The U.S. manufacturing sector is gaining strength after months of contraction, say supply executives surveyed in the June Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. The June PMI jumped 9.5 points to 52.6 indicating an expansion in the overall economy for a second straight month. “June signifies manufacturing entering an expected expansion cycle after the disruption caused […]
Home prices increased at a modest rate in April, reported the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices. The index showed a 4.7 annual gain, up from 4.6 percent in March. The 10-City Composite was unchanged while the 20-City composite inched up 0.1 percent to 4.0 percent year-over-year. On a month-over-month basis, the National Index posted a 1.1 […]
CRU analysts, speaking during a virtual version of their Annual New York Steel Briefing earlier today, said volatility is in the cards for steel pricing as demand increases and new EAF capacity comes online. CRU forecasts sheet consumption will fall 17.6 percent or 12.4 million metric tons year-over-year in 2020, and long and plate products […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Helen O’Cleary, from CRU’s Zinc Monitor U.S. industrial production increased by only 1.4 percent in May, well short of expectations, but market sentiment is generally positive as the Fed has confirmed it will do “whatever it takes for as long as it takes” to help get the economy back on track […]
Sales of new and existing homes reflect different impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, but analysts expect both categories to contribute to a rebound for the economy. New Home Sales Rise in May New home sales rose 16.6 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 676,000 and were 12.7 percent higher than a […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: A rather eventful week in D.C. has brought to the fore a new proposal from House Democrats to pass an infrastructure bill. Readers will recall “Infrastructure Week” last year, which featured a tense White House meeting that ended […]
Housing starts rose 4.3 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 974,000. Starts were 23.2 percent below the May 2019 rate of 1.27 million. Single-family starts were flat, increasing just 0.1 percent last month. Construction of housing with five units or more, however, jumped 16.9 percent. Regionally and on a year-over-year basis, […]
Builder confidence is increasing as the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index jumped 21 points in June to a score of 58, returning to positive market conditions. Any score above 50 indicates that builders view conditions as good as opposed to bad. “As the nation […]
Total U.S. construction declined by 2.9 percent in April, compared with March, on a seasonally adjusted basis. On a non-adjusted basis, data for April had a positive growth of 2.3 percent, which was unusually low for this time of year. Normally April expenditures are about 8 percent higher than March. On a year-over-year basis and […]
Home prices rose 4.4 percent in March compared to a year ago and 4.2 percent from February, according to the latest S&P Core Logic Case Shiller Index. The 20-City Composite edged up 3.9 percent from 3.5 percent in February. The Composite was short one city, Detroit, due to reporting delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic. “March’s […]
New home sales rose slightly in April, inching up 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 623,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Compared to April 2019, home sales declined 6.2 percent. Median sales price was $309,900 and the average […]
Existing-home sales slid almost 18 percent in April, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales fell 17.8 percent month-over-month and 17.2 percent from a year ago to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.33 million units. Sales were at the lowest level and worst month-over-month decline since July 2010. “The economic lockdowns – occurring […]
Steel demand is showing early signs of strengthening, said manufacturing and service center executives during Steel Market Update’s canvass of the market May 11-14, as officials in various states begin to ease coronavirus restrictions allowing businesses to slowly reopen. Half said demand for their products is stable or even improving, while the other half said […]
Housing starts plummeted 30.2 percent in April compared to March, falling to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 891,000 and the lowest level since 2015. Compared to April 2019, starts tumbled 27.9 percent, said the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Building permit authorizations were at a SAAR of 1,074,000, […]
By CRU Economist Anissa Chabib, from CRU’s Economic Outlook On May 8, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the official U.S. unemployment data for April. Unemployment increased to 14.7 percent from 4.4 percent in March. This is the highest rate and the largest month-on-month increase in the history of the series, which was created […]
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell delivered a dire forecast for the U.S. economy should the government fail to provide ongoing financial support for businesses and workers and warned of potential “lasting damage” to the economy. “The scope and speed of this downturn are without modern precedent, significantly worse than any recession since World War II,” […]
The “new normal” is to reinvent oneself or the way you will do business going forward. As many of you are aware, I am no spring chicken. Yet I refuse to live in the past. I learned (the hard way – through unexpected career changes) that I needed to constantly keep myself relevant to my […]
Buyers of flat rolled and plate steels provided insights into the market to Steel Market Update throughout the day. On the flat rolled side, steel buyers seemed to be resigned to paying higher prices. Flat rolled price quotes are firming at the domestic mills, and the mills may well achieve their desired minimums of $500-$520 […]
Buyers of flat rolled and plate steels provided insights into the market to Steel Market Update throughout the day. On the flat rolled side, steel buyers seemed to be resigned to paying higher prices. Flat rolled price quotes are firming at the domestic mills, and the mills may well achieve their desired minimums of $500-$520 […]
Home prices continued to increase in February before the coronavirus shutdowns, gaining 4.2 percent annually, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index. The 20-city composite grew 0.4 points for a 3.5 percent year-over-year gain. Prices were strongest in the West and Southeast and comparatively weaker in the Midwest […]
Sales of new and existing homes both fell during March as the COVID-19 virus took hold of America. New home sales in March plummeted 15.4 percent from February levels to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 627,000, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sales were down 9.5 […]
By John Packard and Tim Triplett Steel Market Update has been asked: How does the COVID-19 pandemic compare to the Great Recession, in terms of its impact on the steel market? The full effect of the coronavirus crisis on the U.S. economy and steel demand is still to play out, of course, but some comparisons […]
Housing starts plummeted 22.3 percent in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,216,000, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development. Single-family starts declined 17.5 percent and multifamily starts of five units or more plunged 32 percent. “Single-family starts began an expected, virus-related decline in […]
2020 is NOT 2008 all over again… I vividly remember 2008 and what happened to the steel industry beginning in September of that year. Why? Because Steel Market Update began as a company in August 2008 and I was scrambling to get members, while at the same time reporting on the destruction of demand and […]
The COVID-19 crisis caused a spike in truck rates in March as vans and reefers worked to replenish retail stocks and move essential supplies. DAT Trendlines said rates are likely to fall in the coming weeks, however, as fewer load postings occur. Van and reefer rates are expected to stay elevated, whereas flatbed rates and […]
The January S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index showed home price growth at 3.9 percent prior to the coronavirus pandemic. “During the next two months, home price gains will likely continue to outpace inflation for Case-Shiller Index values seen through March,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic. “This is likely because most sales that settle during […]
By CRU Chief Economist Jumana Saleheen, from CRU’s Global Economic Outlook Overview March 2020 The global impact of Covid-19 has been profound. Lockdowns of countries and regions are now the norm. Uncertainty about the “end game” has fueled financial market volatility and prompted unprecedented government support. CRU is now forecasting a global recession in 2020; […]
By CRU Research Manager Paul Butterworth, from CRU’s Steel Monitor CRU has massively downgraded forecast GDP growth in China to 1-2 percent for 2020 and we now expect the USA and Eurozone to fall into recession. Global GDP growth is now expected to be 1 percent for the year, an effective global recession. While economic […]
Sales of new homes in February rose 4.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 765,000, according to estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Compared to February 2019, sales jumped 14 percent. “New home sales were solid in February before challenges associated with the coronavirus set […]
Existing-home sales jumped 6.5 percent in February, with all regions seeing higher sales except the Northeast, reports the National Association of Realtors. Sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million in February, a 7.2 percent gain from a year ago. “February’s sales of over 5 million homes were the strongest since February […]