U.S. steel product shipments rose for a seventh straight month in November, expanding by 0.7% versus the prior month. The pace of growth had been steadily rising over the past few months, however, the rate of rise eased in November, the first such shift since May. New orders for steel production, while fractionally higher in […]
U.S. job growth was weaker than expected in December, well below estimates for the fourth time in the past five months. November payrolls rose by 199,000, well below the 400,000 anticipated by economists and underperforming for the second straight month. Despite the big hiring miss, the unemployment rate fell again to 3.9%, a 0.3 percentage […]
The U.S. labor market disappointed once again, adding just 199,000 jobs in December, down from the 249,000 jobs added the month prior. Despite seeing the smallest gains in a year, the unemployment rate fell to 3.9%, from 4.2% in November. The latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the U.S. economy […]
World crude steel production slipped in November, contracting for the fifth time over the past six months. Steelmakers around the world produced an estimated 143.3 million metric tons of crude steel in November, down 1.6% or 2.4 million tons from the prior month, according to World Steel Association (worldsteel) data. Steel production has been trending […]
Data on U.S. industrial production, capacity utilization, new orders and inventories continued to improve throughout fourth-quarter 2021, indicating a strengthening manufacturing sector. The health of the manufacturing economy has a direct bearing on the health of the steel industry. Note that some of the historical data below has been adjusted by the U.S. Census Bureau […]
Robert Campbell “Cam” Smith, Jr., former president of Doral Steel, died on Friday, Dec. 24 at age 84. Smith founded Doral Steel in Toledo, Ohio, in 1975. The service center also had operations in Clinton, Tenn., and Monterrey, Mexico. The family business was sold to Samuel, Son & Co. in 2011. Among many honors in […]
Steel prices declined for the fourth consecutive month in December, following a year-long streak of continuous price increases. Hot-rolled coil prices declined $130 per ton throughout the month, with the SMU index averaging $1,600 per ton ($80.00 per cwt) as of Tuesday, Dec. 21 (SMU did not published updated prices on Dec. 28). The SMU Price Momentum […]
Economic activity in the manufacturing sector grew again in December, though at a slightly slower pace than in November, with the overall economy achieving a 19th consecutive month of growth, reports the Institute for Supply Management, Tempe, Ariz. “The December Manufacturing PMI® registered 58.7%, a decrease of 2.4 percentage points from the November reading of 61.1%,” said Timothy R. Fiore, […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), scrap and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Does a scaled hedge approach work to hedging future HR exposures? What are the pitfalls? What benchmarks work? So, really, how volatile […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. U.S. consumer confidence rose for the third straight month in December, following a slight upward revision on November’s results and steady momentum after decreasing from July through September, reported The Conference Board. […]
Steel Market Update is pleased to share this Premium content with Executive members. For information on upgrading to a Premium-level subscription, email Info@SteelMarketUpdate.com. U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at an annual 2.3% rate in the third quarter, up from the prior estimate of 2.1% but still at the slowest pace in more than a […]
SMU contributor Tim Stevenson is a partner at Metal Edge Partners, a firm engaged in Risk Management and Strategic Advisory. In this role, he and his firm design and execute risk management strategies for clients along with providing process and analytical support. In Tim’s previous role, he was a Director at Cargill Risk Management, and […]
By Philip Bell, President, Steel Manufacturers Association As we approach the holidays, there are some who believe that a swift Section 232 deal with Japan is essential. Some also believe a Japanese deal should be equivalent to the deal reached with the European Union this October. The notion of a Jan. 1, 2022, deal deadline […]
Manufacturing in the state of New York saw a strong growth rate in December, exceeding November’s by a slight margin, according to the Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The headline general business conditions index rose 1 point to 31.9 during the month. The index closes out the year on an upbeat note with gains in November and […]
Producer prices expanded 1.4% in November, seasonally unadjusted, climbing consecutively since reaching the most recent bottom 20 months ago, reports the U.S. Labor Department. Persistently high prices in large part continue to reflect clogged supply chains, as manufacturers scramble to keep up with unusually strong consumer demand. The Labor Department said that its Producer Price Index […]
