Housing starts showed continued weakness in March, dipping 0.3 percent from February’s downwardly revised data to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,139,000. Housing starts were 14.2 percent below the rate in March 2018. Single-family home starts dipped 0.4 percent from the previous month to the lowest level since September 2016. Starts for multi-dwelling homes […]
Existing home sales fell more than expected in March following a surge in sales in February. March transactions dropped 4.9 percent from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.21 million, said the National Association of Realtors. Sales retreated in all four U.S. regions with the Midwest posting the largest decline. March […]
Sales of new homes rose for the third consecutive month in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 692,000 units, according to the Commerce Department on Tuesday. Sales were 4.5 percent higher than February’s revised rate and 3.0 percent above the March 2018 estimate. The positive March report was a surprise to economists polled […]
The official economic statistics out of China show a surge in industrial production in March and a steady growth in fixed asset investment. Once each quarter, Steel Market Update publishes the official statistics for Chinese GDP, industrial production, consumer price inflation and fixed asset investment. We don’t know the accuracy of these numbers but we […]
Non-coated flat rolled and plate prices are under pressure and there is worry coming from steel buyers about the second half of this calendar year. I am hearing mixed results regarding actual demand. The weather has finally broken in the north and products such as the metal building industry are seeing significant gains. We also […]
Data in Steel Market Update’s Steel Buyers Sentiment Index took a decidedly pessimistic turn this week. Current Sentiment hit its lowest reading since October 2016. The goal of the index is to measure how buyers and sellers of steel feel about their company’s ability to be successful today (Current Index), as well as three to […]
Mills are willing to talk price on all types of steel products to get the orders, report the vast majority of buyers responding to Steel Market Update’s questionnaire this week. Corroborating the trend, SMU data shows steel prices moving downward or sideways, raising questions about current steel demand. About 86 percent of respondents said the […]
Average lead times for spot orders of steel, including all types of products, have shortened slightly in the past two weeks. Hot rolled lead times now average around four weeks, cold rolled and Galvalume around six weeks, and galvanized down to nearly six and a half weeks. Lead times for plate are now less than […]
First, please be aware that Sunday is Easter and Steel Market Update will not publish an issue on Sunday evening. Our next issue will be on Tuesday, April 23. We have been receiving calls and getting comments associated with our release of the SMU Service Center Inventories Analysis in Sunday evening’s issue where we showed […]
U.S. manufacturing lost jobs in March, but has had strong job growth in the last 12 months. In March, 182,000 jobs were created in the private sector and government added 14,000, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 1 breaks total employment down into service and goods-producing industries and then into private and government employees. […]
I am making the following comments in my Final Thoughts section for a reason. My Final Thoughts is the area where I will sometimes provide my opinion or make comments regarding conversations that I am having about the market that I haven’t been able to totally put my finger on yet. I know that may […]
Flat rolled steel inventories at the service centers rose at the end of March, according to the data providers working with Steel Market Update. SMU has been collecting service center data for almost two years now. Six months back, with the help of the CRU team, we changed the way we were collecting and the […]
Material Sciences Corporation was honored with a 2019 Automotive News PACE Award for its MSC Smart Steel®, a new multilayer steel laminate engineered as a direct substitute for low carbon stamped vehicle body parts. Offering up to a 35 percent mass savings compared with same-thickness standard steel, MSC Smart Steel is produced as a coil, […]
For all of you golf fanatics, it was fun to see Tiger Woods win after a 14-year drought at the Masters, and after his serious back injuries that made it look doubtful if he would ever be able to play again, never mind win a Masters Championship. I don’t have the exact count of current […]
Steel Market Update conducted an analysis of flat rolled and plate steel market trends last week. One of the key trends we watch closely is the relationship between how service centers are handling spot prices to their customers and what support is being given to domestic steel mill price increases. With the two increases announced […]
