The ISM Manufacturing Report on Business came in lower than expected in April. The PMI dipped four points to a reading of 60.7% as both the new orders and production indexes edged downward to 64.3% and 62.5%, respectively. A score above 50, however, indicates expansion, which means demand continued to improve in April. Fabricated metal […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen and CRU Head of Fertilizers Chris Lawson, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Commodity prices have continued an upwards tear in 2021. Steel and its raw materials have seen the sharpest gains, but less well-known commodities such as fertilizers are also attracting attention. With such steep price rises, calls for a […]
By CRU Consulting CEO Rebecca Gordon and Principal Consultant Alex Laugharne The increasing momentum behind transportation electrification is driving new supply chains to evolve rapidly. Historically, long and lean automotive supply chains led to cost efficiencies. The challenges of developing entirely new suppliers and embedding sustainability objectives mean: working with many completely new suppliers who […]
By CRU Research Manager Charlie Durant and Peter Ghilchik, CRU Head of Multi-Commodity Analysis 2021 is shaping up to be a year of economic recovery. CRU is forecasting the fastest annual growth in the world economy for 40 years, underpinned by successful vaccination programs and supportive fiscal and monetary policy. 3+1 Macro Themes In January, we […]
Ford expects to lose 50% of its planned second-quarter production because the global chip shortage has become a “significant headwind” for the company. The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker had already lost 17% of its planned production in the first quarter because of the chip issue, and it anticipates losing 10% of forecast output in the second […]
Feralloy Corporation., a subsidiary of Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., is planning to build a massive service center on the site of Steel Dynamics Inc.’s new flat rolled mill under construction in Sinton, Texas, near Corpus Christi. The new warehousing and processing center will be known as Acero Prime-Feralloy Texas. Acero Prime is Feralloy’s subsidiary […]
Metalforming companies are optimistic about business conditions for the next three months, but are concerned about longer lead times for steel and other materials. In the April 2021 Business Conditions Report by the Precision Metalforming Association, 56% of participants expect improvement in economic activity in the next three months compared to 50% in March. Only […]
Among steelmaking raw materials, the prices of iron ore, pig iron, zinc and aluminum rose through mid-April, on top of large gains seen in previous months. Prices increased as much as 10% month-over-month for those four products. Iron ore prices have reached record levels, while coking coal prices remain down. Pig iron and scrap prices […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., the nation’s largest metals distributor and processor, reported record pretax income of $359 million in first-quarter 2021, fueled by the unexpectedly high steel prices and solid demand in most of the markets the company serves. “The combination of a record quarterly gross profit margin, average selling prices well above our […]
My first job in the steel industry started in July 1977. I have been involved with the industry ever since. I’m coming up on 44 years in a few months. That either makes me old or wise…well, old anyway. What I can tell you is during those 44 years I have never seen a market […]
Given the heightened urgency to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change, nearly all the world’s automakers plan to replace at least some of the internal combustion cars and trucks in their lineups with fully electric vehicles (EVs). GM, notably, has pledged to introduce 30 new EVs by 2025 and to produce nothing but EVs […]
Given the heightened urgency to reduce carbon emissions and address climate change, nearly all the world’s automakers plan to replace at least some of the internal combustion cars and trucks in their lineups with fully electric vehicles (EVs). GM, notably, has pledged to introduce 30 new EVs by 2025 and to produce nothing but EVs […]
Like those in the steel industry, aluminum suppliers see opportunity in the coming wave of battery electrical vehicles (BEVs). Indeed, they claim, even more opportunity for aluminum than for steel. Automakers are hard at work designing battery-powered cars and trucks with zero emissions as efforts to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions to slow climate change […]
The U.S. trucking industry is straining to keep up with demand as imports and retail shipping vie with construction and manufacturing for limited truck capacity. Imports fell as the coronavirus took hold last March, but surged to 2.1 million TEU (20-foot equivalent units) in August 2020 as global economies reopened. The August record was subsequently […]
The U.S. trucking industry is straining to keep up with demand as imports and retail shipping vie with construction and manufacturing for limited truck capacity. Imports fell as the coronavirus took hold last March, but surged to 2.1 million TEU (20-foot equivalent units) in August 2020 as global economies reopened. The August record was subsequently […]
