In spite of the federal government’s decision to shut down, those involved in the flat rolled steel industry continue to remain optimistic about their company’s ability to be successful in both the current environment as well as 3-6 months into the future. Steel Market Update (SMU) just completed our beginning of October flat rolled steel […]
US auto sales slipped to 1.14 million new vehicles compared to 1.19 million in the same month last year. It was the first time sales failed to increase on a month-over-month basis in 27 months. Sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate were 15.4 million–still strong enough to show a 37th consecutive increase on a […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained negative this week for the 3rd week after 15 consecutive weeks in positive territory. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12-week average spot price as recorded by Steel Market […]
I made a decision many years ago that when the domestic steel industry (multiple mills) announced price increases that I would automatically move the SMU Price Momentum Indicator to Neutral. Since we are already at Neutral it is important to understand that at this point prices could move up, down or absolutely nowhere from where […]
Our next SMU steel market survey will begin on Monday, September 30th and will run through Thursday, October 3rd. If you receive an invitation please take a few minutes to participate by clicking on the link contained in the invitation. I will be in my office first thing on Monday before traveling down to Atlanta […]
Our last newsletter was interesting enough that I fielded quite a number of phone calls and emails (I take them all and respond to them all). The main point of discussion was regarding the IHS Global Insight article from the presentation given by their steel analyst, John Anton. The essential premise of the presentation being […]
New home sales rose by 7.9 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted rate of 421,000 from the revised July rate of 390,000 (from an earlier estimate of 394,000) according to the U.S Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sales were slightly below expectations of 425,000 for August, showing weakness compared […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained negative this week for the 2nd week after 15 consecutive weeks in positive territory. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12-week average spot price as recorded by Steel Market […]
I want to thank IHS Global Insight for allowing SMU and our readers to attend their Pricing & Purchasing Summit which was held in Chicago over the past two days. SMU is interested in conducting a similar conference dedicated to the steel industry and identifying risks next year as we strive to bring new value […]
We are finding a concerted effort on behalf of the domestic steel mills to hold the line on spot pricing from last week to this week. Stability in pricing appears, for the moment, to be the new normal and some of the service centers are questioning if the next price move might actually be for […]
I will be in Chicago on Monday and Tuesday of this week attending the IHS Global Insight forecasting conference. If you would like to meet with me during the conference send me an email: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com and we will arrange a convenient time. I will be in Chicago on Monday and Tuesday of this week attending […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered at present is thirty six. The present situation of eleven of the indicators based on historical standards was positive on September 22nd and thirteen were negative; […]
A majority of the manufacturing companies (57 percent) responding to our most recent steel market survey told us that the spread between foreign and domestic steel is wide enough to justify buying foreign steel. The percentage of manufacturing companies answering this way has increased by 3 percent compared to our results from 30 days ago. […]
We heard it earlier this month when during our HARDI steel conference call the wholesalers complained of reduced margins due to competitive pressures and mentioned that there were a growing number of non-traditional galvanized suppliers competing for the mechanical contractors business. During last week’s steel market review conducted by Steel Market Update (SMU), manufacturing companies […]
SMU received a note from a Severstal spokesperson that both their Columbus, MS and Dearborn, MI facilities have planned maintenance in each facility during the month of November. The Dearborn facility will have work performed on their hot strip mill (HSM) while the Columbus facility is having work done on one of their two EAF’s […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. turned negative this week after 15 consecutive weeks in positive territory. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12-week average spot price as recorded by Steel Market Update. MoMo was measured […]
SMU found lead times essentially remaining the same on hot rolled (negligible change from 4.0 weeks to 3.97 weeks) and galvanized (6.0 weeks vs. prior 6.07 weeks). Cold rolled lead times dropped from 6.2 weeks to 6.06 weeks while Galvalume lead times moved out slightly from 6.55 weeks to 6.80 weeks. Lead times are […]
Steel Market Update conducted our mid-September flat rolled steel market survey this week. The survey began on Monday with an invitation to approximately 600 companies who are active participants in the flat rolled steel industry. Part of the survey includes questions regarding attitudes within the industry regarding how successful the respondents see their company both […]
Our steel market survey began on Monday and will continue until late Thursday afternoon. If you have received an invitation to participate please click on the link and respond to the questions you can answer. We are doing triple duty so my apologies if we are missing an article here or there. We are literally […]
NAFTA Automotive production in August rebounded to 1.436 million units after the summer shut down. The annual rate in August was 17.243 million units. On a rolling 12 month basis production was 15.719 million units, up 5.9 percent from the 12 months through August a year ago. Growth has been slowing as production approached then […]
A group of construction industry trade associations have formed the Construction Industry Safety Coalition in response to a proposed OSHA rule on crystalline silica exposure. In an August 23 website posting, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommended a reduction of the permissible exposure limit for breathable silica. “Exposure to silica can be deadly, and […]
Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for July 2013 increased 14.1 percent, to 296,623 units, up from 260,065 units shipped in July 2012. Residential electric storage water heater shipments increased 11.2 percent in July 2013, to 286,013 units, up from 257,290 units shipped in July 2012. For the […]
While attending the ASD meeting in Cleveland last week, SMU reporter, Sandy Williams heard a steel service center discussing the impact of Obamacare on their company which is located in Ohio, “Because Obamacare healthcare and some of the laws, quite frankly, in the State of Ohio, we are now forced to go to temporary employees […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has received many emails from our readers as well as interested parties regarding our SMU Price Momentum Indicator which we have had at Neutral since Friday, August 23, 2013. Since that time we have seen hot rolled pricing remain in the $630-$660 per ton level (see Comparison Price Indices article below) […]
Steel Market Update got the following from a steel trading company located in Canada: China has had 3 months of increases on galvanized, Galvalume and cold rolled coil. They expect another $15.00/MT increase with offers for Nov. rolling. (These will be announced 18-20 Sept). Taiwan is sticking to achieving higher than market price. Buyers are […]
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 11, 2013 – Four key trade associations representing the steel stud industry have joined together to promote the use of cold-formed steel framing in construction. Representatives from the Steel Stud Manufacturers Association (SSMA); the Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA); the Certified Steel Stud Association (CSSA); and the Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI), […]
We are tired, we have been working almost around the clock in an effort to at least be close to our forecasted Friday, September 13th launch date. When we go out and teach new steel people about the business one of the stories I like to repeat was about what I would tell virtually every […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained in positive territory this week for the 15th consecutive week. MoMo, a trailing indicator, is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12-week average spot price as recorded by Steel Market Update. MoMo was measured […]
Construction in Canada continues to trend upward according to figures released September 9 by Statistics Canada. Total construction permit values rose 20.7 percent to $8 billion in July. Canadian housing permit values for single and multifamily housing in July rose by 4.1 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively. Gains for single family homes failed to […]
The process of populating, testing, editing, fixing, testing, editing, adding content, editing, testing – well, you get the idea…. The website work continues and we continue to strive to meet the Friday the 13th deadline. My gut is telling me a week late may be a better target – but, we are going to try […]