A new national poll shows that voters want infrastructure to be the top priority for Congress and the president, says the Alliance for American Manufacturing. In the AAM national survey conducted by the Mellman Group and Public Opinion Strategies, 80 percent of 1,200 likely voters in the 2020 general election chose repairing roads, bridges, water […]
Registrations continue to pour in for the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference. Here are a few of the latest registrations from this week (those with an * mean more than one person registered from that company): Ryerson*, Whirlpool, Rheem*, JFE Shoji Trade America, Wallner Expac*, Ram Steel Framing, Oshkosh Corporation*, JSW Steel USA* and Midrex […]
SMU was speaking to a coated sheet steel buyer this afternoon about flat rolled steel prices. He made an interesting observation about how the markets have become quite complicated. When looking at galvanized, for example, there are different starting points for light gauge, medium gauge and heavy gauge steels. There are also regional differences (southern […]
A comment from a steel buyer today as we discussed steel prices, “That’s what I like about the steel business, there is always a new dynamic.” Put another way by one of my trading mentors a number of years back, in the steel industry prices are either going up or they are going down, there […]
Data in Steel Market Update’s Steel Buyers Sentiment Index were slightly more optimistic this week, though comments from respondents reflect concerns in the market about trade issues, steel demand and the economy. We also continue to see Current Sentiment as being less optimistic than at this time one year ago. However, our Future Sentiment Index […]
Construction activity in the U.S. is at an all-time high—but slowing. The Construction Put in Place (CPIP) expenditures data for February was released on April 1. Commerce Department data releases have now recovered from the government shutdown delays. Through February, total construction has negative momentum, but state and locally funded work, including infrastructure, had strong […]
The construction industry added 16,000 jobs in March and 246,000 jobs in the past 12 months, according to an analysis of new government data by the Associated General Contractors of America. “Construction employment rebounded in March, indicating that the dip in February was probably related to extreme weather conditions and not the beginning of a […]
The Dodge Momentum Index rose a slim 0.5 percent in March to 145.5. The Momentum Index, issued by Dodge Data & Analytics, is a monthly measure of the initial report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. Institutional planning fell 3.0 […]
Heating and cooling equipment shipments totaled 1.49 million units in February, up 0.7 percent compared to one year ago, according to data recently released by the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI). Excluding the 5.1 percent slip last September, total monthly equipment shipments on a year-over-year basis have increased every month since November 2016. Residential […]
I’m going to give you more than advertisements in tonight’s Final Thoughts. I have been struggling with our SMU Price Momentum Indicator. It appears that each product has a life of its own, and I need to do a deeper analysis of each to determine where my Momentum Indicator needs to be. Right now, I […]
The majority of respondents to Steel Market Update’s questionnaire this week reported mills willing to talk price in every product category, even plate, which may say something about the current state of steel demand. About 76 percent of respondents said the mills are open to price negotiations on hot rolled, up 20 points from the […]
Lead times for spot orders of hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steels are now about a week longer than they were in January, but have seen only small upticks in the past month. Lead times for plate and Galvalume have actually shortened slightly. Hot rolled lead times now average a bit more than four […]
President Trump gave the Mexican government one year for them to stop the migration of immigrants, most from Central and South American countries, as well as illegal drug smuggling into the United States. The stick he is waving is not closing the border (which would decimate the U.S. economy), but instead threatening tariffs on automobiles […]
Major U.S. automakers reported weaker sales in March, in line with analysts’ forecasts. Cox Automotive expects auto sales volume for the month to drop 7 percent year-over-year to 1.547 million. The seasonally adjusted annual rate is forecast at 16.5 million vehicles. “The year has started relatively soft for new-vehicle sales,” notes Jonathan Smoke, chief economist […]
Construction spending increased 1.0 percent in February following a 2.5 percent gain in January, reported the Associated General Contractors of America in its latest analysis of government data. Construction spending totaled $1.32 trillion in February, up 1.0 percent from the January rate and a gain of 1.1 percent compared to February 2018. Public construction accounted […]