The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) is urging the Trump administration to identify the steel manufacturing sector and its workers as “essential” when drafting and enforcing shelter-in-place orders and other directives in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “As the Secretary of Commerce determined in 2018, steel is important to national security well beyond obvious […]
SMU contributor Tim Stevenson 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 Tim’s previous role, he was a Director at Cargill Risk Management, and […]
Yesterday Steel Market Update received a note from USS/POSCO regarding their waiver from the mandatory “shelter in their place of residence” order within Contra Costa County in California. UPI received their waiver due to the “essential nature of UPI’s business and services.” SMU anticipates there may be situations that arise where a mill, manufacturing company […]
By CRU Research Manager Paul Butterworth, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service Activity in steel end-use sectors in China is recovering as per CRU’s base case, but evidence suggests that demand may start to run ahead of our base case in the near term. Encouraged by government stimulus measures, there is a lot of optimism […]
The currencies of the commodity dependent nations have crashed in a flight to the safe haven of the U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar strengthened against 13 of the 16 steel and raw materials trading nation currencies in the last three months. In the last 30 days, the currencies of Brazil, Mexico and Russia were down […]
Canada voted to approve the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement without amendment on Friday, March 13, but its implementation may be delayed by the coronavirus. Following passage of the agreement, Canada’s parliament was dismissed for three weeks to combat the spread of the virus.The next step for Canada is “royal assent” by the governor general and a final […]
In the last 12 months, the price declines of cold rolled carbon steel and aluminum sheet have been similar. 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 […]
In the last 12 months the competitive position of steel sheet has improved against aluminum, plastic and wood. This report is an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data and is intended to provide subscribers with a view of where sheet steel stands in terms of pricing compared with aluminum, plastic and wood. The analysis […]
Mill shipments of sheet products in January were the highest since August 2019. This analysis is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import-export data from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC). This month we are producing a new report for long products and will follow this […]
The Empire State Manufacturing Index plummeted 34 points in March to register -21.5, its steepest point drop on record and its lowest level since 2009. Forty-two percent of New York manufacturers surveyed reported that business conditions had worsened during the period. The new orders index tumbled 31 points to -9.3 while shipments fell 20.6 points […]
Demand for long products declined by 3.5 percent in the three months through January, but rebar was up by 9.6 percent. This analysis is based on steel mill shipment data from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and import-export data from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC). It summarizes total steel supply by product […]
By CRU Analyst Arshiya Sibia and Research Manager Paul Butterworth, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Current information from our China team shows that steel demand is closely tracking our base case forecast for the impact of Covid-19, though steel production remains slightly higher than we had forecast. While our forecast was for steel demand to return […]
By CRU Principal Analyst Josh Spoores, from CRU’s March Steel Sheet Products Monitor Covid-19, the novel coronavirus, has severely disrupted China’s economy. While new cases in China have slowed, thanks particularly to a historically significant containment strategy, Covid-19 has moved on to other countries. These include Italy, Iran and South Korea, but also other areas […]
Covid-19 continues to spread globally, now detected in at least 103 countries. More than 80,000 cases have been reported in the epicenter of China and worldwide more than 114,500 people have been infected. The number of deaths reported has jumped to over 4,000. Testing for the virus has been slow in the U.S. as the […]
Crowe, a public accounting, consulting and technology firm, will host a workshop–“Technology Strategies: How Metals Companies are Making Digital Transformation a Reality”–as part of the 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference. The workshop will be held at the Marriott Gateway Hotel next to the Georgia International Convention Center on Monday, Aug. 24, just prior to the […]
In February, job creation beat expectations, and there is no sign of a virus effect even in the details. Net job creation in February was a surprising 273,000. In addition, December was revised up by 37,000 and January up by 48,000. Rising employment and wages are the main contributors to GDP growth because personal consumption […]
February’s employment report showed a turnaround in manufacturing, while construction continued to boom. The net increase in employed persons was 273,000 in February, the same as an upwardly revised result for January. In February, 42,000 jobs were created in construction and 15,000 jobs in manufacturing. The private sector gained 228,000 jobs in February and government […]
Thomas Gibson, president and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute, will retire this fall. A search for his successor begins immediately. Gibson has led AISI since September 2008. Under his leadership, the institute successfully advocated for legislation to strengthen the trade laws against unfair trade practices and level the playing field for steel […]
Now a rising concern in the U.S., the coronavirus is not only a tragic pandemic but a major economic disruption. The public is now invited to join the CRU Webinar: “How COVID-19 is affecting CRU’s outlook for 2020,” hosted by CRU economic and commodity experts and recorded on March 5. Click below to view additional […]
Our latest look at foreign versus domestic hot rolled prices shows the U.S price advantage remains strong, according to SMU and CRU price indices released earlier this week. The price gap between domestic HRC compared to German and Italian products has widened over our mid-February update, while the East/Southeast Asian price spread has shrunk (but […]
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 In the midst of a fairly volatile news cycle in the last month with the COVID-19 virus stealing the headlines, the […]
Sheet prices in the U.S. Midwest market fell by $5-9 /s.ton, w/w with HR coil losing the most, assessed at $560 /s.ton. These prices reflect transactions from last week, which were primarily conducted ahead of recently announced mill price increases. While prices fell, the overall volume component fell at a faster rate. Until the price […]
Nucor-JFE Steel Mexico began production at its continuous galvanizing line in Silao, Guanajuato, this week. The facility will produce hot-dip galvanized sheet steel for the automotive market. With an annual production capacity of 400,000 tons, Nucor-JFE Steel can produce sheet thickness from 0.4 mm to 2.6 mm and widths of 800 mm to 1,850 mm. […]
The coronavirus has begun to affect business in the United States, according to the latest Federal Reserve “Beige Book.” The economy is moving forward at a modest to moderate pace, but growth is uneven. The virus appears to be negatively impacting travel and tourism in the U.S., which showed only moderate to flat growth in […]
In just a few weeks from the first known case, the COVID-19 outbreak has wreaked havoc on the global manufacturing sector. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI posted a steep decline in February, falling to 47.2 from 50.4 in January, its lowest level since May 2009. New orders and production fell at record rates in […]
U.S. manufacturing activity grew only slightly in February, according to the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business. The Institute for Supply Management reported that the February PMI decreased 0.8 points to 50.1, just above the no-change mark of 50. The PMI for new orders fell into contraction at 49.8, while production dropped four points to […]
Looking back at the numbers for February, flat rolled steel prices declined from January, with the benchmark price of hot rolled dipping to a monthly average of $576 per ton. Steel Market Update’s Current and Future Steel Buyers Sentiment Indexes showed some erosion, likely as a response to the weak steel prices and concerns over […]
The Chicago Business Barometer nearly emerged from contraction in February. The manufacturing index, produced by MNI Indicators, gained 6.1 points to post 49.0, the highest level since August 2019. The three-month average for the index edged up to 46.7. Production reached an eight-month high, gaining 8.3 points to register 51.0 after seven straight months below […]
SMU contributor Tim Stevenson 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 Tim’s previous role, he was a Director at Cargill Risk Management, and […]
World crude steel production totaled 154.4 million metric tons in January, a 2.1 percent increase compared to January 2019, reported the World Steel Association in Brussels. China’s crude steel production for January totaled 84.3 million tons, an increase of 7.2 percent compared to January 2019. Steel output in February will be hurt by the COVID-19 […]