In November consumer confidence declined for the third consecutive month. This was entirely due to the expectations component of the index. On a three month moving average basis the news looks better (Figure 1). On this basis the present situation component has been little changed for four months but expectations have taken a dive, probably […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained positive this week for the 7th week in a row after 4 consecutive weeks of being in negative territory. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12-week average spot price […]
The Fifth District Manufacturing Index surged to 13 in November from an index reading of 1 in October. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, almost all business activity indicators rose except for capacity utilization and backlog of orders, which were flat for the month. The index for shipments advanced 18 points while the […]
The S&P/Case Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index rose 11.2 percent year-over-year for its highest level since 2006, according to data compiled through September 2013. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, the third quarter index rose 3.2 percent. The index is based on the annual returns of 10-City and 20-City Composites. Twelve of the 20 cities posted […]
Flat rolled steel prices continue to be firm to strengthening according to the steel indices followed by Steel Market Update. Benchmark hot rolled coil hovered around $670 per ton on all the indexes with the exception of Platts which moved their number up $5 per ton to $680 per ton. Steel Orbis did not see […]
Shipping markets in the Gulf are seeing some strong rates as producers are anxious to fix and load cargoes before the holidays and year end according to the November 20th MID-SHIP Report. Shipping rates in the The Cape and Panamax markets have eased in the past two weeks but Chinese steel mill restocking of iron […]
Tenth District: Manufacturing activity and expectations for future growth grew modestly in the Tenth District in November according to a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The index for new orders surged from 3 to 15, month-over-month, and indices increased for order backlogs and employment. Indices fell in production, shipments, new […]
Last week I discussed how Steel Mills calculate thickness and width extras. This week we will look at Mill coating extras for Galvanized and Galvalume coated steel coil. I am going to refer again to US Steel’s published list of price extras which you can find on their website. Other mills tend to have similar […]
The total number of Key Market Indicators considered at present is thirty six. The present situation of eleven of the indicators based on historical standards was positive on November 21st the same as on October 31st but there were two changes. We changed the situation of demand for commercial and industrial bank loans from green […]
Lead times shrunk on three of the four flat rolled products followed by Steel Market Update. We saw hot rolled lead times fall back to 4.0 weeks from 4.36 weeks reported at the beginning of November. We also saw cold rolled lead times retreat to 6.0 weeks from 6.39 weeks and Galvalume shrunk to 6.22 […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel products continue to be optimistic about their company’s ability to be successful in the current market environment, however at lower levels than what we had been seeing over the past few months. The Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index was measured this week at +33 down […]
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out its series of producer price indexes, for thousands of goods and materials. The latest release on Thursday reported October results. These statistics are a useful way to evaluate any changes in the competitive position of steel against competing materials. For the purpose of this report, SMU […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained positive this week for the 6th week in a row after 4 consecutive weeks of being in negative territory. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12-week average spot price […]
Existing home sales fell in October but low inventory continues to drive home prices upward said the National Association of Realtors in their November report. Existing housing inventory stood at 2.13 million homes at the end of October—a drop of 1.8 percent from last month. Home sales fell 3.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual […]
After three months of increases, the Architecture Billing Index dropped to 51.6 in October from 54.3 in September, indicating a slower pace of growth for construction design activity. The new project inquiry index, an indicator for future demand, rose to 61.5 from 58.6 last month. Calculated on a three month moving average, the regional averages […]
Based on Steel Market Update proprietary analysis of the recently released MSCI shipment and inventory data, we have determined that the Apparent Deficit of flat rolled steel for October now totals 361,000 tons. This is a reduction of 21,000 tons compared to the end of September. At the end of October 2012, service centers had […]
We saw all of the indices capturing higher flat rolled steel prices this past week. Benchmark hot rolled range from $665 to a high of $675 per ton as price assessments rose from $5 to $15 per ton compared to the prior week. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator continues to point toward higher prices over […]
Canadian manufacturing sales rose 0.6 percent to $49.9 billion in September according to the November release by Statistics Canada. Sales were at their highest level since June 2012 mostly due to gains in the automobile and food industries. Volume sales gained 1.0 percent for the month, a positive indicator for economic health. Of the 21 […]
Both industrial production (IP) and manufacturing capacity utilization data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The IP index was reported as 99.98 for October, down by 0.14 from September. This index is based on the July 2007 level being defined as 100. The three month moving average, (3MMA) accelerated to a […]
Metalforming companies expect improved business activity for the next three months after expressing pessimism in October. The November 2013 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report showed an uptick in the number of survey respondents who anticipate improvement in business conditions as well as improvement in new orders. Average daily shipping levels were above levels […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained positive this week for the fifth week in a row after four consecutive weeks of being in negative territory. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12-week average spot price as […]
November 12, 2013, Falls Church, VA – The American Institute for International Steel announces the selection of Richard Chriss as its new Executive Director, replacing David Phelps, who is retiring. David served as the Institute’s Executive Director and later President for the past 17 years. Mr. Chriss will assume his new position on November 18, […]
Net job creation in October was 204,000; August and September were revised up by 45,000 and 15,000 respectively. In October 169,000 jobs were created in services and 35,000 in goods producing industries. The private sector added 212,000 jobs as government shed 8,000. Of the goods producing, 19,000 were in manufacturing and 11,000 in construction (Table […]
All of the indices continue to show strength at the domestic steel mills as prices remained relatively steady to rising this past week. Even with the minor drop in hot rolled and galvanized by our own index which we attribute to just the way the data fell this past week. Steel Market Update continues to […]
Service centers are attempting to collect higher flat rolled spot steel prices from their end user customers and each other. Steel Market Update has seen a dramatic rise in the percentage of service centers raising spot prices to their customers during the last 30 days. Based on responses from service centers the percentage of distributors […]
Based on the SMU steel market survey which was concluded this past week, less than 50 percent of 2014 flat rolled steel contracts have been settled. When asked if negotiations with the domestic steel mills had resulted in at least having contract pricing in place for the 1st Quarter 2014, 34 percent of manufacturing companies […]
If we start with the premise that the consumer is almost 70 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) 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 […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel who participated in our latest review of the steel industry continued to be optimistic regarding their company’s ability to be successful in the current market environment. The latest Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index was measured at +40 during the first full week of November. The […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) concluded our early November research on the flat rolled steel market earlier today. One of the areas we queried was if those responding to our questionnaire believe that the domestic mills will raise flat rolled steel prices within the first two weeks of November. With 72 percent of the respondents responding […]
According to our latest steel market survey results, lead times have begun to move out on all of the flat rolled products scrutinized by Steel Market Update. Hot rolled lead times extended from 4.07 weeks to 4.36 weeks, cold rolled moved from 6.10 weeks to 6.38 weeks, galvanized moved from 6.26 weeks to 6.39 weeks […]