Despite a homebuilding boom and an improving economy, construction employment fell in 203 metro areas in the 12 months from March 2020 to March 2021, reported the Associated General Contractors of America in their analysis of the latest government data. The 57.0% decrease in jobs over the 12-month period has hampered the industry on top […]
Hot rolled steel prices have been on the rise since last August and hit a new record of $1,440 per ton this week as nine-week lead times have tightened supplies and made spot tons scarce. Can steel prices possibly continue rising for the rest of the year? Chris Shipp is convinced steel prices have a […]
Sometimes it seems like the faster I move the further behind I get…. I think steel buyers are beginning to realize they have precious little control over this market, and they are just along for the ride. As I reviewed the results of this week’s flat rolled and plate steel market trends analysis (our steel […]
When I started Steel Market Update in August 2008 and I began to look at steel prices, I did so from a different viewpoint than the indexes that already existed. Having just completed a 31-year career in selling flat rolled steel, I believed what was most important for steel buyers to understand was the range […]
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 […]
Longshore workers at the Port of Montreal began on Monday what is hoped to be a short-term strike. All port operations ceased at Canada’s second busiest port except for liquid bulk, Oceanex service and the Vittera grain terminal. Dock workers will continue to handle COVID-19-related medical supplies if the boxes are so marked, said Michel […]
SSAB Americas reported lower shipments of 480,000 metric tons in the first quarter of 2021 despite strong demand for heavy plate in North America. Due to weather issues in February and lower slab inventories at the beginning of the quarter, shipments fell 16% from the previous quarter and 9% compared to Q1 2020. Higher steel […]
Australian steel producer BlueScope has raised its earnings guidance for 2H FY2021 to an earnings range between AUD $1 billion and $1.8 billion from the previous range of $750 million to $830 million. The boost in earnings is due in large part to the performance of North Star BlueScope, the company’s U.S. division in Ohio. HRC […]
Nucor, SDI and Cliffs all announced earnings last week. All of the CEOs are quite bullish as all of their flat rolled mills are running at full capacity. And with pricing now in excess of $1,400 per ton for benchmark hot rolled, the mills are reporting record or near record quarterly profits for first-quarter 2021. […]
Home builders had a busy month in March as housing starts jumped 19.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.74 million. According to the report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau, starts were 37% higher than the rate one year ago. Construction started on 1.24 million […]
Everything You Want to Know About This Year’s Conference There is much to talk about at this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference as the industry deals with record high prices, strong demand, challenges to supply, questions about trade, new steel mills about to come onstream and more recently announced, automotive moving to electric vehicles, questions […]
Everything You Want to Know About This Year’s Conference There is much to talk about at this year’s SMU Steel Summit Conference as the industry deals with record high prices, strong demand, challenges to supply, questions about trade, new steel mills about to come onstream and more recently announced, automotive moving to electric vehicles, questions […]
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 […]
The effect of COVID-19 and the shelter-in-place orders that followed had widespread impact across the U.S. construction sector. States that have had extensive and extended stoppage measures in place, however, have struggled disproportionally to rebound, according to the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Procore Technologies Inc., AGC’s data collection partner, said the impact of […]
Nucor posted its best quarter ever with net earnings of $942.4 million in first-quarter 2021. Net sales soared 33% to $7.02 billion in the quarter on higher steel prices and shipments. “The first quarter of 2021 was the most profitable quarter in our company’s history. We are clearly reaping the rewards from our prior investments […]
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 […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. had a stellar first quarter and looks forward to its new Sinton, Texas, mill beginning production later this summer. The $1.9 billion EAF mill is designed with production capabilities that will compete with traditional integrated steel producers, providing a differentiated product portfolio with a climate-conscious focus, SDI said. Four customers have committed […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) posted record first-quarter sales and expects the good times to keep rolling into the second quarter. The solid showing came thanks to high steel prices, lean customer inventories and strong demand across most end markets, according to commentary released with first-quarter earnings data. “Numerous individual operating and financial records were attained–a […]
The World Steel Association was cautiously optimistic in its April 2021 Short-Range Outlook published last week. The association expects steel demand to grow 5.8% this year, reaching 1.874 billion metric tons, after declining 0.2% during the pandemic in 2020. “Despite the disastrous impact of the pandemic on lives and livelihoods, the global steel industry was […]
Housing construction rebounded in March as demand for newly built homes was spurred by tight existing-home inventory and low mortgages interest rates. Construction starts for privately-owned houses soared 19.4% from February to March, and 37% from a year ago, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.74 million units Starts for single-family homes leapt 15.3% […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. announced today a major investment to establish four new coating lines—two in the South and two in the Midwest. The $225 million investment in the southern location will support the new Sinton, Texas, steel mill, which is on track for first production in late summer 2021. A 300,000-ton flat-roll galvanizing line with […]
Flat Rolled = 41.4 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 43 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled U.S. service center flat rolled inventories remained very lean in March, as shipments were strong, but mills continued to run late on deliveries. At the end of March, U.S. service centers had 41.4 shipping days of supply of […]
Steel Market Update’s latest analysis of the monthly Key Market Indicators shows that our Present Situation markers have seen little change when compared to the month prior, while the Trend change saw a visible shift upward during the same period. Overall, the marketplace continues to recover from the pandemic as key metrics show further improvement. […]
Spring has sprung including a bounce in economic activity, according to the latest Federal Reserve Beige Book. The April survey of federal districts showed a moderate increase in activity from auto sales to tourism, along with heightened optimism. Spring break, vaccine rollout and stimulus payments gave the tourism industry a boost from late February to […]
Olympic Steel CEO Rick Marabito is very bullish on the metals market, comparing the industry to a baseball game that’s just getting started: “I think we are in the first couple of innings of a really good market and cycle,” he said during Wednesday’s SMU Community Chat. Despite material shortages and supply disruptions, manufacturing is […]
Ray Napolitan, Jr., Executive Vice President of Engineered Bar Products and Digital at Nucor, plans to retire on June 5, 2021, after 25 years of service with the company. Napolitan joined Nucor in 1996 as Engineering Manager of Nucor Building Systems-Indiana. He became Operations Manager of Nucor Building Systems-Texas in 1999 and was promoted to […]
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 […]
The U.S. economy added 916,000 jobs in March, posting increases for a second consecutive month and pushing well ahead of early estimates, reported the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Gains were strongest in leisure and hospitality, while construction jumped by 126,000. Following a depressing close to 2020 and a loss of 447,000 jobs in January, total […]
The U.S. labor market saw a strong surge in employment to closed out the first quarter. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that employers added 916,000 to their payrolls in March, more than doubling the 379,000 jobs added in February. Following a dismal close to 2020 and a slow start in January, total […]