Written by: Sandy Williams The American Institute of Architects (AIA) released their Architects Billing Index (ABI) which is a leading economic indicator of construction activity. The Architecture Billings Index rose in January to54.2, up from a seasonally adjusted 51.2 in December and the strongest growth since November 2007. The ABI reflects the approximate nine to […]
On days like today I am reminded of one of my steel customers who, when purchasing his original SMU membership back in 2008 told me, “I don’t know what you are going to write about in a couple of months.” I had to actually leave articles out of tonight’s issue because there was too much […]
Steel Market Update received the following information from an ArcelorMittal spokesperson this evening: On February 19, 2013, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) posted a Notice of Allowance of a re-issue of ArcelorMittal pioneer patent US 6 296 805 on aluminum pre-coated steel product for hot stamping, worldwide known as Usibor®, confirming its […]
Residential Storage Water Heaters U.S. shipments of residential gas storage water heaters for December 2012 decreased 1.0 percent, to 360,568 units, down from 364,054 units shipped in December 2011. Residential electric storage water heater shipments decreased 6.7 percent in December 2012, to 325,435 units, down from 348,692 units shipped in December 2011. For the […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Metalforming companies are expecting a spike in business conditions during the next three months. The February 2013 Precision Metalforming Association reported that 37 percent of participants predict that economic activity will improve during the next three months (up from 32 percent in January), 55 percent believe that activity will remain unchanged […]
During our mid-February steel survey we asked those taking the survey which company (or joint venture group) was the best “fit” for the Calvert, Alabama facility of ThyssenKrupp Steel? Here are the non-binding opinions of the first two days of our survey:
The American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI) reported their estimated raw steel production data for the week ending February 16, 2013. According to AISI estimates the U.S. steel industry produced 1,814,000 net tons of raw steel last week. This represents a decrease of 0.4 percent compared to the week earlier and is 9.6 percent lower […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Australian company BlueScope Steel announced earnings for its portion of North American segment, North Star BlueScope Steel, of $33 million EBIT for the first half of FY2013 ending December 31, 2012—a 65 percent improvement over the first half of FY2012. The North Star BlueScope Steel is a 50-50 venture between BlueScope […]
The HARDI wholesalers who participate in the distribution of galvanized steel into the HVAC industry held their monthly conference call this morning to discuss the steel market. At the time of the last call held in late January, AK Steel had just announced a $40 per ton price increase and the HARDI members were waiting […]
Written by: Sandy Williams The Arkansas Senate and House questioned a panel of economic development and finance officials last week on plans for the $1.1 billion Big River Steel project in Osceola, Ark. The meetings were a preliminary step in legislature approval of a $125 million bond issue for the proposed steel plant. The state’s […]
Canadian distributors shipped a total of 522,300 tons (all products) during the month of January. This is down 6.9 percent (actual) from the previous year. The daily shipping rate was 23,700 tons per day, a marked improvement from December’s 16,900 tons per day but barely above November’s 23,600 tons per day. On a seasonally adjusted […]
U.S. service centers shipped 3,643,600 tons of steel products during the month of January, according to Metal Service Center Institute data released earlier today. Total shipments (all products) averaged 165,600 tons per day, down significantly from the 177,300 tons per day shipped during January 2012. Total tonnage shipped was down 2.1 percent on an actual […]
Flat rolled steel prices remained – well, flat – this week compared to one week ago. Steel Market Update (SMU) Price Momentum Indicator is now in its 12th week at Neutral as we watch flat rolled steel prices drift without any real pressure to move prices higher, or lower at this time. Here is how […]
Monday is technically a holiday in the U.S. but Steel Market Update offices are open. For those who are confused with my travel schedule recently – I am no longer on the west coast – I have returned to our offices on the east coast. I can be reached at 800-432-3475 or by email: John@SteelMarketUpdate.com. […]
High Steel Service Center LLC, of Lancaster, PA., recently introduced HIGHSL sheet and plate steel that is panel-flat and stress-free for laser processing. This product is new in the Mid-Atlantic Region and unique in that it helps fabricators eliminate waste, offer higher-quality products, and save cost. Produced on a new leveling line, the material will […]
