Current manufacturing conditions in New York slipped in August according to the latest Empire State Manufacturing Index. The headline index for general business conditions dropped 11 points to register 14.7 after reaching a four year high of 25.6 in July. The survey still indicates manufacturing growth but not as widespread as previously, said the Federal […]
Explanation of Data Sources: The broad index is published by the Federal Reserve on both a daily and monthly basis. It is a weighted average of the foreign exchange values of the U.S. dollar against the currencies of a large group of major U.S. trading partners. The index weights, which change over time, are derived […]
In the week of August 2nd the four week moving average (4WMA) of raw steel production as reported by the AISI exceeded 1,900,000 tons per week, for the first time since June 16th 2012, (Figure 1). However, capacity utilization at 79.2 percent (4WMA) is still nowhere near where it was before the recession. Capacity is […]
Metalforming companies surveyed in the August Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report are expecting growth in business activity and new orders for the next three months. The August 13 press release is as follows: CLEVELAND, OH—August 13, 2014—According to the August 2014 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report, metalforming companies expect a spike […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained positive this week for the third consecutive week after being in negative territory for the prior six weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements […]
The Dodge Momentum Index, a monthly measure of initial reports for nonresidential building projects in planning, fell 4.4 percent in July after making gains the last three months. On a year-over-year basis the index is still 16.5 percent higher than the same month last year. “The July decline, therefore, may simply be a return to […]
If we start with the premise that the consumer is almost 70 percent of GDP and that steel consumption is closely correlated with GDP, then consumer behavior and, in particular, debt is very relevant to our future businesses. Consumer spending is driven by income and both the perception of current debt and willingness to take […]
Last week, Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted our early August flat rolled steel market survey. We emailed invitations to approximately 600 companies who are actively involved in either buying or selling flat rolled steels. This past week 45 percent of the respondents were from steel service centers, 43 percent were manufacturing companies, 7 percent were […]
As mentioned in a previous article in this newsletter, during our flat rolled steel market survey process we break out the different market segments into questionnaires that are dedicated to their industry. This allows us to compare market trends to see if they match. A good example is manufacturing demand. We asked manufacturing companies if […]
This afternoon, Steel Market Update reported the SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index +68 for early August 2014. This is the highest level ever recorded and the most optimistic we have seen buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel since the Sentiment Index began in November 2008. Positive numbers (above zero) indicate an optimistic attitude exists […]
Domestic steel mill lead times on flat rolled steel are starting to extend compared to what we measured two weeks back. For most of the year lead times have been running within a relatively narrow window (see graph). The new data is suggesting lead times may be breaking above normal patterns. Based on our latest […]
Based on the latest flat rolled steel market survey conducted by Steel Market Update since the beginning of this week, steel buyers and sellers reported the domestic mills as being less willing to negotiate hot rolled steel prices and continue to be less willing to negotiate cold rolled prices. When we reviewed the data on […]
Below is a press release from The American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) regarding their response To Russia’s agricultural import restrictions: Falls Church, VA. August 7, 2014. Russia’s retaliatory ban on U.S. and EU food imports announced yesterday signals a significant worsening in diplomatic and economic relations between the countries involved, and could presage further […]
A recent report from the World Steel Association named the top 50 steel producing companies for 2013. ArcelorMittal was the worlds largest producer with 96.1 million metric tons of steel produced, followed by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation producing 50.1 million tons. Third place, with 45.8 million tons, went to Hebei Steel Group, followed […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained positive for the second consecutive week after being in negative territory for the prior six weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements against the […]
Steel buyers in the July ISM Steel Buyers Survey are expecting increased orders for the next three months. The percentage of buyers who expect an improvement in orders increased from 33.3 percent to 50 percent in July with the remaining 50 percent expecting order levels to remain the same. Forty percent of buyers still say […]
The Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI), a business unit of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) announced that Dr. Jody N. Hall will succeed Ronald P. Krupitzer as Vice President Automotive Market following Mr. Krupitzer’s retirement at the end of the year. Dr. Hall is a former Technical Integration Engineer at General Motors Company […]
The July 2014 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices addressed changes in the standards and terms on, and demand for, bank loans to businesses and households over the past three months. This summary is based on the responses from 75 domestic banks and 23 U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks. Below […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on non-farm employment indicated that 209,000 jobs were added in July, June was revised up by 10,000 to 298,000 and May up by 5,000 to 229,000. The three month moving average, (3MMA) declined to 245,000 in July after four consecutive months of growth beginning in February at 150,000, […]
The July ISM Report on Business indicates that activity in the manufacturing sector increased last month. The July PMI rose 1.8 percent to 57.1 for the highest reading since April 2011 and the 14th consecutive monthly increase. A PMI reading in excess of 43.2 percent, over a period of time, also indicates an expansion of […]
The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI registered 52.5 in July, down just 0.1 point from June and indicating moderating growth. Indices for new orders and output were nearly unchanged from the prior month. The exports index increased at a faster rate, up 0.4 points to 51.5 in July. The employment index decreased by 0.4 points […]
At the end of each month Steel Market Update takes a look back at the data we have compiled and does a quick analysis for our readers. This is different than our SMU Key Market Indicators which is also included in this newsletter. Benchmark hot rolled coil prices averaged $667 per ton (SMU) for the […]
The Chicago Business Barometer plunged 10 points to 52.6 in July, falling at the quickest rate since October 2008 and to the lowest level since June 2013. The fall surprised Bloomberg economists who were expecting the Index to rise slightly to 63 from a reading of 62.6 in June. The decline was attributed to a […]
On Wednesday this week the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the advance estimate of Q2 2014 Annual Revision of the National Income and Product Accounts. In addition to the regular revision of estimates for the most recent 3 years and for the first quarter of 2014, GDP and select components were revised back to […]
The SMU Key Market Indicators is a Premium Level product produced by Peter Wright in collaboration with Steel Market Update. Our Executive Level members have been getting access to all of the Premium Level data for the month of July (today is the last day). This includes access to all of the Premium data which […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. turned positive this week after being in negative territory for the prior six weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) price movements against the previous 12-week average […]
The consumer confidence index increased by 4.5 in June to 90.9. The view of the present situation rose by 2.0 to 88.3 as expectations rose by 6.3 to 92.7, these two components have now converged as they always do at this stage of a recovery after which the view of the present situation will take […]
Home prices grew moderately in May according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. On a year-over-year basis the 10-City Composite gained 9.4 percent and the 20-City gained 9.3 percent, down from the previous y/y gains reported last month of 10.9 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively. The 10- and 20-City Composites posted gains of 1.1 […]
Durable goods orders increased 0.7 percent after dropping 1.0 percent in May, according to data released by the US. Census Bureau. New orders, excluding transportation, increased 0.8 percent. Excluding defense, new orders increased 0.7 percent. Machinery led the advance in June with a 2.4 percent increase in new orders. “Durable goods orders climbed 0.7% in […]
Even though our Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index dropped 3 points to +62 this week, it is still well within the optimistic range and close to the record high which was set at the beginning of this month. This continued optimism is reflected when looking at Sentiment based on a 3-month moving average […]