Finding that perfect house just became harder. The National Association of Realtors reports that inventory of existing homes at the end of January fell to a record low of 1.04 million units, a whopping 25.7% decline year-over-year. At the current sales rate, supply is at an all-time low of 1.9 months. Sales for the month […]
AM/NS Calvert has broken ground for construction of a $775 million electric-arc furnace (EAF) at its slab conversion mill in Alabama. The new EAF, to have a capacity of 1.5 million tons per year, is expected to come online in the first half of 2023, AM/NS Calvert CEO Jorge Oliveria said in a statement. The […]
Soaring prices and delivery delays for steel, lumber and other materials are squeezing the finances of construction firms already burdened by the pandemic, said the Associated General Contractors of America. The trade group called on the Biden administration to review and rescind a range of trade tariffs, which it claims are contributing to unmanageable price […]
“Extraordinary challenges on a global scale” is how Reliance Steel & Aluminum CEO Jim Hoffman characterized 2020 during the service center’s conference call this week. However, Hoffman was optimistic about the new year, “As I continue to say, America is going to need Reliance in order to rebuild.” In the fourth quarter, Reliance sales fell […]
Housing starts slowed in January as contractors struggle to build affordable homes amidst rising construction costs. Housing starts slid 6.0% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.58 million, according to the latest report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. “The weakness in housing starts […]
AM/NS Calvert has quietly increased prices for new spot orders by $40 per ton ($2/cwt), according to market participants. The move–which was effective on Feb. 16 but not widely announced–will see base prices for hot-rolled coil increase from $1,160 per ton to $1,200 per ton, sources said. Base prices for cold-rolled and coated products will […]
Good news for NLMK USA customers as the mill has worked out a tentative agreement with the union at their Farrell, Pa., facility, which will end the strike that goes back to late August. Once back in production, this will help (slightly) with some of the supply issues we have been seeing in the market. […]
After divesting most of its U.S. assets to Cleveland-Cliffs, ArcelorMittal is now focused on strategic growth, controlling costs and leading the industry on sustainability, the steelmaker claims. The company is targeting net-zero emissions by 2050 and looks forward to commissioning its Smart Carbon steelmaking technologies in Ghent in 2022. ArcelorMittal achieved its first sales for […]
Section 232 tariffs and quotas have left domestic steelmakers and steel consumers in sharply different realities. One side is investing big at home and enjoying record profits. The other is angry about sharply higher costs and is scouting for more steel abroad. That was the takeaway from a trade roundtable at Steel Market Update’s virtual Tampa […]
Total construction expenditures rose further in January to about $1.52 trillion, up 1.7% from December’s revised estimate of $1.50 trillion, reported the U.S. Census Bureau. The year-on-year comparison is rather remarkable, as the January figure is 5.8% above the year-ago, pre-pandemic estimate of $1.44 trillion. Although the economy is still in recovery mode, the construction sector continues to […]
Some of you may have noticed that we have adjusted our language when it comes to the SMU Price Momentum Indicator. At this moment, the momentum indicators for hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized, Galvalume and plate steels are pointing toward higher prices over the near term (next 30 to possibly as far out as 60 […]
Losses in construction employment continue to worry the industry, said the Associated General Contractors of America in their January analysis of government data. January’s unemployment rate was 9.4 percent, compared to 5.4 percent in January 2020, with 3,000 jobs lost last month. AGC estimated 938,000 former construction workers were unemployed in January, compared to 515,000 […]
The Dodge Momentum Index, a measure of the first report for nonresidential construction projects in planning, gained 3.1% in January to register 139.4 The commercial component of the index jumped 9.9% offsetting an 11.7% decrease in the institutional component. “January’s increase marked the highest level in the Momentum Index since the COVID-19 pandemic began,” said […]
The U.S. is experiencing a housing construction boom, but nonresidential construction projects are dwindling as pre-pandemic starts are completed and new projects are put on hold, said the Associated General Contractors of America. As a result, more than half of metro areas reported a decline in construction employment from December 2019 to December 2020. “A […]
Total construction expenditures rose further in December 2020 to $1,490.4 billion, a 1.0 percent gain on the revised November estimate of $1,475.6 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Despite a health crisis that marred most of 2020, year on year the figure is 5.7 percent above the December 2019 estimate of $1,410.3 billion. The report goes […]
