The United States Senate passed the Keystone XL oil pipeline bill by a vote of 62-36 on Thursday, Jan. 29. Nine Democrats joined the Republican-controlled Senate in supporting the bill. The House is expected to vote on the Senate version of the bill early next week. The Keystone XL legislation includes two energy-efficiency programs that […]
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the first estimate of Q4 2014 Annual Revision of the National Income and Product Accounts on Friday. The annualized growth rate in the 4th Q disappointed economic pundits by coming in at 2.64 percent after increasing by almost 5.0 percent in Q3. GDP is measured and reported in […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered in this analysis is currently 36. Please refer to Table 1 for the view of the present situation and the quantitative measure of trends. Readers should […]
Steel Dynamics reported a record setting year and fourth quarter 2014. Steel shipments for the quarter were up 51 percent to 2.3 million tons from 1.5 million tons in Q3 2013. Steel fabrication had operating income of $22 million following a loss of $122,000 a year ago. For the full-year 2014 steel shipments totaled 7.4 […]
The following is the Chicago Federal Reserve statement followed by our own graphical analysis. The CFNAI is an excellent reality check for much of the economic analysis that we routinely provide in The Steel Market Update. An explanation of the Index is provided at the end of this piece. Index shows economic growth slowed in […]
Nucor Corp. reported net earnings of $210.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2014, compared to $245.4 million in the third quarter of 2014 and $170.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2013. The drop was expected due to typical seasonality in the fourth quarter and downward pressure on the industry from steel imports. Net […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel continue to be optimistic about their company’s chances of being successful in both the current market conditions as well as three to six months into the future. However, there have been some clouds building as our 3MMA has been trending lower over the past four months. We have […]
Alaskan plans to upgrade the Prince Rupert ferry terminal have been scrapped after Canada moved to bar a Buy America requirement for contract bids on the project. The enactment of a ruling under the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act would have imposed fines of up to $1.5 million (US $1.2 million) and/or jail time for corporations […]
The Architecture Billings Index rebounded to 52.2 in December from 50.9 in November, according to the American Institute of Architects. Demand for design services increased in ten of the twelve months of 2014. The new projects inquiry index dropped slightly to 58.2 from 58.8 in the previous month while design contracts were at 49.9 after […]
A lot has already been written about the dramatic decline in oil prices, the persistent high imports of energy tubulars, and related issues. What is missing, in my opinion, is some perspective and context to pull it all together. The purpose of this article is to show why the energy sector is so important to […]
Gulf ports are not experiencing the horrific congestion issues seen in the West. Fleetwood Port Logistics, out of Houston and Savannah, that deals primarily in break bulk steel products, has seen little to no congestion at the primary discharge terminal of North City Docks, Port of Houston. There has been some congestion at the smaller […]
The following article is a continuation of our Steel Buyers Basics series written by Mario Briccetti. Mario is Principal of Briccetti & Associates, a Supply Chain consulting firm, and can be reached at Mario@mbriccetti.com. Briccetti wrote the following article as part of our Steel Buyers Basics series of articles, many of which can be found […]
Nucor and Big River Steel met in federal court on Friday in a continuation of Nucor’s bid to stop construction of the rival steel mill. Nucor claims the air permit granted to Big River Steel was issued incorrectly and that emissions from the future plant will raise pollution levels in the county, violating the Clean […]
Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The IP index was reported as 106.51 for December a decline of 0.1 percent from November. The three month moving average (3MMA) was 106.13 which was the highest value ever and the seventh straight month where the growth of the 3MMA exceeded […]
While speaking with a couple of the secondary flat rolled steel distributors this past week, we got into a discussion about the advanced high strength steels (AHSS) and what impact they were having on the secondary market. A number of service centers pointed out that the product was fine for flat parts or those with […]
Each quarter ITR Economics and HARDI offer a forecast on the construction industry. Steel Market Update provides a summary of that forecast on a national and regional basis. This week we are going to change our format slightly and provide the national forecast summary based on ITR’s Interactive Regional Economic Forecast Webinar. We will provide […]
The Dodge Momentum Index, a monthly measure of initial reports for nonresidential building projects in planning, rose 4.0 percent from a revised 123.8 in November to 128.7 in December. The reading is the highest since February 2009 and an increase of 17 percent year over year. “The increases seen in the Index in 2014 are […]
Flat rolled steel prices have been dropping over the past few weeks and the wholesalers who service the mechanical contractors are concerned as the pace of the price decline quickens. Earlier today Steel Market Update participated in the HARDI sponsored galvanized steel conference call. HARDI (Heating, Air-conditioning, Refrigeration Distributors International) wholesalers supply galvanized sheet and […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on non-farm employment indicated that 252,000 jobs were added in December, November and October were revised up by a total of 50,000. The three month moving average (3MMA) of gains in December was second only to November as the highest since May 2010 at 289,000. This job recovery […]
.One of the subjects of conversation I had with a number of buyers is what do the domestic steel mills need to do to break the foreign import cycle? There are some who believe that the steel mills will be best served by letting the prices drift down to the point where the spread between […]
The first measurement of our Steel Buyers Sentiment Index in the New Year provided us some mixed results. Current Sentiment, which is how steel buyers and sellers feel about their company’s ability to be successful in the current market environment, was measured at +54. This is well within the optimistic range of our Index but […]
Low scrap prices and declining exports took a toll on earnings results for Schnitzer Steel Industries. Export selling prices for ferrous scrap declined by $80 per ton, or 20 percent, while domestic prices dropped $60 per ton, or 15 percent. The declines were the steepest seen by Schnitzer since 2012. The company reported a net […]
Commercial Metals Company (CMC) reported net sales of $1.7 billion for the first quarter of FY 2015, a four percent increase year-over-year. Earnings from continuing operations totaled $38.3 million. Americas Recycling recorded an adjusted operating loss of $1.1 million due to a decline in ferrous scrap shipments and margins. The America Mills segment recorded adjusted […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its construction put in place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. November data was released on January 2nd. Construction put in place is based on spending work as it occurs, estimated for a given month from a sample of projects. In effect […]
We provided full year projected steel imports in tonight’s issue. Please be aware: 1) the November numbers are Preliminary Census and should be very close to accurate, 2) the December numbers are based on license data and there can be fluctuations in the Census and license data numbers. November is a good example. November license […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered in this analysis is currently 36. Please refer to Table 1 for the view of the present situation and the quantitative measure of trends. Readers […]
The following is the Chicago Federal Reserve statement followed by our own graphical analysis. The CFNAI is an excellent reality check for much of the economic analysis that we routinely provide in The Steel Market Update. An explanation of the Index is provided at the end of this piece. Index shows economic growth picked up […]
Essar Steel Minnesota is asking the Minnesota legislature to extend the October 2014 repayment deadline for a $67 million state subsidy the company received in 2007, according to a report by the Duluth News Tribune. The extension would give Essar another seven years before repayment would be required. The funding was provided for building infrastructure […]
Production in November on a tons per day basis was 4.351 million tonnes, down from 4.411 in October. November had one fewer production day than October and the month’s total decreased from 136.363 million to 130.525 tons. Since January 2008 on average, November monthly production has decreased by 5.36 percent, this year November decreased by […]
As we approach the end of the year we begin to think about what is ahead of us for 2015. Will we see the massive amounts of foreign steel continue to flood the domestic (USA) market or will buyers back off as domestic prices slide closer to foreign offers? The expectation is for demand to […]