An ArcelorMittal spokesperson confirmed to Steel Market Update earlier today that their Cleveland facility had a fatality on Saturday afternoon. Local press reports are reporting the fatality occurred when the 50 year old man fell off a railroad car and into the path of an oncoming train. The company provided the following information regarding the […]
According to Baker Hughes data from February 15th, 2013, the U.S rig count for this week is 1,762 rigs exploring for or developing oil or natural gas. This number represents an increase of 3 rigs from last week. Compared to last year the 1,762 count is a decrease of 232 rigs. Canadian rigs increased by […]
Written by: Sandy Williams The booming business in natural gas drilling is causing a flurry of new production facilities for the manufacture of seamless OCTG (oil country tubular goods) pipe in the United States. Most recently, Tenaris SA, a Luxembourg-based producer of steel pipes for the oil and natural gas industry, announced plans to build […]
Written by: Sandy Williams After six months of decline, the Empire State Manufacturing Survey business conditions index rose into positive territory in February. The index climbed 18 points to register 10—the highest level since July 2012. New orders picked up, rising 20 points to 13.3—the highest level since summer 2011. Shipments increased sixteen points to […]
CSN has been looking to expand their operations in the United States ever since they acquired the bankrupt Heartland Steel and turned it into CSN, LLC. The Terre Haute, Indiana rolling facility is capable of taking hot bands and converting them to either cold rolled or galvanized steel – with the vast majority of the […]
This week, the SMU Fair Value HRC (hot rolled coil) Model has spot HRC pricing back below Fair Value for the first week after rising above the Fair Value price the week before. This is due to the SMU average spot HRC index decreasing $10 to $610 per ton and scrap inputs remaining the same. […]
With the exception of SteelBenchmarker which only produces pricing twice per month, the rest of the indexes followed by Steel Market Update were bunched fairly closely together. Hot rolled coil price assessments were reported at $610 by three – SMU, CRU and Steel Orbis while Platts was at $620 and SteelBenchmarker at $631. Many of […]
Written by: John Packard Steel Market Update (SMU) ran a number of articles concerning the tepid support service centers were giving spot price increases into the manufacturing segment of the industry. SMU surveys the industry twice per month and our most recent steel survey was capturing a very modest push by service centers to take […]
The American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) put out there monthly newsletter to their members today (Thursday) and they had an excellent article on the Conflict Minerals Act which has a potential to impact steel mills, trading companies, service centers and manufacturing companies (publically traded). They recommended reading what Metal Miner (www.agmetalminer.com) had on their […]
Our apologies to SSAB and our readers–the earnings for SSAB reported Sunday by SMU were in error. The corrected figures are as follows: Operating loss of 665 million SEK in Q4 of 2012 ($104 million) compared with a operating profit of 50 million SEK ($7.82 million) in Q4 of 2011 and for the whole year […]
Dear Editor, While not currently a subscriber I did receive your February 13th newsletter earlier this morning. I’ve been active in the steel industry out here on the west coast since 1974 and since you’ve invited comments I’d like to make a few. You note that a lack of service center support for mill increases […]
Written by: Sandy Williams General Motors nearly doubled its fourth quarter earnings while posting big losses in Europe. GM reported fourth quarter earnings of $898 million, up from $468 million in the same period in 2012 due in part to a variety of gains from special items. A number of one-time accounting gains and losses […]
Written by: Sandy Williams John Deere earnings set a record in the first quarter of 2013, topping out at $650 million with a spectacular rise in earnings per share of 27 percent. John Deere net sales of the worldwide equipment operations rose 11 percent in the first quarter of 2013 to $6.793 billion. John Deere […]
The following table shows bare and prepainted cold rolled, galvanized, electro-galvanized, Galvalume, bare aluminized and bare Terneplate imports for the month of December 2012. We show the comparison to November 2012 and the three-month moving average (3MMA) and twelve-month moving average (12MMA) with the change year-over-year (YOY).
Utilizing a trailing average hot rolled coil (HRC) price, the SMU Price MoMo Index for flat rolled steel in the U.S. remained below zero percent this week for the fifth week after eight consecutive weeks of positive momentum readings. MoMo is based upon the current hot rolled coil price weighed against the previous 12 week […]