Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel responding to our early November flat rolled steel market trends survey were found to be of the same mind as what we measured in the middle of October. Current Sentiment* was recorded as being +53.00 the same as what we reported in mid-October. The +53 is the best […]
The amount of time it takes a steel mill to produce a product once a new order is placed is measured in weeks. Twice per month Steel Market Update (SMU) conducts a market trends analysis on the flat rolled steel industry. We invite just under 600 steel executives representing about 550 companies to participate in […]
One of the areas of our focus during our twice monthly flat rolled steel trends survey is how flexible are the domestic steel mills when negotiating spot steel prices with their customers? Over the past three months the mills have been willing to discuss discounts in order to obtain business. We found this on all […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained negative this week for the 17th consecutive week, following a 28 week long positive 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 […]
At the end of August Cliffs Natural Resources Chairman, President and CEO, Lourenco Goncalves spoke at the SMU Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. During his “fireside chat” with SMU founder and publisher, John Packard, Goncalves was upbeat about the future of the steel industry and of the United States. Later, in comments made before SMU […]
According to Baker Hughes data from November 4, 2016, the U.S rig count for the week was 569 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This is up 12 rigs compared to last week, with oil rigs up 9 to 450 rigs, gas rigs up 3 to 117 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged […]
Accelerating production and new orders raised the JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI to 52.0 in October, its highest level in two years. Manufacturing conditions improved in 22 of the 31 nations surveyed. Those nations that contracted were primarily in Asia (South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Myanmar), said JP Morgan and IHS Markit, along […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained negative this week for the 16th consecutive week, following a 28 week long positive 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 […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) reported a shift in steel pricing “Momentum” at the end of October as our Steel Price Momentum Indicator was adjusted first to Neutral and then to Higher. Our expectation is for domestic flat rolled steel prices to increase over the next 30-60 days. Sentiment, however, has been trending lower with our […]
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded at a faster rate in October, according to the latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The PMI index, which covers manufacturing activity for the entire United States, registered 51.9, a 0.4 increase from September. A reading above 50 indicates expansion of the manufacturing economy and below 50 indicates […]
Economic activity in October lost some of the momentum gained in third quarter, according to the latest survey by MNI Indicators. The Chicago Business Barometer fell 3.6 points to a five month low of 50.6 in October. The three month moving average was at 52.1, down from 53.8 in September. Production dropped 5.4 points from […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) is adjusting our Price Momentum Indicator to “Higher” from Neutral. It is our opinion that flat rolled steel prices in the United States and Canada will move higher over the next 30 to 60 days. There are a number of reasons why we have chosen to make this move now, here […]
According to Baker Hughes data from October 28, 2016, the U.S rig count for the week was 557 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This is up 4 rigs compared to last week, with oil rigs down 2 to 441 rigs, gas rigs up 6 to 114 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged […]
Metalforming companies are expecting a minor decline in business conditions during the next three months, according to the latest survey by the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA). Respondents in the October survey are expecting a drop in incoming orders and noted that shipping levels declined in in October. Lead times, compared with three months ago shortened […]
With all of the domestic steel mills announcing $30 per ton price increases either late last week or early this week, the industry is waiting to see if there was a surge of orders and how those orders have impacted lead times. Everyone knows if lead times begin to extend then buyers will have no […]
Manufacturing activity in the Tenth District expanded at a moderate pace in October, according to the latest survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. “This was the second consecutive month of rising factory activity in the Tenth District, the first time that has happened in nearly two years,” said Reserve Bank of Kansas […]
Orders for durable goods declined 0.1 percent in September after August orders were revised to a 0.3 percent increase. Economists had expected an increase in orders of between 0.1 and 0.2 percent. Volatility in the transportation equipment sector continued with orders decreasing 0.8 percent after two consecutive monthly increases. Excluding transportation, new orders were up […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained negative this week for the 15th consecutive week, following a 28 week long positive 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 […]
Steel Market Update has been reporting flat rolled steel service centers had reached the point of “capitulation” earlier this month. History has shown that when the service centers reach the point of capitulation they tend to support flat rolled steel price increases being made by the domestic steel industry. Essentially, the steel distributors are attempting […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and the Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a forecast to the HARDI members located in the United […]
Last week the Metal Service Center Institute (MSCI) reported September shipments and inventories for the U.S. flat rolled steel distributors. We have already produced a couple of articles for our Executive and Premium level members regarding the overall numbers. Today we are analyzing the MSCI data using our Service Center Inventories Apparent Excess/Deficit model and […]
Chinese steel trade data was recently released for the month of September 2016, providing updated data on iron ore imports, scrap imports, and flat rolled imports and exports. Chinese imports of iron ore in September were 92,990,000 metric tons, an increase of 6.0 percent from the previous month and an increase of 8.0 percent from […]
Manufacturing activity in the Fifth District slowed in October according to the Survey of Manufacturing Activity produced by Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The composite Index registered -4, improving from -8 in September and -11 in August. New orders and backlogs decreased in October but remained in negative numbers. The shipment index climbed from contraction […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) made two market adjustments on Friday afternoon (Friday, October 21st). We have adjusted the range on our hot rolled index to $440 per ton on the low end up to $500 per ton on the high side. Our average is now $470 per ton ($23.50.cwt). This is $10 per ton lower […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and The Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a forecast to the HARDI members located in the United […]
According to Baker Hughes data from October 21, 2016, the U.S rig count for the week was 553 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This is up 14 rigs compared to last week, with oil rigs up 11 to 443 rigs, gas rigs up 3 to 108 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged […]
We saw a single data point “bounce” this week in both the Current and Future SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Indexes. Does it mean anything significant? In our opinion it is too early to tell. Current Sentiment, which measures how buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful in […]
Since Monday of this week Steel Market Update has been conducting a survey of the flat rolled steel market place. During the process SMU probes about a number of key topics of importance to buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel. One of the areas we deem to be very important is the status of […]
The domestic steel mills in North America continue to be willing to negotiate spot steel prices on hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume products according to those responding to this week’s Steel Market Update flat rolled market trends survey. It has now been a number of months since the mills were last in a […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum Index (MoMo) for hot rolled steel in the United States remained negative this week for the 14th consecutive week, following a 28 week long positive 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 […]