The Chinese economy grew 7.8 percent in the third quarter, compared to 7.5 percent in the second quarter and 7.7 percent in the first quarter. Growth for the first nine months of 2013 was 7.7 percent keeping China on target for a 7.5 percent GDP for the year. According to the China National Bureau of […]
The U.S. Treasury defines the debt ceiling or limit as “the total amount of money that the United States government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and other payments.” The current debt ceiling is set at […]
Shipping in the Capesize Market is beginning to slow down after a strong September driven by iron ore restocking in China and exports of ore from Brazil. According to the MID-SHIP Report on Oct. 10, average Capesize earnings fell to $33,368 from $42,211 two weeks ago. Time charters averaged $30,000 prompting owners to turnover cargo […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) asked David Phelps, president of the American Institute for International Steel if there were any issues involving steel imports which our readers needed to be aware. He sent us an email with the following: “…the Customs officials employed at the ports to process imports and exports are considered essential. The licensing […]
The Federal Reserve publishes a trade weighted index of the value of the US$ (dollar) against a basket of the currencies of our major trading partners on a daily and monthly basis. As a result of the government shut-down we don’t have the very latest data for this index. The latest data we do have […]
Chinese pig iron steel production in August 2013 was 59,931,000 metric tons, a slight decline of 0.15 percent over July figures but an 11.1 percent increase over the same month one year ago. Total crude steel production was 66,277,000 tons in August, a slight increase from the 65,474,000 tons reported for July but a large […]
A quick note about ferrous scrap. From the early deals being done – and there are still a number yet which need to be completed. Our sources are advising us that scrap prices have been trading lower by $5 to $10 per gross ton in the east. However, in the Midwest there have been trades […]
The Baker Hughes North American Rotary Rig Count is a weekly census of the number of drilling rigs actively exploring for or developing oil or natural gas in the United States and Canada. Rigs are considered active from the time they break ground until the time they reach their target depth and may be establishing […]
Manufacturing activity in the Tenth District slowed in September according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The month-over-month composite index that factors in production, new orders, employment, supplier delivery times, and raw materials inventory indices, was 2, dropping from 8 in August and 6 in July. The production index slid […]
This week the domestic steel mills and their scrap suppliers will be locked in negotiations to determine the price of ferrous scrap used in the EAF’s and BOF’s to make steel. Steel Market Update sources have been advising that the October scrap market looks to be down $10 per gross ton before firming later in […]
When I last wrote two weeks back the SP 500 had failed to break down as expected and technicals suggested we were headed to 1775 as next long term target. Well within one week of that report the SP 500 hit 1730 from that Sep 12th 1685 area. This rally was in large part due […]
The Bureau of Economic Analysis’s third estimate of GDP growth in the second quarter was 2.46 percent q / q, little changed from the 2nd estimate and up from 1.1 percent in the first quarter. The official news release is included below. All major sub components made positive contributions except government expenditures and net exports […]
In August China’s steel production exceeded 50 percent of the global total for what we believe to be the first time. Global production in August was 130.352 million tonnes with a capacity utilization of 76.0 percent. In three months through August production was at an annual rate of 1.572 billion tonnes with a capacity utilization […]
TSI Iron Ore: Prices Wobble in Signs Market is Cooling… Iron ore prices have softened over the past couple of weeks, but are still holding the recent range above $130 per ton. Mixed news out of China regarding steel demand has cooled off buying for the time being as the market has failed to break […]
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 […]
Financial Markets Two weeks back we were 1640 on SP 500 and technically it looked like we were headed to 1550-1560 zone as part of a larger retracement. Well the market has dumbfounded the chartists again, and we have since rebounded to today’s level of 1682. We are likely headed now to the 1770-80 zone […]
Year to date through July, net imports of steel sheet products have been steadily declining as those of long products have been steadily increasing, (Figures 1 and 2). Net imports are defined as imports minus exports and at times can be negative for individual products when exports exceed imports. In the case of flat rolled […]
American Institute for International Steel Press Release Falls Church, VA, September 9, 2013 – Steel exports increased in July by 2.2 percent over June according to government reporting. “NAFTA steel demand improved in July compared to June by 6 percent, offsetting declines in other smaller international markets. NAFTA market’s increase reflects the timing of the […]
Apparent steel supply for July was up slightly compared to the same month one year ago by 1.53 percent. This is due to a 4.60 percent increase in domestic shipments, which was offset by a decrease in both total steel imports and finished steel imports, down 9.24 percent and 9.92 percent respectively. The net trade […]
July ferrous scrap exports totaled 1,203,282 metric tons (1,326,390 net tons) with Turkey, Taiwan, China, Mexico, and Canada being the top five importing countries of U.S. scrap. Of the higher ranking countries in the table below, there was month-over-month increase in exports going to Turkey, China, Mexico, Canada, and Indonesia over the June figures, but […]
By the end of August SMU had adjusted our Price Momentum Indicator from Higher to Neutral, SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index averaged +40 which is higher than the average from June and July and well within the optimistic range of our Index. Benchmark hot rolled prices moved essentially sideways as the numbers show below. […]
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 […]
Currency update August 22nd 2013. The Federal Reserve publishes a trade weighted index of the value of the US dollar against a basket of the currencies of our major trading partners on a daily and monthly basis. This is referred to as the Broad Index. The Broad Index appreciated strongly in the 3rd Quarter of […]
Financial Markets: When I last wrote, I mentioned that the SP 500 was likely headed to 1720 before a retracement and then an eventual rally up the 1775 zone. Well the SP 500 reached 1709 on August 2nd from which we have since retraced to 1640 yesterday. We settled today at 1657. In this retracement […]
Manufacturing activity is improving in the Tenth Federal District that includes the western third of Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming and the northern half of New Mexico. The summary from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City follows: Tenth District manufacturing activity improved further in August, and producers’ expectations also edged higher after easing […]
Chinese imports of iron ore in July were 73,140,000 metric tons, an increase of 17.4 percent from the previous month and an increase of 26.4 percent from July 2012. Year to date iron ore imports are at 457,230,000 MT through June. July imports of steel scrap were 280,000 MT, down 26.3 percent from June and […]
Written by: Brett Linton June ferrous scrap exports totaled 1,405,041 metric tons (1,548,791 net tons) with Turkey, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Egypt being the top five countries where scrap was sent. Exports to most of the big players in the market, with the exception of Taiwan, South Korea and Vietnam, dropped dramatically from the […]
In three months through May exports of flat products declined as those of long products remained unchanged (see graphic below). Compared to May last year total exports were up by 311 tons. This result breaks down to flat products down 21,166 tons, longs down 29,114 tons and tubulars up 43,176 tons. In all three cases […]
By Peter Wright Shipments of sheet steel products in the 2nd quarter averaged 4,114,539 tons / month, down from 4,138,875 in the 1st quarter, 0.6 percent, and down by 4.8 percent from Q2 2012. Year to date (YTD) shipments of all sheet products through the first half were 24,682,298 tons, down by 5.6 percent from […]
Written by: John Packard and the American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) The U.S. Department of Commerce released June export data on Tuesday evening. We have two analyses of the data. First, we are reproducing the AIIS press release and then after their release we have our quick analysis of hot rolled, cold rolled, galvanized […]