Can Greece remain in the EU without a new bailout? The question has been hotly debated with many EU policymakers willing to kick financially struggling Greece out while others fear that it would set a precedent that might weaken the European Union. At issue is a €1.54 billion ($1.73 billion) bailout that Greece owes the […]
SMU Sentiment Index Jumps Since our last flat rolled steel market analysis and evaluation of how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful both three to six months from now (Future) as well as in today’s economic environment (Current), we have had a second price increase and a dumping […]
Steel Market Update reported in the Tuesday issue of our newsletter that negotiations have started between the USW (United Steelworkers Union) and ArcelorMittal. The issue was raised at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch dinner where SMU publisher, John Packard, spoke last night. We have been anticipating that the posturing by the union and AM, […]
There has been some confusion over the customs bill that was passed by the House last week. The bill, HR 644 – Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, was not part of the TAA/TPA package (HR 1314). Passage of the House bill will send it to committee where it will be reconciled with […]
Lead times moved out slightly on three of the four flat rolled products: hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized. The only product which essentially remained the same was Galvalume. Hot rolled lead times averaged 4 weeks, according to the results of this week’s flat rolled steel market analysis (survey). This is up from 3.66 weeks […]
As with lead times, our survey respondents are reporting steel mills as slowly regressing and moving away from negotiating flat rolled steel prices. Although we are seeing movement, the percentage of respondents reporting the mills as still willing to negotiate hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume continues to be more than 50 percent. Hot […]
Figure 1 shows historical gas and oil prices since January 2000. The daily spot price of West Texas Intermediate fell below $100 per barrel in August and by January 23rd was down to $44.80. By June 15th, the latest daily figure available from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) the price of WTI had recovered to […]
The steel industry has been preparing for a trade suit for well over a year. Those who buy steel, manufacturers, fabricators and steel service centers have had ample time to prepare for what many had been predicting as inevitable, a light flat rolled coated steel anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) suit. As we speak […]
Manufacturing conditions in the Philadelphia area improved in June, according to the June Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The survey’s indicators for general activity, new orders, and shipments all improved from their readings in May. The headline diffusion index for current activity increased to 15.2 in June from […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the United States was positive for the fourth consecutive week, following a 39 week negative streak. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements against the previous […]
Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The IP index was reported as 105.102 for May, down by 0.18 from April and down from the all-time high of 106.309 in November last year. The three month moving average, (3MMA) in May was 105.40, down by 0.23 from April. January […]
Metalforming companies are expecting little change in business conditions in the next three months according to the June 2015 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report. Just 23 percent of members surveyed (down from 24 percent in May) think economic activity will improve in the next three months; 60 percent expect no change. New orders […]
A joint statement by eight steel trade associations calls for immediate action in addressing steel overcapacity and the increase in subsidized exports from China. The statement below has been issued by the following organizations: AISI, SMA, CSPA, SSINA, CPTI, Canacero, Alacero, Eurofer and the Turkish Steel Producers Assn and Brazilian Steel Institute. “There is a […]
The Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) “fast track” was passed by the House in a 219-211 vote on Friday. The Trade Adjustment Act (TAA), however, suffered a crushing defeat in a 126 to 302 vote. TAA would extend a program providing assistance to workers who lose their jobs as a consequence of trade deals and add […]
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey headline index surprised economists by falling five points to -1.98 points in June. The consensus was for an increase of 6 points in the general business index, according to Bloomberg, and is the second negative reading in three months. The new orders index for New York manufacturers fell six points […]
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) puts out its series of producer price indexes, for thousands of goods and materials. For an explanation of this program see the end of this piece. The latest release last Friday reported results through May. We run this analysis every three or four months to give readers […]
Steel Market Update was analyzing data from our last flat rolled market survey just as the domestic mills began announcing price increases. We thought our readers might be interested in looking at the data with us and then guess as to whether the new price increases will “stick” or falter over time. In our opinion, […]
According to Baker Hughes data from June 12, 2015, the U.S rig count for the week was 859 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. The last time the active U.S. count was this low was back on January 17, 2003 at 845 rigs. This week’s total rig count is down 9 rigs […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) analysis of non-farm employment reported that 280,000 jobs were added in May and the March and April result was revised up by a total of 32,000. Economists had expected U.S. employers to add 220,000 jobs last month. The three month moving average, (3MMA) of gains through May was 207,000 […]
This report compares domestic mill shipments and total supply to the market to enable a side by side comparison and the degree to which imports have absorbed demand. Sources are the American Iron and Steel Institute and the Department of Commerce with analysis by SMU. Table 1 shows both supply and mill shipments of sheet […]
Earlier this week, World Steel Dynamics and their friends at AMM, hosted their Steel Success Strategies conference in New York City. Over the past 40 years the conference has become a magnet for those associated with the steel industry from around the world. Not everyone can afford to attend the conference which runs about $2300 […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the United States was positive for the third consecutive week, following a 39 week negative streak. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current U.S. hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements against the previous […]
Myron J. Weiss, 83, partner at Mars Industries and Jame’ Roll Form Products passed away on Tuesday, June 9, 2015. Weiss co-founded the firm in 1975 and was a partner for the past 40 years. Mars Steel and Jame’ Roll Form Products, Inc. released the following message to colleagues and friends of Mr. Weiss: It […]
The steel world (which is not as large as it used to be) is in New York City this week to attend (lobby call) the Steel Success Strategies Conference hosted by World Steel Dynamics and their AMM partners. It is the one place (other than SMU Steel Summit Conference – hint, hint) where one can […]
According to Investopedia, a subsidy is “a benefit given by the government to groups or individuals usually in the form of a cash payment or tax reduction. The subsidy is usually given to remove some type of burden and is often considered to be in the interest of the public.” The example accompanying the definition […]
We have been hearing a lot about TPP and TPA. Here’s another acronym you should know—T-TIP. T-TIP stands for Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. The T-TIP is a trade and investment agreement being negotiated between the U.S. and the European Union. Launched by President Obama in 2013, T-TIP has taken a backseat to the Trans-Pacific […]
Lead times have not shot out since the price increase announcements were made in early May. Hot rolled lead times were reported as being 3.5 weeks at the beginning of May and one month later HRC lead times averaged 3.66 weeks according to the results of our most recent flat rolled steel survey. Lead times […]
Our respondents to last week’s flat rolled steel market survey continue to report prices as being negotiable, maybe not to the degree we have been seeing since the beginning of the year, but negotiable non-the-less. However, we need to remember that the vast majority of our responses were made prior to the anti-dumping trade suit […]
According to Baker Hughes data from June 5, 2015, the U.S rig count for the week was 868 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. The last time the active U.S. count was this low was back on January 24, 2003 at 862 rigs. This week’s total rig count is down 7 rigs […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted our flat rolled steel analysis over the past four days. Based on the responses collected from those taking our survey we found a continuation of the optimistic trend that we have seen for a number of years now but, when compared to 2nd Quarter 2014 our index has been disappointing […]