Producer prices continue to register solid monthly increases from the losses suffered during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The composite Producer Price Index (PPI) of all commodities from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed an increase of 2.1% in February versus the prior month, and a 6.0% increase year on year, seasonally adjusted. […]
Producer prices continue to rebound from the losses suffered during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Since the decreases in March and April of 2020, the composite Producer Price Index (PPI) of all commodities from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has seen consistent month-on-month increases. March’s index registered a 3.7% increase versus the prior […]
For the seventh consecutive month, steel prices rose throughout March, fueled by a continuation of strong demand and limited supply. Hot rolled steel prices averaged $1,300 per ton by the middle of the month, far exceeding any historical price record, and reached $1,330 by the last week of March. The SMU Price Momentum Indicator has […]
Ford is taking extensive downtime at several U.S. assembly plants and its only Canadian facility because of continued parts shortages stemming from a global semiconductor supply squeeze. The automaker’s Dearborn, Mich., truck plant, which makes the popular F-150 pickup truck, will be down the weeks of April 5 and April 12, a company spokeswoman said. […]
The CRU Group has developed a web-based tool to help users understand emissions at the company and asset level to make better decisions in pursuit of lowering the carbon released into the atmosphere. CRU’s Emissions Analysis Tool uses standardized data and methodologies, calibrated to existing schemes such as the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS), International […]
Southern steel producers and distributors will have a new customer in 2022. Shipbuilder Austal USA, located in Mobile, Ala., broke ground last week on a steel manufacturing line to build steel ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. Austal USA is known for its construction of aluminum vessels, delivering 24 ships to the Navy […]
It’s time to roll back the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and the Section 301 tariffs on imports from China, which are inflicting significant harm on U.S. businesses and workers, argued the National Foreign Trade Council on Wednesday in an appeal to the Biden administration. The NFTC’s briefing paper, “Why Recent Tariff […]
I want to write a few words today about Section 232. Not for or against it. Just some reflections on a trade action that’s been with us for a lot longer than I expected. The catalyst for that reflection was a conference call the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington policy think tank, held earlier this […]
Section 232 tariffs should remain in place because they backstop a stable U.S. steel industry, the benefits of which will outlast a temporary price spike, a panel of industry experts and trade union members said. “These typically last six to nine months. So we can expect that these price bubbles–and that’s really what they are–are […]
Lead times for steel and other materials continued to lengthen in March, said 60% of metalforming firms in the latest Precision Metalforming Association Business Conditions Report. Lead times have lengthened each month since September 2020 when 16% of PMA members reported longer lead times. “Metalforming manufacturers are seeing an uptick in business, but their ability […]
Among steelmaking raw materials, the prices of pig iron, shredded scrap, busheling scrap and aluminum rose again in March on top of large gains in previous months. Prices increased as much as 14% month-over-month for those four products. Iron ore prices are slightly down compared to levels one month prior, while coking coal prices have […]
The Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and Users (CAMMU) is appealing to the Department of Commerce (DOC) to terminate Section 232 tariffs and quotas on imported steel and aluminum, in a followup to similar demands directed at the Biden administration on Feb. 10. In a March 15 letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, CAMMU–which claims to represent […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary from CRU’s Zinc Monitor. Zinc use has been optimized on an ongoing basis for decades as technological advances lead to lower raw materials usage and the development of higher-performing alloys with a lower zinc content. This is particularly true of the galvanizing industry, which accounts for around 60% of […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary from CRU’s Zinc Monitor After a month of sideways trading in April, zinc’s price has entered ever more overbought territory in recent weeks, following copper’s price higher and benefiting from booming ex. China steel demand and the news this week of output cuts at zinc smelters in China’s Yunnan […]
I am going to spend some time discussing Steel Market Update this evening. I started SMU in August 2008 as a one-man show. The company has grown over the years both in size and scope. The sale of the company to CRU has turned out to be a blessing (I think for both companies), and […]