We are going to hold off on doing an import analysis other than to say that the latest license data suggests July imports will be approximately the same as June. I will check the latest numbers to see if there are any huge variances compared to what we reported over the past few days. If […]
New home sales were disappointing in June, dropping 8.1 percent below the revised rate May rate of 442,000 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 406,000, according to estimates by the US Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development. The drop is “a return to trend rather than a change of direction,” says […]
According to Baker Hughes data from July 25th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,883 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 12 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 8 to 1,562 rigs, gas rigs up 3 to 318 rigs, […]
I believe US Steel releases earnings after the close of the Stock Exchange on Tuesday and their earnings conference call will be held at 8:30 AM on Wednesday. Due to the issues the company had with two of their mills during the second quarter the expectation is USS will report a loss. I would expect […]
Even though our Steel Market Update Steel Buyers Sentiment Index dropped 3 points to +62 this week, it is still well within the optimistic range and close to the record high which was set at the beginning of this month. This continued optimism is reflected when looking at Sentiment based on a 3-month moving average […]
Mill lead times are an important indicator as to the strength or weakness of the mill order books. There are a number of ways to look at mill lead times. One is to go off the lead time sheets produced by some (not all) of the domestic mills. Steel Market Update does follow the lead […]
One of the most popular items produced out of our twice monthly flat rolled steel surveys is our Mill Negotiations data. We ask active buyers and sellers of steel how willing are domestic steel mills to negotiate pricing by product at this point in time. What our most recent survey results are telling us is […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) began our mid-July flat rolled steel market analysis (survey) on Monday of this week, shortly after Severstal announced the sale of their North American operations. We included questions about the sale both as a group and in industry segments of the survey. As a group, those responding were of the opinion […]
Caterpillar said it was pleased with its second quarter results, particularly the improvement in profit despite weaker results in its mining segment. Profit after taxes was $146 million compared to $111 million in Q2 2013, an increase of 32 percent. Year over year revenue increased 5 percent to $728 million. “Construction Industries had a good […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S remained slightly negative this week for the sixth week in a row after being in positive territory for the prior ten weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil […]
A special thank you to Pacesetter Steel Service Inc. who has stepped up to sponsor our networking/cocktail reception to be held at the end of the first day of the SMU Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta. For those of you who are unaware the conference will be held at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) […]
Existing home sales rose 2.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.04 million in June according to a report by the National Association of Home Realtors. Sales were at the highest rate since October 2013 but 2.3 percent below the rate in June 2013. “Inventories are at their highest level in over a year […]
For those of you who don’t realize it – Steel Market Update is conducting our mid-July market analysis this week. I have added a couple of questions about the sale of the Dearborn and Columbus steel mills. I will send out a reminder email first thing in the morning on Wednesday. If you receive an […]
Steel Market Update watches a number of flat rolled steel indexes and once per week we provide our readers an analysis of what movement has occurred in each during the prior week. This week we found small movements, mostly indicating higher prices, in most of the indices. Hot rolled saw two indexes moving prices by […]
U.S. light vehicle sales beat expectations again in June by surging to 17.0 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, (SAAR). This was the best performance since mid-2006. All of the improvement was in auto sales which increased from 8.1 to 8.3 million SAAR. Light truck sales were flat at 8.7 million. Pent-up demand, […]
At the end of May 2014 Steel Market Update calculated that the U.S. service center flat rolled steel inventories were short (apparent deficit) by -632,000 tons. At that point in time we projected that the inventory deficit would be reduced by 45,000 tons and that by the end of June the apparent deficit would be […]
According to Baker Hughes data from July 18th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,871 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 4 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 9 to 1,554 rigs, gas rigs up 4 to 315 rigs, […]
In the last issue of Steel Market Update I warned that there are lots of rumors swamping the steel market as negotiations for Severstal NA heat up (or are perhaps already over) and Gallatin entertains bids on their mill (half owned by Gerdau and half ArcelorMittal). The other mill issue is the Chapter 15 (Canadian […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S remained negative this week for the fifth week in a row after being in positive territory for the prior ten weeks. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is measured as a percentage and shows the relation of the current hot rolled coil (HRC) […]
As you may have noticed, we have been writing a series of articles highlighting the benefits of our Premium membership. Through the end of July, our Executive members will have access to our Premium content. If you have not yet explored our Premium content, such as SMU’s survey data or imports by product/port/country, I would […]
First thing I want to say is everyone needs to be aware that the market is plum full of rumors and half-truths. There are rumors about dumping suits, Severstal sale, pricing (going both ways) and more. When you hear something question the source, see if there is anything in writing or if the information can […]
The old Bethlehem Steel site in Lackawanna, NY, is getting repurposed to produce green energy. The site, considered a “brownfield” due to its former use for industrial purposes and its contaminated ground, will become one of the largest solar farms in New York State. The “Steel Sun” project will add 13,000 solar panels to the […]
Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for May 2014 decreased 2.4 percent, to 358,326 units, down from 367,055 units shipped in May 2013. Residential electric storage water heater shipments increased 0.3 percent in May 2014, to 346,116 units, up from 345,077 units shipped in May 2013. For the year-to-date, […]
I thought the train references in the articles above were fitting as the Kansas City Southern Railroad just became one of our corporate sponsors for this year’s Steel Summit Conference. They are joining Alliance Steel and Magic Coil Products as sponsors. We are in the process of negotiating with a number of other potential sponsors. […]
As you may have read last week, Steel Market Update is providing our Executive members access to Premium sections of our website as well as Premium supplement newsletters for the month of July. We are doing this in an effort to educate our customers on what is available at the Premium Level should you wish […]
One of the analytical reports that Steel Market Update shares with our Premium Level subscribers is our flat rolled steel “Imports by Product, Port & Country” analysis. Once per month, Steel Market Update produces our analysis of the U.S. government import data and we break out hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized and Galvalume,plates in coils […]
According to Baker Hughes data from July 11th, 2014, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,875 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is an increase of 1 rig when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 1 to 1,563 rigs, gas rigs unchanged at 311 rigs, and […]
For those of you who would like to read the fact sheet sent out by the International Trade Administration (ITA) which contains the US Department of Commerce Final Determination on the OCTG trade case you can click on this link. As I mentioned in one of the above articles, Roger Schagrin of Schagrin Associates is […]
The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index produced a new record high this week as those responding to our market questionnaire pegged Sentiment at +65. Sentiment is now +8 points higher than the +57 produced during the middle of June and is up +11 points from just one month ago. Last year at the beginning of […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel responding to this week’s Steel Market Update survey reported steel mills as continuing to be receptive to negotiating flat rolled steel prices. However, we are seeing a moderation in the numbers as only 70 percent reported hot rolled coil (HRC) prices as negotiable compared to 92 percent just […]