The May 12 MID-SHIP Report indicated the freight market took a downward turn last week. Capesize vessels hauling iron ore from West Australia to China dropped to $3.60 per tonne from a recent high of $4.50 per ton. Panamax, Handysize and Supermax also slid downward during the week. Said MID-SHIP in a tongue twisting turn […]
Auto/Steel Partnership – May 11, 2016 — In an effort to assist automakers in meeting stringent fuel economy requirements, the Auto/Steel Partnership (A/SP) announced today the Hemming of Thin Gauge Advanced High-Strength Steel (AHSS) project achieved a 30 percent weight savings using thinner gauge AHSS for automotive closure panels. “The Hemming team achieved positive results […]
Last week SMU asked those responding to our flat rolled steel market trends questionnaire about when they expected a break in the current flat rolled steel pricing cycle and for prices to begin heading lower. There was no consensus as 50 percent of those responding felt the change would occur prior to the 4th Quarter […]
Economists participating last week in the CMD Webinar: Is Construction Gaining or Waning were generally optimistic about the economy and forecast for construction growth. Although some sectors of construction peaked last year, growth is continuing in almost all areas, although at a slower pace. During the webinar, chief economists Ken Simonson, Associated General Contractors of […]
Steel Market Update received the following letter from an executive associated with the trading industry: I enjoyed reading your article on whether ‘ 2016 will end up being another 2004 and 2008 and would like to add these observations: 1. In 2008 the economies all over the world were overheating ( not only in the […]
Ryerson Holding Corporation reported net income of $13.5 million for the first quarter of 2016, compared to a loss of $2.5 million for the first quarter of 2015. Revenues were $702.6 million for the first quarter of 2016, down 19.1 percent from the year-ago period due to a 19.4 percent decline in the average selling […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday in their analysis of non-farm employment that 160,000 jobs were added in April, down from 208,000 in March. February and March were revised down by a total of 19,000. An explanation of the BLS report is included at the end of this piece. The three month […]
A quick note to those who will be attending the Chicago Metals Industry Boy Scout Dinner on Thursday of this week. I will be there as well. If you want to get a moment to chat send me an email or text. My email is John@SteelMarketUpdate.com. While communicating with a service center executive late on […]
SMU canvasses buyers and sellers of steel to see how they feel about their company’s ability to be successful in both the existing (Current) market conditions as well as what they perceive those conditions will be three to six months into the future (Future). All of our participants are involved in the flat rolled steel […]
The Associated General Contractors of America, on May 1, released their March analysis of construction spending. Construction spending in March 2016 was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.138 trillion. SMU looked back at past March analyses and found an upward trend in spending for the month. In March 2014 construction spending totaled $943 […]
The April 2016 Manufacturing ISM Report on Business reported the April PMI registered at 50.8 percent, a decrease of 1.0 percent from March. The PMI reading above 50 indicates that manufacturing activity on a national basis expanded for the second month in a row after five consecutive months of contraction. The growth in manufacturing was […]
Global manufacturing growth ground to a near-standstill in April, according to the JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI. The composite index was at 50.1 for April and was the second weakest reading in 40 months. A reading of 50 signals no change. Production output and new orders were muted in most markets and international trade volumes […]
NanoSteel announced delivery of its first advanced high strength steel to General Motors for initial testing. The new product was developed in partnership with AK Steel and is designed to provide automakers with a new standard in strength, formability and weight for steels used in the production of lightweight, fuel efficient vehicles. NanoSteel says what […]
Last year in conjunction with Steel Success Strategies I had a lunch with a number of steel buyers, executives and two derivatives traders (one being Andre Marshall of Crunch Risk, LLC). We all gave our opinions as to where we thought benchmark hot rolled coil would be by early June 2016 when we will return […]
The following article on the hot rolled coil (HRC), busheling scrap (BUS), and financial futures markets was written by Dave Feldstein. As Flack Steel’s director of risk management, Dave Feldstein 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 […]
