 3 through Sept. 8, 2017, the Broad Index value of the U.S. dollar depreciated by 9.3 percent. The value rebounded by 2.97 percent from Sept. 9 […]
Weakening federal vehicle fuel economy standards would not relieve the auto industry of burdensome regulation, but rather would hurt job growth, as well as the environment, maintains the BlueGreen Alliance (BGA), a coalition of American labor unions and environmental organizations whose mission is to “work together to solve today’s environmental challenges in ways that create […]
ArcelorMittal is not expecting a big bump in business anytime soon due to the hurricane damage in Texas and the Southeast. “That will take a while to pass through,” said Wendell Carter, vice president and general manager of the steelmaker’s Indiana Harbor mill. Carter responded to questions during a media tour of the East Chicago, […]
Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia added construction jobs in the year from August 2016 to August 2017, reports the Associated General Contractors of America, analyzing Labor Department data. Hiring likely would have been stronger if not for a shortage of workers. Seventy percent of companies report having a hard time finding craft workers […]
The Producer Price Index of commodities increased by 3.8 percent in the 12 months through August 2017, according to data released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The BLS released its series of producer price indexes (PPIs) for more than 10,000 goods and materials this week. The latest release reported results through August. For […]
The Producer Price Index of commodities increased by 3.1 percent for the 12 months ended in November, according to data released Thursday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics—the largest advance since the 12 months ending January 2012. On Thursday, the BLS released its series of producer price indexes (PPIs) for more than 10,000 goods and […]
Editor’s note: Following is a response from Zekelman Industries CEO Barry Zekelman to remarks by Daniel Pearson of the Cato Institute published in Steel Market Update’s Sept. 5 newsletter. Zekelman comments on his position on imports and the current state of steel-related trade into the U.S. During our exchange at the recent SMU Steel Summit […]
The Dodge Momentum Index, a measure of nonresidential construction projects in planning, dropped 2.4 percent to register 129.1 in August. Commercial planning led the decline, falling 8.7 percent, while institutional planning partially offset it with a gain of 7.3 percent. In general, commercial planning has seen a steep rise this year as large office building […]
Global manufacturing rose to a 75-month high in August. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI climbed to 53.1 from 52.7 in July. Most components of the PMI increased in August and at a faster rate. Future output was the only measure to remain the same as July, at a strong 63.5. Developed nations on average led […]
Employment growth in both construction and manufacturing was strong in August. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) net job creation report released on Friday was disappointing in total, but unusual in the detail. Disappointing because employment growth was worse than normal for August. Unusual in that the ratio of goods-producing to service-industry job growth was […]
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded again in August as the Institute for Supply Management’s PMI registered 58.8 percent, an increase of 2.5 percentage points from July. This indicates growth in manufacturing for the 12th consecutive month and is the highest reading since April 2011, reports ISM. Any reading above 50 percent indicates expansion. […]
Barry Zekelman calls himself a free-trader. Yet his company, Zekelman Industries, filed a trade case last year alleging that Chinese producers of circular welded steel pipe were guilty of evading U.S. import duties. Espousing free trade while suing to block imports may seem like a contradiction, but Zekelman made a good case for his position […]
The following table is for the month of August 2017. Most of the data speaks for itself. We produce this information at the end of every month. There are a number of data points or reference points that are proprietary to Steel Market Update. These include our SMU Price Momentum Indicator which, at the end […]
The MNI Chicago Business Barometer was unchanged in August at 58.9 after a July plunge that ended five months of increases. Slight gains in production and orders were offset by declines in backlogs, employment and supplier deliveries. The inventory loss was significant, dropping the index 6.4 points to end in contraction and the lowest reading […]
“Hurricane Harvey was an incredibly expensive, economy-changing event. The impact will be staggering,” said economist Chris Kuehl of Armada Corporate Intelligence, speaking at Steel Market Update’s Steel Summit Conference this week in Atlanta. Perhaps 10 percent of Houston’s population could be permanently displaced, creating a future labor shortage. “Companies may not get those workers back,” […]
Consumer confidence increased again in August, according to The Conference Board. The composite value of consumer confidence in August was 122.9, up from 120.0 in July. The first estimate for July was revised down slightly. The last seven months have each been better than at any time since 2001. The three month moving average (3MMA) […]
U.S. manufacturing continued to perform well through July. This Premium content, which is being offered to all subscribers, summarizes seven data sources that describe the state of manufacturing in the U.S. We have reported on most of these separately in our Steel Market Update publications, therefore will be brief in this summary. We don’t expect […]
In June and July, China registered its highest share of global steel production ever, according to World Steel Association data with analysis by Steel Market Update. Global crude steel production in the month of July totaled 143,245,000 metric tons, up from 141,331,000 metric tons in June. Capacity utilization was 71.7 percent, down from 73.0 percent […]
Durable goods orders fell 6.8 percent in July, their largest margin since August 2014, as orders for volatile aircraft orders plummeted. Orders for civilian aircraft plunged 70.7 percent after a 129.3 percent surge in June. Transportation equipment orders in total dropped 19.0 percent. The drop in July was expected by economists after the strong gains […]
Michael Wagner, who took over as president of the North American Steel Alliance on May 1, hopes to build on the buying group’s 20 years of success. “It’s not broken; it doesn’t need to be fixed. I look at the next 20 years and how we can make it even more successful,” he said. Wagner […]
Researchers in Asia claim they have developed a new way to make steel that offers a high degree of strength without sacrificing ductility, creating a strong but formable material that could prove useful in the production of lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles, among many other applications. Typically, making steel stronger decreases its formability. The Hong Kong-Beijing-Taiwan […]
Senior steel executives representing most of the nation’s flat rolled and long product manufacturers appealed directly to Donald Trump on Wednesday urging action on the Section 232 steel imports case. The letter from 25 steel and steel-related companies asked the president to take “broad and decisive action to ensure the ability of the domestic steel […]
This article is normally reserved for our Premium members, but we are sharing it with our entire readership this month. To learn more about what our Premium members receive, click here. Steel Market Update offers this update on the currencies of the steel and iron ore trading nations through Aug. 21. The analysis of currency […]
The first round of talks to upgrade the North American Free Trade Agreement concluded on Sunday, with officials from the U.S., Canada and Mexico pledging to continue negotiations at a rapid pace, possibly concluding by year’s end. President Trump inserted some added drama into the situation with comments at a campaign-style rally in Arizona on […]
Two Federal Reserve manufacturing indexes were released this week with both regions showing strong activity in August. Richmond manufacturing remained relatively steady in August, while Kansas activity rebounded from a weaker July. Fifth District (Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond) The composite manufacturing index in the Fifth District was unchanged in August at a solid reading […]
Manufacturers in the precision metalforming sector are not expecting much change in business conditions during the next three months, although orders are expected to trend slightly downward, according to the August 2017 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report. Current average daily shipping levels dropped significantly in August with 28 percent reporting levels above those […]