Tag: Manufacturing

CRU forecasts a stronger year for steel sheet demand in 2024 than in 2023 as growth continues in Asia and a recent period of contraction in the West ends.

The latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum is anticipating overall demand to remain healthy through year’s end despite some weakening in some sectors and normal seasonality.

Nucor Corp. remains incredibly bullish long-term on steel demand, but an underlining theme during the steelmaker’s third-quarter earnings conference call with analysts on Tuesday, Oct. 24, was tempered near-term expectations.

The UAW went on strike on Tuesday at General Motor’s truck and SUV plant in Arlington, Texas – the automakers’ largest assembly plant in the US.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union expanded its strike on Monday morning, hitting Stellantis’ largest plant.

Well, what a difference a month makes…

Global steel demand will reach 1.81 million metric tons in 2023, a 1.8% year-on-year boost, the World Steel Association (worldsteel) said in its updated Short Range Outlook report.

Manufacturing activity decreased in New York in October, according to the most recent Empire State Manufacturing survey. The headline general business index fell to -4.6 in October from 6.5 points in September. The new orders index dipped nine points month over month to -4.2, while the shipments index dropped 11 points to 1.4. Twenty-four percent […]

The latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the Pricing and Analysis tab and look under the “Survey Results” section for “Latest Survey Results.” Historical survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, […]

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union announced a new phase in its ongoing stand-up strike against the Big Three Detroit-area automakers on Friday.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) unexpectedly expanded its strike against Ford on Wednesday evening, when 8,700 union members walked out of the automaker’s Kentucky Truck Plant.

Canada’s Unifor union reached a tentative labor agreement with General Motors on Tuesday, Oct. 10.

The US and European Union will continue trade talks on Friday, Oct. 20, according to a statement from the European Council.

The LME aluminum three-month price was broadly unchanged on Friday morning, Oct. 6, and was last seen trading at $2,243 per ton. Due to the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day celebrations, the SHFE is closed for holidays from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6. According to a report from Bloomberg, leaders from the EU and the […]

A recap of SMU's Oct. 4, 2023, Community Chat featuring AGC chief economist Ken Simonson and his outlook for the construction markets.

US manufacturing activity improved in September, nearing a recovery, but remained in contraction territory, according to the Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

US plate prices have been relatively flat this year, especially when compared to sheet products. Case in point; SMU's plate prices stands at $1,455 per ton ($72.75 per cwt) on average, down 7% from a $1,560 per ton peak in April. Our HRC price is at $645 per ton, down 44% from an April peak of $1,160 per ton.

The US scrap market for October is a bit unsettled as the UAW strike against the Big Three automotive companies has expanded and shows scant signs of an imminent settlement.

Pessimism grew among metalformers in September’s business report from the Precision Metalforming Association.

The latest SMU Market Survey results are now available on our website to all Premium members.

SMU's weekly survey reflects what people in the market are talking about. Lately, a popular topic has been the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike.

The United Auto Workers (UAW) union expanded its strike on Friday, calling on an additional 7,000 workers at Ford and General Motors plants to strike as of 12 p.m. ET.

Despite economic headwinds in the headlines, the near-term future could prove brighter than expected, according to members of the Heating, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) speaking on the Tuesday, Sept. 26, meeting of its Sheet Metal/Air Handling Council.

Tom Conway, international president of the United Steelworkers (USW) union since 2019, has died at age 71.

We’ve been busier than usual lately covering two major events (in addition to our pricing and data services) – the potential sale of U.S. Steel and the United Auto Workers (UAW) union strike. Let’s review some possible developments in each. U.S. Steel Sale – Back in the Headlines We learned last week that Stelco had […]

Last week, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers gave a major speech challenging the views of anti-trade leaders, such as (but not limited to) Bob Lighthizer.

After a quiet couple of weeks, the futures market has recently come to life over the last three days, and is starting to show some bullish signals.

As the world works to decarbonize and limit greenhouse-gas emissions to reach the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement, many steel companies have joined others in setting their own targets to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Flat Rolled = 54.1 Shipping Days of Supply Plate = 61.2 Shipping Days of Supply Flat Rolled US service center flat-rolled steel inventories eased back in August with stronger shipments. At the end of August, service centers carried 54.1 shipping days of supply, according to adjusted SMU data, down from 56.1 shipping days of supply […]