Last week Steel Market Update reported our Steel Buyers Sentiment Index as being at record highs. Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel are very optimistic about their company’s ability to be successful not only in the current market but three to six months out into the future as well. When looking at Sentiment from […]
US Steel claims trade secrets involved in creating Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) were stolen in a Chinese cyber-attack in January 2011. Information acquired included the particular chemistry for Dual Phase steel (grades 590, 780 and 980) and its coating; critical temperatures and holding times for heating, cooling, and coating the steel; and the capabilities […]
The Broad Index value of the US $ peaked on January 20th at 126.2, and on April 15th (latest figure available) was rated at 119.7, a decline of 5.2 percent. This is the lowest value since November 3rd 2015 (Figure 1). On March 15th the Fed held rates constant and cut its projection for the […]
Two Federal Reserve manufacturing indexes came out this week: the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey and the Richmond Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing. Both surveys show manufacturing continuing to expand in April. Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey Manufacturers in Texas saw production output pick up slightly in April. The new orders index rebounded into positive territory at […]
Durable Goods orders increased 0.8 percent to $230.7 billion in March, according to the Commerce Department. March’s increase is the second one in the past three months and follows a 3.1 percent decrease in February and a 4.3 increase in January. The increase fell below economist consensus of 1.7- 1.9 percent. A surge in military […]
Steel Market Update is a member of an association connected to the construction industry called HARDI. HARDI stands for Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International. HARDI and The Institute for Trend Research (ITR), an economic forecasting company, work together to gather economic data to provide a forecast to the HARDI members located in the United […]
The United Steelworkers have retracted their petition to bring Section 201 action on imports of primary unwrought aluminum. The USW filed the petition on April 18 but is suspending it due to lack of industry support. The April 22 statement from the USW follows: “We have decided to suspend our petition seeking action to restore […]
SSAB Americas announced the launch of a new awareness program—EcoSmart, to demonstrate its commitment to environmental stewardship. SSAB Americas’ EcoSmart steel contains 97 percent recoverable scrap metal that has been diverted from landfills. The recycled steel contains everything from old automotive parts to discarded appliances. Along with the use of recycled scrap metal, SSAB Americas […]
Reliance Steel & Aluminum posted net income of $92.2 million on sales of $2.16 billion for first quarter 2016. Tons sold were up 8.9 percent from Q4 2015 with average selling price down 15.6 percent from a year ago and down 2.4 percent from the previous quarter. Reliance sold 1,216,700 tons of carbon steel in […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel continue to feel very good about their company’s prospects both in the existing market as well as looking out three to six months into the future. Steel Market Update (SMU) is of the opinion buyer optimism is connected to rising steel prices around the world which improves the […]
Steel buyers need to be aware that there has been a jump in iron ore spot pricing in China over the past 48 hours. The Steel Index (TSI) reported 62% Fe fines into the port of Tianjin, China at $64.3/dmt (dry metric ton) up 4 percent from the previous day. This same item is up […]
The United Steelworkers filed a petition this week under Section 201 of U.S. trade law to attempt stem imports of primary unwrought aluminum. We are reporting on this because a number of companies/organizations having begun calling for the use of Section 201 to help stem unwanted steel imports (see article in tonight’s newsletter written by […]
Both these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. This month the historical data has been revised and we have updated our files back to January 2000. The index had an all-time high of 106.40 in January 2015 but on a month over month basis has declined for 13 of the […]
One of the issues confusing the sheet (flat rolled steel) marketplace is the Raw Steel Production report produced by the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI). This report is produced on a weekly and then again on a monthly basis. The weekly report is released every Monday afternoon and Steel Market Update publishes the data […]
The Empire State Manufacturing Survey reached its highest level in more than a year in April. The headline general business index rose 9 points to 9.6, continuing a second positive month with respondents reporting business conditions have improved. New orders picked up two points to register 11.1 after making strong gains in March. Shipments continued […]