After declining for three straight months, The Conference Board’s measure of consumer confidence surged in February, only to give back most of that gain in March. The composite value of consumer confidence in March was 124.1, down from 131.4 in February. The 3MMA (three-month moving average) decreased from 126.6 in February to 125.7 in March, […]
Steel Market Update is sharing this Premium content with Executive-level subscribers in this issue. For more information on upgrading to a Premium-level membership, email info@SteelMarketUpdate.com In April, consumer confidence gained back most of the March decline. The Conference Board’s measure of consumer confidence declined each month from November through January, surged in February, gave back […]
Gaurav Chhibbar is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Gaurav’s previous role, he was a trader at Cargill spending time in Metal and […]
Mexico has renewed the 15 percent tariff on imports of iron and steel products from countries with which it does not have a free-trade agreement. The tariffs cover 186 products and were originally introduced in 2015 to protect domestic producers from Asian imports. The newest renewal cites the “crisis facing the international steel market caused […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen The 13th National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s Parliament, concluded its annual two-week meeting in March. The NPC is arguably the most important policy meeting in China because it is when key macroeconomic targets are announced together with the policies required to support them. This year’s NPC has drawn attention […]
Over the next couple of years there will be approximately 20 million tons of capacity built in North America. Most of us focus on the capacity being built by Nucor, Steel Dynamics, JSW USA and others. What is overlooked is the capacity being built just south of the U.S. border in Mexico. In an effort […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals Chief Market Risk Officer, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled futures market, and we believe he provides insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing futures articles for Steel […]
In many Chicago-area neighborhoods, teens face intense pressure to join a gang and embrace a lifestyle of crime and violence. But some find their way into an unlikely rival gang, one that has been promoting integrity and achievement for more than a century—the Boy Scouts of America. With support from the metals industry, the Boy […]
The February Architecture Billings Index, a leading indicator of construction activity, dipped to 50.3 in February from 55.6 in January. Billings growth softened last month, said the American Institute of Architects, but indicators of work in the pipeline, including inquiries into new projects and the value of new design contracts, remained positive. “Overall business conditions […]
The following calculation is used by Steel Market Update to identify the theoretical spread between foreign hot rolled steel prices (delivered to U.S. ports) and domestic hot rolled coil prices (FOB domestic mills). We want our readers to be aware that this is only a “theoretical” calculation as freight costs, trader margin and other costs […]
Latin American steel mill Ternium reported the highest annual EBITDA in its history last year at $2.7 billion, a 40 percent increase from 2017. Net income was $1.5 billion, driven by an 18 percent increase in sales and higher steel product shipments. Ternium’s Mexico segment shipped 6.5 million metric tons of steel in 2018, representing […]
“Your tank broke down? No problem, we’ll just 3-D print a steel replacement part.” Someday this scenario may be a reality for U.S. Army technicians in the field. Researchers at the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory are working on a process that will take powdered steel and transform it with lasers […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) steel and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Steel Interestingly, this month the hot rolled spot price has been edging higher on the back of the latest mill price increase […]
A bill to address the nation’s labor shortage looks to immigrant workers to fill jobs in the United States. The Workforce for an Expanding Economy Act, introduced by Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.), would create a federal immigration visa system that would allow immigrant laborers to do year-round, non-farm work after the government approves both the […]
Orders for manufactured durable goods increased for the third month in a row, gaining 0.4 percent in January despite economists’ predictions of a decline. Orders were driven by an increase in transportation orders, especially orders for civilian aircraft, which grew 15.9 percent. Excluding the volatile transportation category, durable goods orders declined 0.1 percent. Core capital […]
Editor’s note: Jim Burg will be a panelist at Steel Market Update’s Steel Summit Conference Aug. 26-28 in Atlanta. The U.S. economy is dependent on trucks. Trucking moves 50 percent of U.S. GDP. Seventy percent of all freight can only reach consumers by truck. Trucking employs 7.3 million workers of which 3.8 million are truck […]
February’s employment report was not all bad news in spite of the surprisingly low job creation result. Net job creation in February at first glance was terrible, but our analysis of Friday’s reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) was not so bad. Job creation in February, at just 20,000, was far below […]
U.S. economic activity continued to expand in late January and February, but might have expanded more were it not for the government shutdown and harsh winter weather conditions, reports the Federal Reserve in its March 6 Beige Book. Ten of the Fed Districts reported slight-to-moderate growth, while Philadelphia and St. Louis reported flat economic conditions. […]
Stelco, one of the most technologically advanced integrated steelmaking facilities in North America, will take another step forward in the technology realm. Stelco has signed an agreement with Canvass Analytics to use the Canvass AI software to transform operational data into “actionable intelligence.” “By partnering with Canvass Analytics, we are systematically transforming our facilities into […]
A much weaker than expected jobs report showed that only 20,000 jobs were added in the U.S. last month. The unemployment rate was 3.8 percent, dipping from 4.0 percent in January, according to the latest report from Commerce. Average earnings rose 0.4 percent in February for a year-over-year gain of 3.4 percent. In the construction […]
Gaurav Chhibbar is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Gaurav’s previous role, he was a trader at Cargill spending time in Metal and […]
The federal government of Canada announced it will give EVRAZ North America C$40 million ($29.78 million U.S.) from its Strategic Innovation Fund to help with C$112.6 million of upgrades planned at facilities in Regina and Red Deer, Alberta. “This will enable the company to produce valued-added OCTG products that match Canadian market demand and make […]
Mexico’s Ministry of Economy announced last week that it will renew tariffs of 15 percent on imports of steel from countries that it does not have a free trade agreement with. The tariff does not impact steel imports from the U.S. or Canada. The Ministry also stated that before signing a new North American trade […]
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. U.S. economic growth slowed to 2.6 percent in fourth-quarter 2018, down from 3.4 percent in the third quarter, according to the initial estimate of […]
It is now the beginning of March and time to take a look back at the month of February to see what happened to pricing and trends that impact pricing. The SMU Pricing Momentum Indicator for flat rolled steel was adjusted to higher and our SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index rose when looked at as […]
Altos Hornos de Mexico, S.A. (AHMSA), the largest steel producer in Mexico, reported that sales for fourth-quarter 2018 rose 6.5 percent year-over-year to $733.2 million. The improvement was due to stronger product mix and higher steel prices. The average steel sales price was $803 per metric ton. Adjusted EBITDA was $7.0 million, an 85.2 percent […]
Global manufacturing growth hit a 32-month low in February. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI dipped to 50.6 from 50.8 the previous month. Operating conditions expanded in the consumer and investment goods sector but deteriorated in the intermediate goods sector, said J.P. Morgan and IHS Markit. International trade was blunted as new export orders fell […]
Manufacturing activity slowed its rate of growth in February, according to the latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The headline PMI fell further than expected last month, coming in at 54.2, a 2.4 point decline, and below the general consensus of 55.0. “Production expansion continued in February, but at a slower pace compared to January,” […]
Global steel production in January was at an annual rate of 1.760 billion metric tons (Mt). Capacity is calculated to be 2.4 billion Mt and capacity utilization in January was 74.0 percent, according to the latest Steel Market Update analysis of World Steel Association data. In three months through January, China grew by 7.8 percent […]
Consumer confidence rebounded in February as the negative effect of the government shutdown receded. The Conference Board measure of consumer confidence declined each month November through January and surged in February. It appears that the shutdown had a major effect on consumers’ expectations, but not so much on their perception of the present situation. The […]