Backlogs at the nation’s ports are improving, but it probably won’t be until mid-2022 before the bottlenecks clear and shipments of steel and other imports begin to return to normal. “I think it will get better by the middle of next year,” predicted Doug Wray, vice president commercial for Ports America, who will be a […]
Total mill shipments of steel products edged up 1.4% in October to 8.619 million tons, following a 12.2% fall the month prior. Apparent supply slipped for the second straight month in October, down 2.2% on top of a 6.9% decline in September. October’s contraction marks the first month-on-month decrease in steel supply since apparent supply fell […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. Rock provides customers attached to the steel industry with commodity price risk management services and market intelligence. RTA is registered with the National Futures Association as a Commodity Trade Advisor. David has over 20 years of professional trading experience and has been active […]
U.S. steel product shipments rose for a sixth straight month in October, expanding by 1.7% versus the prior month. The pace of growth has been steady over the past few months. Steel product shipments have grown at a rate just under 2.0% month on month since July and keeping a steady upward trend since May. […]
November was a major letdown for the U.S. labor market, which added just 210,000 jobs, though the unemployment rate ticked slightly lower. The latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the U.S. economy created far fewer jobs than expected in November, in a sign that hiring started to slow even ahead […]
U.S. job growth was weaker than expected in November, well below estimates for the third time in the past four months. November payrolls rose by 210,000, well below the 573,000 anticipated by Wall Street and a disappointing showing following the 531,000 new jobs added the month prior. Despite the big hiring miss, the unemployment rate […]
By CRU Chief Economist and Head of Sustainability Jumana Saleheen and CRU Principal Economist Alex Tuckett, from CRU’s Economic Outlook, Nov. 30 Global Economic Outlook November 2022 In this Global Economic Outlook, we look ahead to 2022 and outline our top 10 calls for the global economy. These include predictions on world growth, inflation, exchange […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), scrap and financial futures markets was written by Jack Marshall of Crunch Risk LLC. Here is how Jack saw trading over the past week: Hot Rolled Hot rolled futures sellers are betting that the price of HR will drop significantly in December based on the latest […]
The U.S. economy expanded at a modest rate from late October to early November, the Federal Reserve said in its latest Beige Book report. Overall growth was again constrained by supply-chain disruptions and labor shortages. Consumer spending increased modestly. But low inventories held back sales of some items, notably light vehicles. Leisure and hospitality activity picked […]
New orders, production, employment, and imports grew in November. But prices fell, and delivery delays increased on tightening backlogs. That’s the takeaway from the Institute for Supply Management’s latest Manufacturing Report on Business. ISM’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 61.1% in November, up 0.3 percentage points from October and indicating continued expansion in the overall economy for the […]
U.S. manufacturing activity fell to its lowest point of the year in November. Producers reported near-record supply delays, the slowest new order inflows year-to-date, and waning job growth, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing PMI data from IHS Markit. The report noted that extended lead times, supplier shortages and higher energy prices pushed the rate of […]
Steel prices declined for the third consecutive month in November, following a 12-month streak of continuous price increases. Hot-rolled coil prices declined $105 per ton throughout the month, with the SMU index averaging $1,770 per ton ($88.50 per cwt) as of Tuesday, Nov. 30. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator for hot-rolled coil was adjusted from Neutral […]
U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew at a modest 2.1% annual rate in the third quarter, the slowest pace in more than a year, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). U.S. third-quarter economic growth was slowed by the Delta variant’s disruptions to consumer spending and global supply chains. The second review by the BEA […]
World crude steel production grew slightly in October after contracting for the four prior months. Steelmakers around the world produced an estimated 145.7 million metric tons of crude steel in October, up 0.9% or 1.3 million tons from the prior month, according to World Steel Association (worldsteel) data. Since repeated months of record-breaking output from […]