The power position in price negotiations between steel mills and steel purchasers has seen a complete turnabout in the past seven months, transitioning from a nearly 100% seller’s market in July 2021 to a 100% buyer’s market today (see chart below). Every two weeks, Steel Market Update asks readers: Are you finding the domestic mills […]
Demand for design services from architecture firms in the U.S. improved for the 11th straight month in December, according to the latest report from the American Institute of Architects. AIA’s Architecture Billings Index rose from 51.0 in November to 52.0 in December. The ABI expanded each month in 2021 except for January. The index for […]
Business activity in the state of New York abruptly declined in January, as the headline index fell by nearly 33 points, according to the Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The headline general business conditions index is now at -0.7 compared to 31.9 the month prior. The downward move suggests that growth in manufacturing stalled in New […]
Wayne Mang, former president and CEO of Toronto-based Russel Metals, died Jan. 14 at age 85 after a brave battle with cancer. In addition to Mang’s 20-year tenure with Russel, he also served as chairman of the Steel Service Center Institute (now the Metals Service Center Institute) from 1997-98, among other contributions to the industry […]
Flat Rolled = 63.9 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 67.1 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled U.S. service center flat rolled inventories jumped in December, in line with seasonal trends. At the end of December, service centers carried 63.9 shipping days of supply on an adjusted basis, up from 57.1 in November, according to […]
The Energy Information Administration’s January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) continues to reflect high levels of uncertainty for future global energy consumption due to the ongoing pandemic recovery, impact of the Omicron variant, and unpredictable winter weather. EIA forecasts oil prices to remain near current levels throughout 2022, while natural gas prices could experience volatility as winter temperatures drive demand and prices. […]
Monthly Key Market Indicators continued their shift to a neutral position throughout December, according to the latest analysis by Steel Market Update. Positive indicators held for the first time in seven months, while negative indicators eased. Ongoing economic dynamics such as an underperforming job market, supply-chain bottlenecks, rising inflation and producer prices, as well as a […]
Total mill shipments of steel products fell 3.3% in November to 8.334 million tons, slipping for only the second time in eight months. Apparent supply rose fractionally in November, up 0.2% after eroding successively the prior two months. This analysis is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import-export […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Producer prices expanded by 0.2% in December, seasonally adjusted, maintaining their upward climb since reaching the most recent bottom 21 months ago, reports the U.S. Labor Department. The unyielding trend continues to highlight […]
Producer prices grew by 1.0% in January, seasonally adjusted, maintaining a 22-month growth run since reaching the most recent bottom in April 2020, reports the U.S. Labor Department. Wholesale prices jumped by twice the expected level in January as inflation pressures were unabated to start the year. The Labor Department said that its Producer Price […]
U.S. steel product shipments rose for a seventh straight month in November, expanding by 0.7% versus the prior month. The pace of growth had been steadily rising over the past few months, however, the rate of rise eased in November, the first such shift since May. New orders for steel production, while fractionally higher in […]
U.S. job growth was weaker than expected in December, well below estimates for the fourth time in the past five months. November payrolls rose by 199,000, well below the 400,000 anticipated by economists and underperforming for the second straight month. Despite the big hiring miss, the unemployment rate fell again to 3.9%, a 0.3 percentage […]
The U.S. labor market disappointed once again, adding just 199,000 jobs in December, down from the 249,000 jobs added the month prior. Despite seeing the smallest gains in a year, the unemployment rate fell to 3.9%, from 4.2% in November. The latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the U.S. economy […]
The number of active oil and gas drill rigs increased in both the U.S. and Canada this past week, according to data released Friday by oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The rig count is important to the steel industry because it is a leading indicator of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) demand. The number of […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Atul Kulkarni, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service, Jan. 31 The global steel industry is going to witness a transformation in terms of technology and operating practice due to decarbonization pressure. However, this transition will not come without substantial costs, as all CO2 abatement pathways are forecast to be more expensive than […]
