The Biden administration, picking up where the “America First” Trump administration left off, extols the virtues of increased production here at home. There are many advantages to this approach, the president says. Increased production in the US will diminish reliance on China in critical materials for electric vehicles (rare earth metals and lithium, for example). […]
Steel prices eased each week in May, following increases in March and most of April. Hot rolled prices were $1,440 per ton ($72 per cwt) the first week of May, just $40 lower than the mid-April peak. Prices then slipped between $15 and $75 each of the following weeks, with the SMU index averaging $1,255 […]
Sheet and plate prices continued to slip this week on expectations of lower scrap costs in June, increased import competition, and so-so demand, market participants said. Hot-rolled coil prices were down $35 per ton as were plate prices. Coated products were off by $25 per ton. Cold-rolled prices were up $10 per ton – or effectively […]
Sales of new and existing homes retracted in April, now in line with mid-2020 levels, according to recently released data from the US Department of Commerce and National Association of Realtors. New home sales slipped to 591,000 units in April, down 17% compared to the previous month. The last time new sales were this low […]
Production is revving up at the new JDF/HDM spiral-weld pipe mill in Houston, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for later in June. Originally slated to be built on or near the campus of Steel Dynamics Inc.’s new sheet mill in Sinton, Texas, joint venture partners JD Fields and Turkey’s HDM Steel Pipe opted for new […]
Nucor Corp.’s $3 billion acquisition of CHI Overhead Doors, its largest deal ever, represents a shift away from the company’s traditional roots as a steelmaker. “We absolutely want to pivot from being just a steelmaker to a manufacturing company,” Nucor president and CEO Leon Topalian said. That’s notable because Nucor is the largest steelmaker in the […]
Construction of a new pig iron caster has begun at US Steel’s Gary Works with start-up expected early next year. US Steel employees joined United Steelworkers leaders and others this week in Indiana to celebrate the $60 million investment. The company’s Minntac and Keetac Minnesota ore operations will feed the pig iron facility, which […]
Distributors who sell galvanized steel products continue to see balanced inventory levels and strong demand. In their monthly conference call earlier today, members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) expressed optimism even as steel prices are on the decline. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine helped reset the steel market, explained Steel Market Update Senior […]
Distributors who sell galvanized steel products continue to see balanced inventory levels and strong demand. In their monthly conference call earlier today, members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) expressed optimism even as steel prices are on the decline. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine helped reset the steel market, explained Steel Market Update Senior […]
What a whirlwind last week was. I want to thank Wolfe Research and Bank of America for inviting me to speak, the former virtually, the latter in person. I also want to thank Stanislav Zinchenko and the GMK Center for taking time to join us for what I thought was one of our better Community […]
What a whirlwind last week was. I want to thank Wolfe Research and Bank of America for inviting me to speak, the former virtually, the latter in person. I also want to thank Stanislav Zinchenko and the GMK Center for taking time to join us for what I thought was one of our better Community […]
Mill executives said they are ready for the demand infrastructure spending would generate during AISTech 2022’s Town Hall Forum in Pittsburgh this week. “The infrastructure bill is positive for the entire industry and for downstream industries, but we need to cut red tape,” Cleveland-Cliffs chairman, president and CEO Lourenco Goncalves said. “The bill is great. […]
The permitting process for Nucor’s new West Virginia sheet mill continues, with the latest development an application for authorizations with the US Army Corps of Engineers under the Clean Water and Rivers and Harbors Acts. The new mill will be located near Apple Grove in Mason County, W.Va., with access to the Ohio River. Two […]
Nucor Corp. has agreed in principle to acquire C.H.I. Overhead Doors for $3 billion. C.H.I. is a leading manufacturer of residential and commercial overhead and rolling doors serving US and Canadian markets, and an affiliate of investment funds managed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. (KKR). The transaction value represents approximately 13x C.H.I.’s estimated […]
Steel Market Update’s Steel Buyer’s Sentiment Index slipped 2 points last week following three consecutive weeks of steel price declines. Our Future Sentiment Index was unchanged and remains at a new high set just two weeks prior. SMU surveys buyers every two weeks and asks how they view their chances of success in the near […]
