Ford Motor Co. announced last week it will temporarily idle four plants including the Kansas City assembly plant that produces the F-150 pickup truck. The temporary shutdowns are a result of a slowdown in the market and will help Ford match production to demand as well as meet end-of-year inventory targets. In the U.S., the […]
The Architecture Billings Index posted two months of decline with September’s score of 48.4 dipping from 49.7 in August. The American Institute of Architects report this is the first time since Summer 2012 that the index posted consecutive months of decline. The new projects inquiry dropped to 59.4 from 61.8 and the design contracts index […]
Housing starts dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,047,000 in September, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The decline was 9 percent below August’s revised estimate and 11.9 percent below the September 2015 rate. Single family housing starts increased from August by 8.1 percent to 783,000. Starts for apartment housing of five […]
The Dodge Momentum Index dropped 4.3 percent in September to a reading of 129.0 after making gains for five consecutive months. A reduction in institutional planning drove the decline, falling 5.3 percent last month. Planning for commercial construction projects declined 3.6 percent from August. Writes Dodge Analytics: “Even with the recent volatility on a month-to-month […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its Construction Put in Place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. August data for CPIP was released on Monday October 3rd. Overall this was a disappointing report with the growth of total construction having declined for five consecutive months and continuing to […]
WardsAuto reports total volume for U.S. light vehicle sales in September was 1.428 million units, down 0.7 percent from a year ago. The seasonally adjusted annual rate for September rebounded to 17.7 million units from August’s total of 16.9 million, but was below the 18 million mark reached in September 2015. Most automotive manufacturers reported […]
Construction sector recovery may be at a plateau, says Stephen Sandherr , CEO of the Associated General Contractors of America. The press release from AGC for August construction spending follows: Construction spending held steady in August compared to July but is up nearly five percent for the first eight months of the year compared to […]
On Friday Steel Market Update spoke with a number of trading companies as well as end users who are impacted by the circumvention complaint filed against cold rolled and coated steels coming out of Vietnam. The contention of the domestic mills is that the surge of Vietnamese flat rolled comes at the same time as […]
United Steelworkers at Cliffs Natural Resources ratified a new 3-year labor contract today. The contract is effective retroactively as of October 1, 2015 and will run through September 30, 2018. The agreement covers approximately 2,000 USW represented employees at Cliffs’ mines in Michigan and Minnesota. USW International President Leo Gerard praised USW members for their […]
Sales of new single-family homes fell 7.6 percent month-over-month but were 20.6 percent higher on a year-over-year basis, according to data released by the Department of Commerce. August sales were at a seasonally adjusted rate of 609,000, compared to the upwardly revised rate of 659,000 in July and 505,000 in August 2015. The August dip was […]
Home prices continued to grow in July according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices. On a year-over-year basis, the National Index rose 5.1 percent in July, up from 5 percent in June. The 20-City composite reported a year-over-year gain of 5.0 percent, compared to 5.1 percent in June. Home prices in Portland, Seattle and […]
Vehicles sales in the US are settling in to a more sustainable pace, but a strengthening labor market, low interest rates, low gasoline prices, and rising incentives are still supportive of strong demand. Moody’s Analytics expects the pace of light vehicle sales to be above a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 17 million units […]
Existing home sales declined for the second month in a row, falling 0.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.33 million in August. The National Association of Realtors suggests higher home prices and tight inventory kept buyers at bay last month, despite low mortgage rates. “Healthy labor markets in most the country should […]
The Architecture Billings Index dipped to 49.7 in August from 51.5 in July. The Northeast average dropped to 44.9 which pulled the headline index down. “This is only the second month this year where demand for architectural services has declined and it is only by a fraction of a point,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit […]
Housing starts were down 5.8 percent from July to August. The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,142,000, 0.9 percent higher than year ago levels. Single family starts were down 6.0 percent and multi-family down 6.9 percent. The housing starts […]
Below is the latest release issued by the the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) regarding residential and commercial heating and cooling equipment shipments through July 2016. You may read the press release on their website here. Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for July 2016 increased 3.0 percent […]
The Dodge Momentum Index rose 1.3 percent in August to 134.9. Institutional construction planning gained 1.7 percent last month and commercial planning 1.0 percent. The index has made gains for five consecutive months. The Momentum Index is up 16 percent from August 2015 due to a 22 percent growth in institutional planning and 22 percent […]
The duties on automotive steel from Korea due to antidumping (AD) may affect pricing of vehicles at Hyundai and Kia here in the U.S. Dumping and countervailing duties have been determined by the Department of Commerce on imports of Korean coated, hot-rolled, and cold-rolled steel. Hyundai Steel, part of Hyundai Group, exports approximately 545,000 tons […]
U.S. automotive sales took a 4.1 percent dip in August as demand softened after record breaking sales in 2015. Sales totaled 1.506 million vehicles last month, according to final tally by Wards Auto. The seasonally adjusted annual rate fell short of expectations at 16.9 million, well below July’s SAAR of 17.8 million and the August […]
Canadian autoworkers selected General Motors as target company as contract negotiations begin for approximately 23,000 union workers Unifor, which represents autoworkers at GM, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler NV in Canada, will use negotiations with GM to set the pattern for talks with the other two manufacturers. Jerry Dias, president of Unifor, called General Motors the […]
Home prices in June gained 5.1 percent year-over-year, according to the latest results of the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices. The National Home Price NSA index was unchanged from last month. The 20-city composite gained 5.1 percent year-over-year, down from 5.3 percent in May. Portland, Seattle and Denver reported the highest annual gains. On a seasonally […]
Existing home sales lost momentum in July, falling for the first time since November 2015. The National Association of Realtors reports that sales were down 3.2 percent from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.39 million. On a year over year basis sales fell 1.6 percent marking only the second time in the […]
Light vehicle (LV) sales bounced back to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 17.9 million units in July from 16.7 million in June (Figure 1). July was the best month since November last year. Autos rose from 6.8 to 7.1 million and light trucks rose from 9.9 to 10.8 million. The mix in July […]
New home sales rose 12.4 percent from June to July according to estimates released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. Sales in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000, 31.3 percent above the year ago level and at their highest level in almost nine […]
Housing starts increased 2.1 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,211,000 from a revised June estimate of 1,186,000, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development. The increase was the highest level since February. Starts were 5.6 percent above the July 2015 rate. Multi-family […]
Below is the latest release issued by the the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) regarding residential and commercial heating and cooling equipment shipments through June 2016. You may read the press release on their website here. Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for June 2016 decreased 12.5 percent […]
The Dodge Momentum Index, an indicator of nonresidential construction planning, edged ahead 0.5 percent in July to 134.7 after a revision in June to 134.1. The modest increase follows a surge of 10.9 percent the previous month and continues a fourth consecutive month of increases. Planning for institutional construction increased 0.7 percent in July and […]
June data for Construction Put in Place (CPIP) was released by the Department of Commerce on Monday August 1st. In June total construction slowed for the third consecutive month on a 3MMA (three month moving average) basis. All four sectors had negative momentum. These are non-residential buildings, residential buildings, infra-structure and other, which is a […]
Auto sale volume for July was mixed, with the largest manufacturers slipping in volume year-over-year and most of the smaller ones gaining by single digit percent but still below analyst estimates. FCA US picked up just 0.3 percent over July 2015, while GM sales dipped 1.9 percent, Ford dropped 3 percent, and Toyota sales decreased […]
Light vehicle (LV) sales in June were 16.7 million units, down from 17.4 million in May and from 17.0 million in June last year. All sales numbers in this analysis are at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. Figure 1 shows the auto and light truck components since January 2004. In June auto sales were 6.8 […]