By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen and CRU Economist Yingrui Wang On March 5, the Chinese government announced its macroeconomic targets for 2021 and beyond. It reaffirmed our broad view that China is keen to withdraw policy support gradually and deliver a steady economic slowdown over the next five years. What we learned is that […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, email info@steelmarketupdate.com. The Energy Information Administration’s Jan. 12 Short-Term Energy Outlook remains subject to heightened levels of uncertainty because responses to COVID-19 continue to evolve. Reduced economic activity from the pandemic has […]
Economic activity rose modestly for most Federal Districts as 2020 came to a welcome end. Two Districts reported flat activity while two others noted a decline, said the Federal Reserve its January 2021 Beige Book. The recent surge in COVID-19 cases resulted in another decline for retail sales and leisure and hospitality services. More Americans […]
Hot rolled steel prices are venturing into uncharted territory as an unprecedented combination of variables—idled capacity, short supplies, limited imports and an economy that’s surprisingly strong despite the pandemic—keep pushing them higher. Assuming that today’s record-high prices are unsustainable for the long-term, Steel Market Update asked in its survey last week: At what level do […]
The U.S. electric-arc furnace steelmaking industry is eager to work with the administration of President-elect Joe Biden to craft better trade, infrastructure and manufacturing policies, the head of the Steel Manufacturers Association said. And those efforts could be fruitful given Biden’s moderate positions on those issues and the moderation that will be necessary to effectively […]
U.S and Canadian active rotary drill rig counts increased this week, according to data released 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 demand. The number of active U.S. rigs rose by 9 this week to 360, […]
Current Sentiment among steel buyers, as measured by Steel Market Update’s Jan. 4 questionnaire, saw a small increase, while Future Sentiment saw a small decrease, suggesting that service center and OEM executives feel more confident about their immediate prospects than they do about the uncertainty ahead. As one commented: “We ended 2020 struggling to get […]
U.S. consumer confidence continues to fall as global pandemic fatigue sets in and genuine relief still seems far away. Despite a slight correction and stability throughout the summer months, the composite value of consumer confidence, reported by The Conference Board, has now slipped repeatedly during the fourth quarter from 101.8 in September to 88.8 in […]
The economy lost 140,000 jobs in December after seeing repeated gains month on month since May, reported the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The pace of job additions had slowed significantly in November compared to October when additions were 245,000 and 638,000, respectively. The change in direction comes as the market enters the winter months and […]
Employment gains have slowed each month since June, and after a marginal increase in November, December employment numbers retracted for the first time since March, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. The net change in employed persons in December was a negative 140,000, following a disappointing […]
Overall, steel product shipments continued to improve through November, reporting an increase for the seventh consecutive month. Despite the gains, the improvement continues at a slower pace than the overall manufacturing economy. The market is still working to recover from the initial effects of the Covid-19 shutdowns back in April. As a result, despite the steady […]
2021 will be a year of hope for recovery after the coronavirus pandemic left its mark on the world in 2020. Monitoring the speed and nature of the recovery will be vital to understanding all markets. Drawing on conversations between market experts and people across commodity value chains, CRU expects interest in three topics to […]
Hot rolled lead times were slightly shorter this week, but lead times for other products were the same or slightly longer, based on Steel Market Update’s first check of the market in the new year. Lead times for deliveries of hot rolled were still highly extended at an average of nearly eight weeks, and it’s […]
With steel in such tight supply as 2021 gets off to a fast start, it’s clearly a seller’s market, with little to no price negotiation between buyers and the mills. Based on Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week, average hot rolled steel prices have surpassed $1,000 per ton. SMU has received anecdotal […]
Global manufacturing ended 2020 with growth rates for production and new orders among the strongest of the past decade. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI posted 53.8, unchanged from November’s 33-month high. Output continued to expand in December, although at a slightly slower pace, and was led by growth in Germany, Brazil and India. New […]