Dr. Walter Kemmsies, managing partner at the Kemmsies Group, is bullish on the steel market for 2021. In comments during Tuesday’s virtual Tampa Steel Conference 2021, Kemmsies estimated a minimum metals demand of 218 million tons from 2021 to 2025, most of which will be steel. That is an additional 20 million tons in each of […]
Steel and scrap prices continued to climb throughout January, fueled by strong demand and tight supply. Hot rolled steel prices surpassed $1,000 per ton in the first week of the year, levels not seen in over a decade. Steel Market Update’s hot rolled price index reached $1,140 per ton by the end of January, up […]
U.S. Steel does not plan to build additional electric-arc furnace capacity for the “foreseeable future,” company executives said. The company also plans to keep the “A” blast furnace at its Granite City Works in southern Illinois idled, they suggested. U.S. Steel acquired two flat-rolled EAFs when it closed its deal for Big River Steel’s mill […]
Swedish steelmaker SSAB navigated a difficult year in 2020, taking down production and idling blast furnaces due to lower demand and COVID-19 restrictions. “Looking back at it, I think our flexibility in the system has served us well because when the market started to recover in Q4, we were quite fast to adapt to that […]
Nucor, the industry’s largest steelmaker, is expecting a significant increase in earnings in the first quarter of 2021 following a strong fourth quarter with net earnings of $398.8 million. Fourth-quarter earnings outpaced the third quarter at $193.4 million and Q4 2019 at $107.8 million due primarily to higher pricing at Nucor’s sheet and plate mills. […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. President and CEO Mark Millett has been elected to serve as board chairman of the Steel Manufacturers Association for the lobbying group’s 2021-22 term. “The SMA is uniquely positioned to represent electric arc furnace steel producers, who over the last 30 years have emerged as the dominant force in North American steelmaking […]
The steel industry’s ecommerce platforms have drawn a lot of interest lately from buyers searching for material and sellers searching for the highest price. John Armstrong, president and CEO of Reibus, said his online platform is thriving despite—or perhaps because of—the tight market conditions. “The volatility drives buyers to look for new solutions. Our tool […]
JD Fields & Co. Inc. and HDM Tubes Ltd. have teamed up to build a new spiral-weld pipe mill on the campus of Steel Dynamic Inc.’s new flat-rolled steel mill in Sinton, Texas. The joint venture between JD Fields, a steel distributor focused on the energy and civil infrastructure markets, and HDM, a Turkish pipe […]
Construction employment remains below pre-pandemic levels in 34 states despite gains in 37 states and the District of Columbia in December, according to an analysis of federal data by the Associated General Contractors of America. The data reflects the broad impact of the pandemic and the need for additional coronavirus recovery measures, said AGC. “While […]
Steel Dynamics Inc. turned in a remarkable fourth quarter and 2020 results despite a year fraught with challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. SDI posted its second highest record for yearly steel shipments at 10.7 million tons. The company’s fabrication platform shipped a record 666,000 tons. Metals recycling posted operating income of $45 million in 2020 […]
Home prices soared in November, gaining 7.6 percent from October and 9.5 percent year-over-year, reports the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. Home Price Index. The 20-City Composite rose 8 percent from the previous month and 9.1 percent from November 2019. Phoenix, Seattle and San Diego led the increase with gains of 13.8 percent, 12.7 percent and […]
Cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline project by the Biden administration will have some impact on the steel market in North America, specifically supply and demand for line pipe, but the effect is difficult to assess, say the experts. On his first day in office Wednesday, President Biden followed through on his green-energy campaign promise […]
It might be comforting to have 2020 in the rear-view mirror, but 2021 could have a few tricks up its sleeves, an ArcelorMittal USA analyst said. The good news: The U.S. should see apparent steel consumption increase 6% in 2021 after it fell 16% in 2020, according to Ping Liang, senior analyst-strategic marketing, at ArcelorMittal […]
The Architecture Billings Index took another plunge in December, falling to 42.6 from 46.3. A score below 50 shows a decline in demand for design planning and is a leading economic indicator for nonresidential construction activity. “Since the national economic recovery appears to have stalled, architecture firms are entering 2021 facing a continued sluggish design […]
The housing construction market continued its strength in December with starts vaulting 5.8 percent from November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,669,000. Single-family housing starts soared 12 percent, but starts of multifamily housing of five units or more plummeted 15.2 percent. Building permits, an indicator of future construction, rose 4.5 percent last month […]