Job growth in 2018 shattered expectations, adding 312,000 jobs to the economy in December and 2.6 million for the year. Wages increased 3.9 percent after years of marginal growth, due in part to the shrinking labor pool available to fill vacancies. The construction industry saw unemployment decrease to a historic low of 5.1 percent in […]
The Association of Women in the Metal Industries (AWMI) will have new leadership beginning in 2019. Sonya Malvick was elected president of AWMI at the organization’s annual conference in St. Petersburg, Fla., in November. Malvick is a 25-year veteran of the steel industry, beginning her career at Zalk Joseph Fabricators and later moving to the […]
The U.S. active rotary rig count, an indicator of oil country tubular goods demand, declined week over week, according to oilfield services company Baker Hughes. The number of active U.S. rigs fell by 8 to 1,075, with oil rigs down 8 to 877 rigs, gas rigs unchanged at 198 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at […]
The year ended on a cautionary note with steel demand, prices and buyers’ sentiment showing downward momentum in December. Prices for flat rolled products continued their fourth-quarter declines with hot rolled dipping to $754, cold rolled to $865 and galvanized to $931 in December. Plate is the notable exception, holding steady around $1,000 per ton, […]
Manufacturing activity in the U.S. continued to expand in December, but at a much lower pace, according to the latest ISM Report on Business. The December PMI fell 5.2 percentage points to 54.1 with indexes for new orders slipping 11 points and production slipping 5.3 points from November. The average PMI score for 2018 was […]
Global manufacturing slid to its lowest level in 27 months, falling from a PMI of 52.0 in November to 51.5 in December, according to the latest J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI). Manufacture of consumer goods was the only bright spot in December, growing to an eight-month high. Investment and intermediate goods were […]
Twas the night before Christmas 2017 Steel buyers were happy All nestled in their beds No thoughts of turmoil running about in their heads Little did they know Little did they dread 2018 was staring at them While dreams of sugar plums danced in their heads The last three months saw prices move […]
Service centers are perilously close to capitulation as the percentage of respondents reporting service centers as lowering spot prices continues to increase. Manufacturing companies are telling Steel Market Update that they are receiving lower and lower spot pricing from their service center suppliers. In our latest flat rolled steel market trends analysis conducted this past […]
Editor’s note: Steel Market Update is sharing the following Premium content with all its readers in this issue. For more information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, email info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. The U.S. has strengthened its position in the global scrap market since Q1 2016. This is an analysis that we perform quarterly. We believe […]
Editor’s note: Steel Market Update is sharing the following Premium content with all its readers in this issue. For more information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, email info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. In three months through November year over year, China’s steel production grew 18 times faster than the rest of the world. (Not a typo!) […]
Editor’s note: Steel Market Update is sharing the following Premium content with all its readers in this issue. For more information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, email info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. The growth of U.S. GDP in third-quarter 2018 came in at 3.36 percent, but the mix of contributors was concerning. On Friday, the Bureau […]
Editor’s note: Steel Market Update is sharing the following Premium content with all its readers in this issue. For more information on how to upgrade to a Premium-level subscription, email info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. The U.S. dollar now has the highest value on the foreign exchange markets in over 16 years. In the last month, the dollar strengthened […]
Continual controversy over trade and tariffs, volatile steel prices and unrest on Wall Street have clearly left many in the industry anxious and pessimistic about the year to come. Only about 20 percent of the steel executives who responded to Steel Market Update’s latest market trends questionnaire expect 2019 to be a solid growth year […]
The Architecture Billings Index remained positive in November and rose over four points to 54.7, according to the Wednesday release by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). This is the 14th consecutive month of increasing demand for architectural firms’ services and the strongest billings growth figure in 10 months. The project inquiries index rose to […]
The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index ended the year on a “down” note as our Current Sentiment Index, as measured this week as a single data point, was the lowest reading we have seen over the past two years. When viewed as a three-month-moving average, which helps smooth out the data and provide a clearer […]
