The source of this data is the Conference Board with analysis by Steel Market Update. Please see the end of this piece for an explanation of the indicator and for the official news release. The composite value of consumer confidence was 118.9 in June, an increase of 1.3 points from the May value. The last […]
Two Federal Reserve manufacturing indices came out this week showing a contrast between business conditions in the Richmond and Texas regions. Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Manufacturing in the Fifth District improved in June with more manufacturing executives expressing optimism for the next six months. The composite index rose six points to register 7 on […]
Durable goods orders, products designed to last three or more years, slipped for a second month, falling 1.1 percent in May, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Core capital goods orders, a category that tracks business investment, declined for the first time this year, inching down 0.2 percent. Airline orders drove the decline with commercial […]
Last week, Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted one of our flat rolled steel market trends analyses as we surveyed manufacturing companies, service centers, steel mills, trading companies and toll processors. During the process, we inquired as to whether our respondents felt the newest round (and any more to come) of steel price increases were “justified.” […]
According to Baker Hughes data from June 23, 2017, the US rig count for the week was 941 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This is up 8 rigs compared to last week, with oil rigs up 11 to 758 rigs, gas down up 3 to 183 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged […]
The sentiment among buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel remains largely positive, according to Steel Market Update’s latest steel market analysis, although it has dipped a bit in the past month as the industry awaits a ruling on Section 232 and whether the government will further restrict steel imports on the basis of national […]
Steel mill flat rolled lead times, which have generally trended downward this spring, my be showing early signs of lengthening, reflecting new strength in demand for domestic steel products. Mills were successful in collecting a price increase earlier in the month. Despite SMU data that shows service center inventories at “comfortable” levels, some distributors may […]
Steel buyers report that mills are considerably less willing to negotiate prices on spot orders than they were a month, or even two weeks, ago. The findings of the latest SMU survey of service centers and manufacturers indicates that only about half find mills willing to negotiate on hot roll spot buys, compared with more […]
We are continuing our investigation to quantify the players in the global trade of both HRC and CRC. We now have data for the first quarter of this year. This information is sourced quarterly from the Iron and Steel Statistics Bureau in the UK. It takes about 10 weeks after the close of a quarter […]
The Steel Market Update Steel Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained negative this week for the ninth consecutive week, following an eight week streak of being in positive territory. MoMo is a trailing indicator and shows the relationship between the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the […]
Last month Steel Market Update forecast steel shipments of carbon flat rolled would total 2,322,000 tons and, according to the MSCI data released last week, shipments were 3,319,000 tons. We missed the number by 3,000 tons… Our forecast called for flat rolled inventories to total 4,344,000 tons at the end of May. We were off […]
This is only the third time we have produced a report on global scrap trade. In the future, we will report quarterly because to understand the gyrations of the domestic scrap market we should be aware of where the U.S. stands as a global player. This data is not very current as some nations are […]
We are hearing reports from steel mills that their lead times have moved out and they have been able to collect some, if not most, of the $30 per ton price increase announced at the beginning of the month. Steel Market Update (SMU) is concerned as our research data is suggesting that service centers are […]
This afternoon there was a press conference in Washington hosted by the American Institute for International Steel. Many of the large press organizations attended the conference, and even though we were unable to personally attend, we did receive notes about the content and especially the questions that interested the press corps. There appears to be […]
The prices of oil and natural gas drive the consumption of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) and related steel products. The energy markets represent a large portion of the hot rolled coil used to make welded tubular goods, as well as equipment used to drill and pump oil and natural gas. On June 12, George […]
Two new Federal Reserve manufacturing reports came out on Thursday, one rebounding and one slowing. Manufacturing activity shot up in New York State, while activity in the Philadelphia region continued to expand, but at a slower pace. Empire State Manufacturing Survey The general business conditions index leaped 21 points to 19.8, its highest level in […]
We start this report with comments made by Jun Wei Yeo on iron ore and coking coal. “In April to May alone, there was an over 30 percent drop in the price of iron ore. Iron ore mining companies such as Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, and Brazil’s Vale are suffering simultaneous stock price declines. Most […]
This report summarizes total steel supply from 2003 through April 2017 and year-on-year changes. It then compares domestic mill shipments with total supply to the market. It quantifies market direction by product and enables a side-by-side comparison of the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron and Steel Institute and […]
Domestic steel mills announced flat rolled steel (hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, Galvalume) price increases early last week. However, as is sometimes their want, especially when lead times are shorter than they would like, most of the mills gave their customers time to place orders at the existing prices quoted prior to the announcements. It […]
The Steel Market Update Steel Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained negative this week for the seventh consecutive week, following an eight week streak of being in positive territory. MoMo is a trailing indicator and shows the relationship between the current U.S. hot rolled coil price movements against the […]
According to Baker Hughes data from June 9, 2017, the US rig count for the week was 927 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This is up 11 rigs compared to last week, with oil rigs up 8 to 741 rigs, gas rigs up 3 to 185 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged […]
The sentiment among buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel remains largely positive, although concerns about the Section 232 investigation, the recent mill price hike and the coming summer slowdown have dampened the outlook for the market three to six months down the road, according to the latest SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index. As a […]
Flat rolled lead times have continued to decline over the past 10 weeks, according to this week’s SMU Flat Rolled Steel Market Trends questionnaire. Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel report shorter lead times than in early May. Lead times on all products are considerably shorter than one year ago. Shorter lead times are […]
Lead times are declining, which reflects a possible softening of demand, thus domestic mills appear to be more willing to negotiate spot pricing on hot rolled, cold rolled, hot-dipped galvanized and Galvalume steels than they were earlier in the year. About 70-80 percent of steel buyers responding to this week’s flat rolled steel market trends […]
The Dodge Momentum Index gained 4 percent in May posting a score of 139.1 after slipping to a revised 133.7 in April. Commercial projects in planning increased 4.8 percent while institutional project planning was up 2.9 percent, recovering partially from April’s 12.0 percent decline. Despite signs of weakening occupancies and rents, the commercial component of […]
President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement was met mostly with silence from the steel industry. Cliffs Natural Resource CEO Lourenco Goncalves was among the few to publicly voice his support for abandoning the environmental agreement signed by 194 other nations. “Cliffs applauds President Trump for his decision to withdraw from the […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) employment report for May was released on Friday and revealed a disappointing total net job creation of 138,000 which was well below analysts expectations. To make matters worse, March and April were revised down by a total of 66,000 jobs. Using a three month moving average (3MMA), the result […]
Global manufacturing was at a six month low in May according the latest JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI. The composite index inched down to 52.6 from 52.7 in April. Developed nations showed solid steady expansion in manufacturing while growth in emerging nations was nearly flat. The PMI for the U.S. was at an 8 month […]
According to Baker Hughes data from June 2, 2017, the US rig count for the week was 916 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This is up 8 rigs compared to last week, with oil rigs up 11 to 733 rigs, gas rigs down 3 to 182 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged […]
Manufacturing activity expanded in May according to the Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The PMI rose 0.1 percent from April to a reading of 54.9 percent. The new orders index rose 2 points to 59.5 percent while the production index declined 1.5 points to 57.1. Inventories were relatively stable in May. The inventory index rose […]