Metalforming companies are expecting softer business conditions during the next three months according to the May 2015 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report. More participants surveyed thought economic conditions would remain the same (60 percent up from 58 percent) or decline (16 percent compared to 9 percent in April). Incoming orders are expected to […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel continue to be optimistic about their company’s ability to be successful both now and into the future. However, Steel Market Update has been seeing small adjustments lower to both our current and future Sentiment Indices. Future Sentiment, which measures how buyers and sellers feel about their company’s ability […]
ArcelorMittal reported a net loss of $728 million in first quarter 2015 compared to a loss of $955 million in fourth quarter 2014. EBITDA was $1.4 billion. Steel shipments were up 3 percent year over year to 21.6 million tonnes. Iron ore shipments rose 5 percent to 9.4 million tonnes. Total sales for the company […]
Klöckner & Co SE EBITDA was heavily impacted by the sharp price declines in the U.S. EBITDA of €10 million ($11.2 million) was reported down from €45 million ($50.7 million) in Q1 2014 Shipments for Kloeckner Metals (the Americas segment) were up 0.6 percent y/y to 682,000 tonnes (751,763 tons). US shipments were up by […]
US automotive sales finished April at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16.4 million. Sales were slightly below expectations but still the highest April sales level since 2006. Sales volume for the month was at 1.448 million units, according to WardsAuto, a gain of 4.9 percent y/y. Light trucks and CUVs continued to lead sales […]
AK Steel earnings in first quarter were challenged by high levels of imported carbon steel products, said CEO James Wainscott. “The first quarter of 2015 was certainly more challenging than we anticipated. That because of the extremely high level of imported carbon steel products–unfairly traded imports, in our opinion–that hit our countries shores at the […]
Reliance CEO Gregg Mollins is expecting a steel price increase in the “not too distant future.” Steel prices have been bouncing near bottom due to a flagging energy industry and competition from extraordinary levels of steel imports. The spread between domestic and foreign is now thin, said Mollins, business is good, and demand is there. […]
March vehicle sales brought welcome new by bouncing back vigorously to 17.15 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, up from 16.23 million units in February. The March 2015 sales pace was 4 percent higher than the March 2014 pace. Cars had the greatest growth from 7.2 million units in February to 7.7 in […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. reported high levels of steel import and customer inventory reduced shipments for first quarter resulting in a 44 percent drop in consolidated operating income compared to fourth quarter. SDI adjusted net income was $40 million for first quarter 2015 with $2 billion in net sales. The adjusted income excludes $17 million in […]
Respondents in the April 2015 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report found little to get excited about for the coming months. A third of participants in the monthly survey expect improved economic activity during the next three months but 58 percent forecast no change. Incoming orders are expected to remain steady during the period. […]
There has been a “calming” to the market although that has not stopped the slow trickle lower we are seeing in flat rolled steel pricing. We saw hot rolled break through the $440 level although we were told by steel buyers that were able to get those kind of numbers the last $5 per ton […]
A little more than two weeks have passed since Steel Market Update adjusted our forward looking Price Momentum Indicator from “Lower” to “Neutral.” Looking back on the historical trend for flat rolled steel Price Momentum you have to go back a year before you would see our Price Momentum Indicator pointing toward “Higher” flat rolled […]
The Bureau of labor Statistics, (BLS) reported on Friday: “Total non-farm payroll employment increased by 126,000 in March, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.5 percent. Employment continued to trend up in professional and business services, health care, and retail trade, while mining lost jobs. The change in total non-farm payroll employment for January […]
Steel import levels continue to increase at ports around the U.S. SMU spoke with several ports and all but one expects imports to grow, not decrease, in the coming months. Out on the West Coast, the Port of Los Angeles is still working through congestion brought about by the recent labor dispute and chassis issues. […]
Worthington Industries reported net sales of $804.8 million and a net loss of $25.7 million for the third quarter of FY 2015 ending February 28, 2015. Results included a non-cash impairment charge of $81.6 million related to the Engineered Cabs business and a USD 2.3 million restructuring charge for severance benefits related to the workforce […]
