The official economic statistics out of China show a decline in GDP to a level slightly lower than the depths of the global recession in 2009. China’s share of global steel production was 54.3 percent in November. Once each quarter we publish the official statistics for Chinese GDP, industrial production, consumer price inflation and fixed […]
By CRU Senior Cost Economist Ross Cunningham, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service The oil market in 2020 started with a bang—multiple in fact, over the skies of Baghdad. On Jan. 3, U.S. missiles killed Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani and four others. Iran vowed “severe revenge” and on Jan. 8 fired missiles at air […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive-level members. For more information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subcription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. This month we have expanded our report on steel product downstream shipments and inventories to include total manufacturing. We are (but shouldn’t be) surprised by the result, which confirms […]
The wind energy industry received a boost from a U.S. spending bill approved in December. The bill extends energy tax credits for wind, solar and other green energy projects to 2024. Due to the extension, IHS Markit is now expecting a boom rather than a decline for the industry in 2020. The extension increased the […]
Manufacturing in New York State expanded modestly in January. The Empire State Manufacturing Survey’s general business conditions index gained 1.5 points to post 4.8 for the month. Shipments posted 8.6, down one point from December, but new orders gained 4.9 points to post 8.6. Unfilled orders continued to decline, delivery times were shorter, and inventories […]
American business is facing a year of opportunity and uncertainty, says U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Thomas Donohue. In an address on the State of American Business, Donahue points to a “patchwork” of state rules and regulations that will stifle the free flow of goods and services if left unchecked. Data privacy is one example […]
Using U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) data, Steel Market Update has taken the import tonnage of cold rolled sheet and broken it down into coil and leveled, then our report breaks out four thickness ranges and identifies how much was full hard, annealed and high strength. Through November 2019, of the total cold rolled sheet […]
The number of jobs created in December declined from the excellent November result on a seasonally adjusted basis. Net job creation in December declined to 145,000 from November’s exceptional result of 256,000. October and November were both revised down by 10,000. Rising employment and wages are the main contributors to GDP growth because personal consumption […]
Job creation decline by 21.3 percent in 2019, compared with 2018, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The December employment reports were delayed by a week due to the holidays. In December, 20,000 jobs were created in construction and 12,000 jobs were lost in manufacturing. The private sector gained 139,000 jobs in December as […]
Indicators of economic activity through Jan. 10 data do not predict an imminent U.S. recession. In this report, we have identified eight indicators that have some predictive ability about the short-term likelihood of a recession (definition below). Viewed individually, these don’t offer much insight into the future, but viewed collectively they give subscribers a better […]
As the laws of economics have proven time and again, supply and demand will determine whether steel prices continue to rise in 2020. Demand is set by the marketplace; supply can be controlled by producers. Steel Market Update canvassed the market this week, asking readers: Has enough flat rolled capacity been removed to keep prices […]
Lead times for coated steels and steel plate have extended a bit, but lead times for orders of hot rolled and cold rolled have seen little change in the past few weeks. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level. The longer the lead time, the busier the mill. […]
Negotiations between steelmakers and steel buyers were mixed in early January, depending on the product. Responses to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this week indicate that talks over price have tightened considerably for plate, while loosening slightly for hot rolled and cold rolled orders. In the hot rolled segment, the majority of buyers (56 […]
Written by: John Packard, President & CEO Steel Market Update Your customer will tell you what you need to know. The key is to listen. The key is to suppress your temptation to dominate the conversation. Brian Buckalew, Vice President of Business Development, Majestic Steel, recently wrote in a LinkedIn post: “People that are not […]
Steel buyers sentiment has seen a notable improvement as business conditions appear favorable to start the new year. Both the Current and Future Sentiment indexes had readings above +60 this week. The goal of SMU’s index is to measure how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful today (Current […]
The three themes which will run through CRU analysis this year: China’s economic re-balancing, FX currency movements, and Environmental and Social Governance. 2020 brings opportunities and challenges for commodity markets. CRU has drawn on conversations between our market experts and people from all parts of commodity market value chains—from miner to end-use consumer—and we have […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive level members. For more information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Key Market Indicators showed a substantial improvement in market trends in the December data. This report is designed to be a big picture summary of data SMU has […]
U.S active rig counts decreased this past week, as did Canadian rig counts, according to oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The active drill rigs 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 fell by 9 to 796, with […]
The industry finished 2019 with steel prices on the rebound. Steel Market Update’s Steel Pricing Momentum Indicator pointed upward in December as the mills worked to collect higher prices announced in four waves beginning in late October. The benchmark price for hot rolled steel rose to more than $570 per ton by the end of […]
The December Manufacturing ISM Report on Business showed economic activity contracting in the U.S. last month. The PMI fell 0.9 points to 47.2 percent and its lowest reading since July 2009. A PMI below 50 indicates business is contracting and a reading above 50 indicates expansion. The December PMI marks the fifth consecutive month of contraction. […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive-level members. For more informtion on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. The December report of Consumer Confidence from the Conference Board shows stability at a high level based on 10 years of history. Consumer confidence as reported by the Conference Board is […]
The Chicago Business Barometer remained in contraction with a reading below 50 in December, but rose 2.6 points to 48.9. An increase in production and supplier deliveries helped boost the PMI for the month, said MNI Indicators. The production PMI rose 4.9 points to 47.2 The index for supplier deliveries gained 5.1 points to register […]
About half of the nations surveyed by J.P Morgan and IHS Markit ended the year with manufacturing PMIs in contraction, with conditions especially poor in the Eurozone. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI fell to 50.1 last month from 50.3 in November indicating business conditions remained weak at the end of 2019. The intermediate and […]
Chinese steel trade data was recently released for the month of November 2019, providing updated data on iron ore imports, scrap imports, and flat rolled imports and exports. Chinese imports of iron ore in November totaled 90,652,000 metric tons, a decrease of 2.4 percent from the previous month, but an increase of 5.1 percent from […]
Key Market Indicators showed a substantial improvement in market trends in the December data. This report is designed to be a big picture summary of data SMU has reported in detail during the month. It summarizes 36 data streams that describe the state of the steel market and provide forward guidance for steel buyers and […]
Steel production in the U.S. declined in the period from September-November 2019, but by less than the rest of the world, excluding China, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of World Steel Association data. Figure 1 shows annualized monthly global steel production on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis and capacity utilization since January […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen, from the CRU Steel Sheet Products Market Outlook Global Economic Outlook: 2019 has been an eventful year. Many decisions were taken, including tariffs and monetary policy easing. Other decisions were put-off, such as Brexit and auto tariffs. Looking back to our expectations at the start of 2019, four things […]
Orders of durable goods in November declined at their sharpest rate since May, falling 2.0 percent after a downward revision to October’s data. Economists were expecting orders to rebound by more than 1.0 percent in November. A boost in transportation orders was anticipated due to the ending of the GM strike. Orders for autos and […]
Steel buyers sentiment has seen little change in the past several weeks as the market pauses to digest the latest price increases and looks ahead to the beginning of the new year. The goal of the index is to measure how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful today […]
In four rounds of price increases since late October, flat rolled steel mills have raised prices by a total of $150 per ton. How much are they collecting? Some, but certainly not all, according to the service center and manufacturing executives who responded to Steel Market Update’s questionnaire this week. SMU data places the average […]