The prices contractors pay for construction materials and services – chiefly for new nonresidential construction – jumped by more than 21% in April versus the same year-ago period, reports the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) in its latest analysis of government data. The association has called for relief to hard-hit employers from tariffs, especially […]
MaryEmily Slate, Nucor’s executive vice president of commercial, will retire on June 11 due to health-related issues. Dan Needham, Nucor’s executive vice president of bar, engineered bar and rebar fabrication products, has been named to succeed her. The transition is effective May 15, Nucor said. Slate joined Nucor in 2000 as district sales manager of Nucor Steel Arkansas. […]
North Star BlueScope officially celebrated its expansion project and the commissioning of its new EAF meltshop this week in Delta, Ohio. The project, which will add 850,000 metric tons (roughly 937,000 short tons) of annual hot rolled sheet capacity once complete, was originally announced in August 2019. It was delayed slightly when, in April 2020, BlueScope said it would reschedule […]
AZZ Inc. completed the purchase of Precoat Metals from its parent, Sequa Corp., for approximately $1.28 billion. The deal continues the Fort Worth, Texas-based company’s buying spree in the coated metals space. “Today we welcome the 1,100 employees of Precoat to the AZZ family and begin the work of swiftly integrating Precoat into AZZ while leveraging […]
Steel prices have peaked and are trending downward – and fast, according to the latest SMU survey results and comments from market participants. The consensus: the war in Ukraine reset the steel market to roughly where it was on Jan. 1. And now the market is trending downward at least as fast as it was in January […]
Sheet prices fell hard this week after bouncing around between about $1,440-1,480 per ton ($72-74 per cwt) for much of April. Our average hot-rolled coil price dropped to $1,365 per ton this week, down $75 per ton (5.2%) from $1,440 per ton a week ago and down $115 per ton (7.8%) from $1,480 per ton […]
Nucor has been granted final approval for a construction permit, clearing the way for the building of its $2.7 billion, three million tons per year sheet mill in Mason County, W.Va. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Air Quality issued the air permit to Nucor on May 5, noting that “all available […]
Construction employment edged up by just 2,000 jobs in April because contractors scrambled to find workers in an increasingly tight labor market, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) reported. “The pause in employment gains last month most likely signifies a shortage of qualified workers rather than any slowdown in demand for projects,” AGC chief economist […]
The US labor market expanded at a rapid pace in April, adding 428,000 new jobs, matching the downwardly revised 428,000 increase in March. The result kept the unemployment rate unchanged month-on-month (MoM) at the pandemic-era low of 3.6%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Payroll gains were better than economists had expected amid an increasingly […]
US construction spending in March totaled $1.730 trillion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, just 0.1% above February’s total. Investment in construction cooled because increased spending on residential projects was offset by a decline in nonresidential investment, the Commerce Department reported. Construction spending in March missed expectations, down from a 0.5% gain in February and behind […]
The Dodge Momentum Index moved 6% higher in April, rebounding following lower revised reading for the month prior, according to data and analytics from the Dodge Construction Network. The index registered 164.8 last month, up from March’s downward revised reading of 155. In April, planning for commercial projects drove the index’s overall reading upward, expanding […]
Nonresidential and multifamily construction spending slumped in March as supply-chain woes and labor shortages stymied strong project demand, the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) reported. Spending on most categories of nonresidential and multifamily construction declined from February to March, AGC said, noting that contractors struggled to find enough workers and to get timely deliveries […]
Ryerson reported sharply higher profits on increased prices and despite lower year-over-year (YoY) shipment volumes. The Chicago-based service center predicted a strong second quarter as well but forecast that average selling prices might be flat or up only modestly. “Our optimism around enduring secular drivers favoring recyclable industrial metals as a core enabler of sustainable […]
Steel prices were relatively steady in April, following increases in March. Hot rolled prices were at $1,460 per ton ($73 per cwt) the first week of April, the highest level seen since January 2022. Prices then bounced around within a $30 per ton range for the remainder of the month, with the SMU index averaging $1,450 per ton as […]
Housing’s share of the economy edged higher at the start of 2022 due in part to a surprise drop in GDP growth. For the first quarter of 2022, overall GDP growth declined at a 1.4% annual rate, driven by increased inventories and a jump in imports, according to the National Association of Home Builders’ analysis […]