World crude steel production slipped in November, contracting for the fifth time over the past six months. Steelmakers around the world produced an estimated 143.3 million metric tons of crude steel in November, down 1.6% or 2.4 million tons from the prior month, according to World Steel Association (worldsteel) data. Steel production has been trending […]
Steel Buyers Sentiment, as measured by Steel Market Update, saw its highest readings ever in September 2021. Not coincidentally, so did steel prices. In the four months since then, steel prices have softened by some 20%. Industry sentiment has also softened, but to a lesser extent – and it remains well above year-ago levels. SMU surveys buyers […]
Lead times on spot orders from domestic steel mills continue to decline, with no sign yet of how soon they might level out. Declining lead times are a leading indicator of declining steel prices. The average lead time for hot rolled is now approaching four and a half weeks, while cold rolled and galvanized are […]
After a year in which steel mills could basically name their price, 2022 is shaping up to be a buyer’s market – at least for the foreseeable future. Nearly all (96%) of the service center and manufacturing executives responding to Steel Market Update’s survey this week reported that the mills are willing to negotiate prices […]
Data on U.S. industrial production, capacity utilization, new orders and inventories continued to improve throughout fourth-quarter 2021, indicating a strengthening manufacturing sector. The health of the manufacturing economy has a direct bearing on the health of the steel industry. Note that some of the historical data below has been adjusted by the U.S. Census Bureau […]
Robert Campbell “Cam” Smith, Jr., former president of Doral Steel, died on Friday, Dec. 24 at age 84. Smith founded Doral Steel in Toledo, Ohio, in 1975. The service center also had operations in Clinton, Tenn., and Monterrey, Mexico. The family business was sold to Samuel, Son & Co. in 2011. Among many honors in […]
Steel prices declined for the fourth consecutive month in December, following a year-long streak of continuous price increases. Hot-rolled coil prices declined $130 per ton throughout the month, with the SMU index averaging $1,600 per ton ($80.00 per cwt) as of Tuesday, Dec. 21 (SMU did not published updated prices on Dec. 28). The SMU Price Momentum […]
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector grew again in December, though at a slightly slower pace than in November, with the overall economy achieving a 19th consecutive month of growth, reports the Institute for Supply Management, Tempe, Ariz. “The December Manufacturing PMI® registered 58.7%, a decrease of 2.4 percentage points from the November reading of 61.1%,” said Timothy R. Fiore, […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. U.S. consumer confidence rose for the third straight month in December, following a slight upward revision on November’s results and steady momentum after decreasing from July through September, reported The Conference Board. […]
There’s surprisingly little consensus among market participants about where steel prices will be next year, even though 2022 is just around the corner. That’s a big departure from the last 12 months, when respondents to Steel Market Update surveys were roughly in agreement on where prices would be in the future – or at the very least […]
Steel Buyers Sentiment, as measured by Steel Market Update, has not reacted much to declining steel prices. Perhaps because prices remain well above historical averages even after big declines – more than 18% when it comes to hot-rolled coil – over the past three months. Indeed, 2021 was a record year for many companies, leaving […]
In line with the declining steel prices, lead times for spot orders from the mills continue to shorten with the average for hot rolled now below five weeks and cold rolled and galvanized now below eight weeks, based on Steel Market Update’s check of the market on Monday and Tuesday. Lead times for all products […]
As the upward slope of the green bars in the charts below clearly illustrate, the bargaining position in steel price negotiations has been steadily shifting in favor of steel buyers for the past three months. Since September 2020, it had been a seller’s market, with steel in short supply. Until lately, the mills have had […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at an annual 2.3% rate in the third quarter, up from the prior estimate of 2.1% but still at the slowest pace in more than a […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. The Energy Information Administration’s December Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO) remains subject to high levels of uncertainty because of the unique nature of a pandemic-era economic recovery and the uncertain impact of the Omicron […]