So, why haven’t we released our program for the upcoming Steel Summit Conference in Atlanta on September 1 & 2, 2015? Well, we are waiting until we have all of our keynote speakers confirmed and committed. We believe we will have an exceptional program once again this year. As we have in the past, our […]
On a seasonally adjusted annual rate, light vehicle sales weakened in February to 16.2 million units, down from 16.7 million units in January but still up by 5.2 percent from February last year. The probable cause was inclement weather at the end of the month. Analysts had been expecting sales at a 16.7 million annual […]
Unfairly traded imports are negatively impacting AK Steel earnings in the first quarter of 2015. AK Steel expects a net loss of $0.23 to $0.28 per diluted share in the first quarter due to low carbon steel shipment and spot prices as a result of “unexpectedly” high levels of imports. Shipments are expected to decrease […]
According to the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report for March 2015, little change is expected in general business conditions during the next three months. PMA manufacturing members expect new orders to be the same or slightly higher in the coming months. Shipping levels were reported as steady in the March report and average […]
Steel Dynamics expects that a decline in steel shipments caused by inventory overhang, hesitant demand and margin compression will lower first quarter profitability. In the company’s first quarter guidance, SDI noted: “During the first quarter of 2015, two important industry developments occurred: – “Domestic steel product pricing declined to levels that are now globally competitive, […]
As Steel Market Update has discussed in previous articles on the subject of scrap pricing, the original projections by buyers of scrap were for prices to drop $20 per gross ton on all products for the month of March. The projected March reduction would have been on the heels of an $80 to $110 per […]
There seemed to be three subjects on the minds of the steel buyers and executives with whom Steel Market Update spoke with over the past twenty-four hours: steel prices, demand for steel products and foreign steel (both offers and threats of dumping suits). Since it is Tuesday and we publish our flat rolled steel price […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on non-farm employment reported that 295,000 jobs were added in February, the January result was revised down by 18,000. The three month moving average, (3MMA) of gains through February was 288,000. This job recovery is now seen to be much stronger than was the case in the mid-2000s […]
Kloeckner Metals Corp, the Americas segment of Klockner & Co., posted EBITDA of €19 million ($21 million) for fourth quarter 2014, as compared to €2 million ($2.2 million) year over year. Sales for fourth quarter were €604 million, down from third quarter €634 million ($665 million) but up 16.3 percent y/y. Shipments in fourth quarter […]
U.S. automotive sales slid during frigid February. Sales were once again led by truck and SUV sales but total sales were less than anticipated. Sales were expected to be eight to nine percent higher than a year ago for a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 16.6 million to 16.7 million. As results came in on […]
After negotiations were completed for February scrap pricing, the word being spread around the industry was to expect another drop in March, perhaps down $20 on most grades. However, the weather got brutal during the month and we are hearing that many dealers will not be able to complete deliveries on obsolete grades of ferrous […]
Hot rolled prices continued lower this week with the CRU down $9 to $508/ton with HRC futures following suit. Q2 has been trading around $510/ton with March trading as low as $503/ton – $13 lower than the week prior. The second half of 2015 is reasonably higher with Q3 and Q4 both trading around $535/ton. […]
The vehicle sales year had a good start in January with 16.7 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis. Light trucks are benefiting from lower gas prices and reached 55 percent of light vehicle sales, the highest since 2014. This is good for the US assembly plants because the US light truck production is […]
AK Steel announced it will build a Research and Innovation Center in Middletown, Ohio. The 120,000 square foot Center will replace an existing research facility already located in Middletown. The project is estimated at $36 million and will be constructed on a 15 acre site. The Research and Innovation Center will house 75 researchers, scientists […]
North Star BlueScope Steel, a joint venture between BlueScope Steel Ltd. and Cargill, Inc., increased both earnings and shipments in the first half of FY 2015 ending on December 31, 2014. According financial reports from 50 percent owner BlueScope Steel Ltd, which we multiplied by two, North Star BlueScope shipped 1 million tonnes (1.1 million […]