Strong demand and tight supply pushed steel prices upwards throughout December, with hot rolled prices nearing quadruple digits as 2020 came to a close. Steel Market Update’s hot rolled price index reached $985 per ton by the end of December, up $180 per ton or 22 percent from the beginning of the month. The SMU […]
The U.S. manufacturing sector expanded again in December, gaining 3.2 points to register a PMI of 60.7 percent in the December 2020 Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. “The manufacturing economy continued its recovery in December,” said Timothy Fiore, chairman of the Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. “Survey Committee members reported that their […]
The Chicago Business Barometer edged up 1.3 points in December to 59.5, reports MNI Indicators. The gain came as a welcome surprise as employment levels, although still in contraction, made notable improvement last month. The production index gained 1.1 points while demand slipped 2.0 points. Order backlogs grew for a second month, gaining 3.6 points. […]
Looking back at the past year, 2020 was not the disaster many in the steel industry had feared. And looking ahead, 2021 appears even more promising, say OEM and service center executives polled by Steel Market Update last week. Despite an economy that struggled with the COVID pandemic, as well as civil unrest and an […]
Orders for durable goods rose for the seventh month in November, edging up 0.9 percent after a 1.8 percent gain in October. Transportation equipment orders gained 1.9 percent and included a 2.4 percent rebound in orders for motor vehicles and parts, according to the latest Census data. Core capital goods, orders excluding defense and aircraft, […]
Sentiment among steel buyers, as measured by Steel Market Update’s Dec. 21 questionnaire, saw a small dip as the year comes to a close on concerns about tight steel supplies. As one respondent said, “We need supply in order to be successful. I am not able to line that all up so far for 2021.” […]
By CRU Senior Cost Economist Ross Cunningham, from CRU’s Steelmaking Raw Materials Monitor Global CO2 emissions have been rising since the start of the industrial revolution. This has caused rising global temperatures and severe weather events such as wildfires, flooding and drought. In 2015 the United Nations framework convention on climate change put together the Paris […]
The U.S. dollar weakened against 15 of the 16 steel and raw materials trading nation currencies in both the last 30 and 90 days. The biggest changes in the last 90 days were in the value of the South African rand, up 12.2 percent, the Korean won and the Mexican peso, both up by 6.0 […]
The United States experienced the least growth among the 10 major steel-producing nations in the three months through November, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Figure 1 shows annualized monthly global steel production on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis and capacity utilization since January 2000 based on capacity […]
This report is an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data and is intended to provide subscribers with a view of the competitive position of sheet steel, aluminum, plastic and wood. The analysis includes some downstream products and a comparison of truck and rail transportation. On Dec. 10, the BLS released its series of Producer […]
Steel Market Update’s check of the market a few days before Christmas shows no let-up in steel demand, as prices continue to rise and lead times continue to extend. With steel supplies remaining extremely tight, lead times for deliveries of hot rolled have stretched to more than eight weeks and coated steel orders to around […]
Based on Steel Market Update’s check of the market this week, hot rolled steel prices are nearing $1,000 per ton, within sight of a record high. With service centers and OEMs willing to pay such high prices in order to secure inventory in a tight market, it’s no surprise the buyers report little willingness among […]
Metalforming firms are expecting business conditions and order activity to remain unchanged during the next three months, said the Precision Metalforming Association in its December 2020 Business Conditions Report. “Metalforming manufacturers are showing resiliency during the COVID-19 pandemic, but finding workers continues to be a challenge despite the high unemployment rate,” said PMA President David […]
President-elect Joe Biden will hit the ground running due to his past experience in Washington and the depth of experience of his Cabinet choices, said Omar Nashashibi, founding partner of the Franklin Partnership, during a FABTECH webinar last week. Expect to see a flurry of executive orders and memorandums from the new executive office regarding […]
There was no reprieve in November for architecture firms that have seen billings shrink for the past nine months. The American Institute of Architects reports the Architecture Billings Index slid to 46.3 in November, down from October. Although inquiries into new work have risen, albeit at a slower pace, the value of new design contracts […]