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 […]
A reminder that our “thumbnail” or smaller graphics are “clickable” so you can view them in a larger format. So, don’t squint and try to figure out some of these smaller graphics – just click on them… We still have a target date of this Friday to launch our new website. I am beginning to […]
This past week, Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted our beginning of September steel market survey. Of those responding to last week’s survey 52 percent were manufacturing companies, 35 percent steel service centers and the balance were composed of steel mills (4 percent), trading companies (4 percent), toll processors (3 percent) and suppliers to the industry […]
According to Baker Hughes data from September 6th, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,767 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This count is a decrease of 9 rigs when compared to last week, with oil rigs down 23 to 1,365 rigs, gas rigs up 14 to 394 rigs, […]
North American auto sales appeared to be healthy in August. The big five auto makers reported the following sales totals for August: GM reported a 22 percent increase in retail sales. GM specifically reported that Cadillac was up 38 percent, Buick up 37 percent, GMC up 14 percent, and Chevrolet up 10 percent. GM’s August […]
I read two articles recently regarding the impact of the devaluation of the India rupee against the U.S. dollar. One article (IHS Global Insight) discussed the metallurgical coal markets as the Indian steel mills have pulled back from the market as their costs spiral out of control. According to IHS Global the Indian currency lost […]
Mill lead times, as reported through our proprietary steel market survey, are shrinking on three of the four flat rolled product categories followed by Steel Market Update. Hot rolled lead times which were referenced on a weighted average basis at 4.5 weeks at the beginning of August are now at 4.0 weeks. However, the 4.0 […]
Sentiment Continues to Trend Higher (more optimistic) Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index was measured earlier today at +40, down 3 points from the middle of August and well within the optimistic range for the index. Compared to one year ago buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel are feeling much better about […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained in positive territory this week for the 14th 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 […]
On the first working day of each month the Commerce Department releases construction expenditure data for the month before last. For example, on September 3rd the July data was released. This data known as CPIP, (Construction put in place) differs from commercially available data which to the best of our knowledge always measures construction starts. […]
According to Baker Hughes data from August 30th, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,776 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This number is unchanged when compared to last week, with oil rigs up 6 to 1,388 rigs, gas rigs down 7 to 380 rigs, and miscellaneous rigs up […]
When is Sunday really Monday and Tuesday suppose to be Wednesday…? One of the changes SMU is making is to date our newsletters on the day they are actually produced and sent. So, you will note that tonight’s newsletter is dated, Tuesday, September 3rd as opposed to Wednesday, September 4th. SMU will produce three Executive […]
The Association of Steel Distributors (ASD) will host a Regional Meeting at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio on Thursday, September 12th. The keynote speaker for the evening is Ohio Governor, John Kasich. Go to the ASD website for more information and registration: www.SteelDistributors.org. The ASD will also host their Annual Fall Conference at the […]
The Steel Market Update Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained in positive territory this week for the 13th 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 […]
We had one of our members ask about the accuracy of the Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum Indicator as we move between Higher, Neutral and Lower Momentum forecasts. Here is a graph of SMU hot rolled pricing (average) and our Momentum forecasts: