Increasing demand for design services fueling recovery for construction industry The Architecture Billings Index (ABI) showed more acceleration in the growth of design activity nationally. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects […]
Housing starts in August fell short of economist expectations showing just a 0.9 percent increase to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 891,000 units. The increase only comes after July’s rate was revised downward to 883,000 from 896,000, indicating the market may be flattening. Starts for single family homes rose 7 percent offsetting a […]
Austrian-based, Benteler International AG has begun construction of a division of Benteler Steel/Tube in Shreveport, LA. The $975 million steel manufacturing project will include a hot-rolling seamless tube facility to be completed in third quarter 2014 and an electric arc furnace in 2020. The facility will have a capacity of producing 320,000 tons of steel […]
In guidance remarks released Tuesday, Nucor Corp. said it expects the third quarter to outperform the second due to strong performance from its sheet and structural steel segment. Sheet steel improvements are attributed to competitor supply disruptions, customer inventory restocking and market demand improvement. The structural segment benefited from higher production following a planned maintenance […]
Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The IP index (industrial production) was reported as 99.36 for August, up from 98.96 in July. This was an increase of 0.4 percent and moved the 3MMA up by 0.17 percent. Growth of the 3MMA was 2.0 percent year over year reversing […]
A group of construction industry trade associations have formed the Construction Industry Safety Coalition in response to a proposed OSHA rule on crystalline silica exposure. In an August 23 website posting, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommended a reduction of the permissible exposure limit for breathable silica. “Exposure to silica can be deadly, and […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has received many emails from our readers as well as interested parties regarding our SMU Price Momentum Indicator which we have had at Neutral since Friday, August 23, 2013. Since that time we have seen hot rolled pricing remain in the $630-$660 per ton level (see Comparison Price Indices article below) […]
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 11, 2013 – Four key trade associations representing the steel stud industry have joined together to promote the use of cold-formed steel framing in construction. Representatives from the Steel Stud Manufacturers Association (SSMA); the Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA); the Certified Steel Stud Association (CSSA); and the Steel Market Development Institute (SMDI), […]
Dubai-based Alita USA Holdings will construct a $102 million steel plant in Buffalo, NY. The new plant will produce casing pipes used in the oil and gas industries and employ an estimated 172 workers. Alita president and CEO Ali Hosseini said in an interview with The Buffalo News that the choice of location was between […]
Construction in Canada continues to trend upward according to figures released September 9 by Statistics Canada. Total construction permit values rose 20.7 percent to $8 billion in July. Canadian housing permit values for single and multifamily housing in July rose by 4.1 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively. Gains for single family homes failed to […]
Job creation at 169,000 in August was a little below expectations but the downward revision to June and July of 74,000 was very disappointing. Employment gains continue to be heavily slanted towards service industries. In August production industries added, 18,000 jobs, service industries added 151,000 jobs, (Table 1). Included in the service number is government […]
The Institute for Supply Management Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) registered 55.4 percent in July which was an increase of 4.5 percentage points above the June reading of 50.9. The 3 month moving average (3MMA) rose from 50.2 to 51.43. Any reading above 50.0 percent means manufacturing is expanding. JP Morgan Global Manufacturing & Services PMI […]
SMU was speaking with one of the steel mills this morning who was lamenting about the drop in spot galvanized base prices from the $37.50/cwt level to down around $36.00/cwt base prices. Two conversion mills were mentioned as being the culprits leading the charge. Not everyone (yet) is participating but this mill executive thought it […]
On the first working day of each month the Commerce Department releases construction expenditure data for the month before last. For example, on September 3rd the July data was released. This data known as CPIP, (Construction put in place) differs from commercially available data which to the best of our knowledge always measures construction starts. […]
