Durable goods orders rose in February by 1.7 percent after gaining 2.3 percent the prior month. The increase beat the Bloomberg estimate of a 1.4 percent gain. Excluding the volatile transportation category, orders gained 0.4 percent. Aircraft led the increase with a jump of 47.6 percent for civilian aircraft. Core capital goods orders (excludes aircraft […]
“Fair and Free Trade” is something that those of us who have been in the steel industry since 2000 have heard over and over again from the domestic steel industry. What exactly is “fair” trade and who should decide? The steel mills have done an exceptional job of determining the talking points through lobbying efforts […]
Steel Market Update concluded our analysis of the flat rolled steel markets earlier today. One of the proprietary products produced out of our twice monthly analysis is the SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index which consists of Current and Future Sentiment Indices. Our Current Sentiment Index as a single data point came in at +73. This […]
First, a note about our price ranges and indices published on Tuesday evening. One of the things that I saw during my collection process was what I perceived as strength or weakness in the numbers on certain products. What do I mean by that? When checking our flat rolled steel market trends survey results I […]
The shipping season opened on the Great Lakes this month. In general, freight shipments within the U.S. are moving without complications in March. Rate increases have been noted for most seaborne freight with the Baltic Dry Index approaching highs last seen in November 2016. Seaborne Freight The Panama Canal continues to break monthly records for […]
Over the course of a few weeks, buyers and sellers of flat rolled steels changed their view of the direction of flat rolled steel price direction. In the middle of February only 14 percent of those responding to our flat rolled steel market trends analysis survey reported prices would move higher with the majority (52 […]
When we conducted our flat rolled market trends analysis during the middle of February we found 20 percent of our respondents had concerns regarding supply during calendar year 2017. The majority of respondents (63 percent) expressed no concerns about supply. As we move forward to last week the majority is still expressing no concerns about […]
Last Tuesday the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its series of producer price indexes (PPI), for more than 10,000 goods and materials. For an explanation of this program see the end of this piece. The latest release reported results through February. We run this analysis every three or four months to provide information for […]
The March Empire State Manufacturing Survey showed business continuing to expand at a sound pace in New York State. The general business index registered 16.4, a decline of two points from its two year high last month. The new orders index gained 7.8 points, climbing to 21.3 for its highest reading since 2009. Shipments continued […]
Turkey has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against U.S. countervailing duties placed on imports of pipe and tube products. Turkey requested the WTO initiate dispute consultation with the United States alleging the U.S. determination and imposition of duties was inconsistent with the WTO’s Agreement on Subsidies and Countevailing Measures (SCM Agreement) and […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the February employment data on Friday which was a week later than normal. This was the best result for goods producing industries (mainly construction and manufacturing) since August 1998. The preliminary result for net job creation in February was 235,000. December was revised down by 2,000 and January […]
Twice per month, Steel Market Update conducts a detailed analysis of the trends impacting the flat rolled steel markets. We issue over 670 invitations to people associated with manufacturing, distribution, steel mills, trading companies and toll processors to assist us in our analysis. We finished conducting our early March research on Thursday of this past […]
US Steel announced it will permanently close the No. 6 Quench and Temper Mill at Lorain Tubular Operations. The line has been idle since March 2015 and will be permanently shut down by June 8. “This proposed action is a strategic decision for the company after considering a number of factors, including challenging market conditions […]
Optimism reigns supreme within the steel community and those responsible for buying and selling flat rolled steel products. The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index set new record highs for both Current and Future Sentiment indices. Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel set a new record high for a single data point at +77 for […]
January data for Construction Put in Place (CPIP) was released by the Department of Commerce on Wednesday March 1st 2017. This was not such a great report. Total construction is still growing though more slowly. State and local construction are contracting. The contraction is not seasonal as we are considering year/year comparisons. At SMU we […]
Olympic Steel executives weighed in on steel demand, pricing, and government changes during the company’s earnings call last week. Olympic Steel CEO Michael Siegal attributes the rebound in steel pricing to “supply side dynamics combined with political optimism towards the business community after the very negative environment around the presidential campaign.” Said Siegal, “Entering 2017, […]
We at Steel Market Update (SMU) have been upbeat on the steel market for many weeks. We thought sharing our Key Market Indicators (KMI) with our readers would help everyone to understand our reading on the market and from where we get our core optimism. An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at […]
Is it Buy American or not? That seems to be the question of the day. President Trump signed an executive order clearing the way for the construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, adding in a memorandum to the Commerce Department that the steel pipe used in construction will have to be made […]
Global manufacturing is expanding at the fastest rate in almost six years, according to the latest JP Morgan Global Manufacturing report. The PMI rose to 52.9 in February from 52.7 in January for its highest reading since May 2011. IHS Markit said February’s expansion is continuing a trend it began a year ago and indicates […]
Steel organizations were pleased by the first address by President Donald Trump to the joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening. Steel associations welcomed promises of trade enforcement, infrastructure spending and tax reform. Here is a sampling of comments following the President’s address. Thomas J. Gibson, president and CEO of American Iron and Steel Institute […]
New U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur L. Ross met with Department of Commerce employees on Wednesday. Ross began his speech by praising President Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday night. “I thought it was one of the most inspiring speeches I’ve ever heard, and I think it augers well for the new administration. President Trump […]
Big River Steel, the newest and most technologically advanced scrap recycling and steel production facility in the world, is officially open for business. According to David Stickler, Chief Executive Officer of Big River Steel, the first line went operational nineteen months after groundbreaking: “A world record time to start up a mill. We’ve invested […]
The February ISM Report on Business indicates manufacturing activity expanded in February with the overall economy in a 93rd month of consecutive growth. The PMI was 57.7 percent, up from 56 percent in January. Looking at it from a 3 month moving average, February showed growth at 56.1, up from 54.7. Production at 62.9 gained […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. This will explain the difference between our view of the present situation which is subjective and our analysis of trends which is based on the latest facts available. During February our view […]
Members of the Precision Metalforming Association are expecting continued strong business conditions during the next three months. The monthly survey of 115 metalforming companies in the U.S. and Canada indicates economic activity will be steady with a slight increase in incoming orders. Average daily shipping levels were improved in February with 38 percent of participants […]
I did a whirlwind trip to Philadelphia along with John Eckstein, one of our Steel 101 instructors, for a speaking engagement with a manufacturing company in the area. We provided a hybrid Steel 101/Steel Market Update presentation to a small group of executives. More and more this is something I am being asked to do […]
Durable goods orders grew 1.8 percent in January, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The increase was due mostly to a jump in orders for commercial and military aircraft, up 70 percent and 60 percent, respectively. Core capital goods (non-military goods excluding aircraft) fell 0.4 percent after a larger than expected gain of […]
President Donald Trump says the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines must be built from American manufactured steel. After playing with semantics for weeks, the President has now issued a mandate that will require the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines to use steel pipe manufactured in the U.S., according to a report by CNBC on […]
This report summarized seven data sources that describe the state of manufacturing in the US. We have reported on most of these separately in our Steel Market Update publications therefore will be brief in this summary. We don’t expect these data sources to all point in the same direction but our intention in summarizing them […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures markets was written by David Feldstein. As the Flack Global Metals director of risk management, Dave is an active participant in the hot rolled coil (HRC) futures market and we believe he will provide insightful commentary and trading ideas to our readers. Besides writing Futures […]