Mill lead times suggest that demand for flat rolled steel products continues to bounce along the bottom as the year comes to a close, with no clear direction yet for the first quarter. Lead times for steel delivery are a measure of demand at the mill level—the shorter the lead time, the less busy the […]
With steel prices continuing to decline, steel buyers remain in a strong negotiating position. Twice each month Steel Market Update canvasses the flat rolled and plate steel markets to gauge whether the steel mills are willing to work with their steel buying customers and negotiate steel pricing for orders placed this week. At least nine […]
Demand and pricing for nonprime or secondary steel products is a mixed bag, report Steel Market Update sources. Some segments of the secondary market are faring better than others. Lisa Goldenberg, president of Delaware Steel Co. of Pennsylvania, Fort Washington, Pa., reports recent weakness in secondary sales. With domestic mills running at 80 percent of […]
Steel Market Update is sharing this Premium content with Executive members in this issue. For information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil has declined by $25.33 per barrel since Oct. 3. The price of natural gas is surging. The spot price of West Texas Intermediate […]
Trump administration tariffs will increase the tax burden on Americans, especially lower and middle-income households, and will cost the economy thousands of jobs, according to a new report from The Tax Foundation, a conservative-leaning tax policy research organization. Trump has placed tariffs on steel, aluminum, washing machines, and thousands of other products that American businesses […]
Business activity grew at a slower pace than in recent months in New York State, according to firms responding to the December 2018 Empire State Manufacturing Survey. Manufacturing firms surveyed by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported that business activity continued to expand in December, though growth was noticeably slower than in recent […]
Through October 2018, of the total cold rolled sheet and strip imports into the U.S., only 2.8 percent was strip, while 44.3 percent of the CR sheet imports were >1 to 3mm thick and 49.8 percent was full hard. Premium subscribers to Steel Market Update receive reports on imports broken down into district of entry […]
Demand for long products is booming, plate products are doing OK, sheet products are flat and tubulars are cratering. This analysis by SMU staff is based on data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC). The analysis summarizes total steel supply by product from 2003 through October […]
Net job creation in November totaled 155,000 positions. This was a correction from the very strong result in October, according to Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data. Table 1 breaks total U.S. employment down into service and goods-producing industries and then into private and government employees. Most of […]
The employment situation continues to be excellent with job opportunities higher than the total number of unemployed. Rising employment and wages are the main contributor to GDP growth because personal consumption accounts for almost 70 percent of GDP. Steel consumption is related to GDP; therefore, this is one of the indicators that helps us understand […]
This report examines the import share of sheet, plate, long and tubular products and 16 subcategories through October. Table 1 shows total supply to the market in three months through October and in 12 months through October for the four product groups and the 16 subcategories. Supply to the market is the total of domestic […]
Scrap Metal Services LLC has announced major changes in the roles of executive management. Effective Dec. 12, CEO Jeff Gertler and COO Rick Gertler have moved into board level positions as chairman and co-chairman of the company’s newly formed board of directors. The two will oversee financial performance, business development and relationship retention, but will […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to include the following Premium content in this Executive issue. For more information about upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. Economic indicators of U.S. manufacturing activity are strong, though growth is slowing. This report summarizes 11 data streams that describe the state of U.S. manufacturing in general and the […]
Most Federal Reserve districts saw their economies expand at a modest to moderate pace in October and November, but tariffs remain a common concern among manufacturers, who report widespread escalation in the cost of inputs, such as steel. So far, selling prices have risen with less intensity than input costs, they say, suggesting that price […]
The U.S. economy is on track to grow further next year, say purchasing executives surveyed by the Institute for Supply Management, continuing the trend that began in mid-2009. In its December 2018 Semiannual Economic Forecast, ISM reported that the manufacturing sector is optimistic about business conditions in 2019, with revenues expected to increase in 17 […]