Severstal NA revenue for Q2 rose to $953 million from $930 million in the first quarter 2013. Demand growth was led by U.S. automotive, construction and pipe and tube industries. First half 2013 revenue, however, fell to $1,883 million from $2,158 million in H1 2012—a 12.7 percent loss. Severstal reported a utilization rate of almost […]
The Far East and Southeast Asian ferrous scrap markets have been on the uptrend since the end of July. Since mid-July, scrap prices have risen approximately $20-$25/metric ton. This coincides with Tokyo Steel in Japan increasing scrap prices twice by approximately $24/MT. The increase in scrap prices were reactionary as steel stockists ramped purchases from […]
AGC of America Press Release – August 23, 2013 Construction employment gains spread to more metropolitan areas between July 2012 and July 2013 than in previous months but full recovery remained elusive as only a few areas have exceeded pre-recession employment records, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The SMU Key Market Indicators and Analysis will become part of the new Premium membership when the new SMU website comes up in September. The total number of indicators considered at present […]
JSW Steel Ltd. is considering selling its U.S. mill in Baytown, Texas said reports by Bloomberg. JSW, India’s third largest steel maker, hopes to pay off some of its debt and boost earnings margins by selling the USA asset. In its fourth quarter earnings statement in March 2013, the company reported a decline of 61.56 […]
The Architecture Billings Index jumped to 52.7 in July from 51.6 in June indicating a growing demand for construction design activity. The new project inquiry index, an indicator for future demand, surged 4.1 points to 66.7 in July. “There continues to be encouraging signs that the design and construction industry continues to improve,” said American […]
Indicators Suggest No Significant Growth in Steel for the Balance of 2013 The Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) and steel consumption. The following is an abridged version of the Chicago Federal Reserve statement plus graphical analysis by Steel Market Update. The index is a weighted average of 85 indicators of national economic activity drawn […]
The erosion of the rupee brought the currency to a new record low on Monday at 62.76 to the U.S. dollar. A growing deficit at 4.8 percent of the GDP is blamed for the currency weakness in India that some say may be the country’s worst financial crisis in decades. The Royal Bank of […]
Australian company BlueScope Steel announced EBIT of $66.7 million for its 50 percent ownership of U.S. based North Star BlueScope Steel for FY 2013 ending on June 30, 2013. Earnings for the fiscal year improved by 7 percent over FY 2012 due to improved cost control and decreased depreciation charges that offset slightly weaker spreads. […]
Ultra light gauge galvanized (thicknesses less than .015”) have traditionally been associated with foreign steel suppliers as opposed to domestic mills. The U.S. mills have, over time, relegated the ultra light gauge markets as ones of the least interest due to the amount of line time it takes to produce these products versus running a […]
As reported by Sandy Williams here in the Steel Market Update on Friday, the National Association of Home Builders index reached its highest level in almost eight years in July but the Census Bureau construction starts data is not so encouraging. On a year over year basis the 3-month moving average (3MMA) of both permits […]
NLMK reported USA revenue of $314 million in the second quarter down from $362 million in Q1. The company noted lower demand from the US construction sector and general deterioration of market conditions in Europe and the USA along with industry oversupply. North American steel sales dropped to 432,000 tonnes (476,190 tons) from 473,000 tonnes […]
From time to time SMU gets emails from our readers that we think others might find interesting. Here are a couple examples: In an email with the title “Bingo” we received the following comments from a large galvanized service center: “The bet is the first sign of weakness will come out of the conversion mills […]
Canadian housing starts in July fell slightly to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 192,853 units from 193,797 units in June. The decrease was 0.5 percent from June levels and 9.5 percent below housing starts in July 2012. Urban starts for single units decreased by 5.5 percent to 58,732 units in July while urban multi-unit […]
Mexican industrial output surprised analysts by falling 2.4 percent in June compared to the same month in 2012 according to the government’s statistic agency Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. Output was expected to grow by at least 0.1 percent year over year. Compared to June 2012, construction dropped 6.0 percent, manufacturing declined 1.2 percent […]
Written by: John Packard With other periodicals calling a top or “peak” to the market the pressure has been put on Steel Market Update to clear up the muddied waters. From our perspective, the peak is usually identified when one of the domestic mills breaks ranks and starts cutting deals at numbers less than what […]