We normally reserve Employment articles for our Premium members but felt this would be a good piece to share with our Executive members as well. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday in their analysis of non-farm employment that 38,000 jobs were added in May, a result so poor and unexpected as to […]
This Key Markets Indicator report is something we produce for our Premium level clients. However, we thought that our Executive level readers would appreciate knowing why we continue to be bullish on the direction of the market based on our analysis of the Key Market Indicators. An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel continue to be optimistic regarding their company’s ability to be successful in both the current market environment as well as looking out three to six months into the future. The SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index for Current Sentiment rose +2 points from mid-May at +69. One year ago […]
An explanation of the Key Indicators concept is given at the end of this piece for those readers who are unfamiliar with it. The total number of indicators considered in this analysis is currently 34. Please refer to Table 1 for the view of the present situation and the quantitative measure of trends. Readers should […]
Flat rolled steel mill lead times continue to be extended according to those responding to this week’s steel market trends analysis (lead times are the amount of time it takes for an order placed today until the steel is produced and shipped out of the domestic steel mill). Lead times now average two weeks or […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its Construction Put in Place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. April data was released on Wednesday June 1st. Construction Put in Place is based on spending work as it occurs, estimated for a given month from a sample of projects. In […]
The metalforming industry is expecting a slight dip in business conditions in the next three months according to the May 2016 Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report. The May report, sampling 114 metalforming companies in the United States and Canada, indicated companies are expecting incoming order levels to remain unchanged during the next few […]
Manufacturing grew for the third straight month according to supply executives surveyed in the ISM Manufacturing Report on Business. The May PMI was 51.3, up 0.5 percent from April. Although the PMI didn’t have a large gain, the three month upward trend is good news since the PMI was in contraction (below 50) from October […]
Global manufacturing appeared stagnant in May, according to the JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI. The composite index was at the no change mark of 50.0, nearly the same as April’s reading of 50.1. Production and new orders hovered just above the 50 mark while new export orders fell at one of the fastest rates in […]
My understanding is most of the mills canceled any scrap not yet delivered by the end of May. They do this when they believe scrap negotiations for June will result in better prices for them. It is still very early in the negotiation process, especially considering that Monday was a holiday. One scrap expert told […]
Manufacturing continues to be sluggish in the Midwest according to the latest survey by MNI Indicators. The MNI Chicago Business Barometer dropped back into contraction for a reading of 49.3, the lowest level since February and the sixth time below 50 in the past 12 months. Both new orders and production fell below 50 between […]
Both of these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The index had an all-time high of 106.40 in January 2015 and has had a mixed performance ever since. In 2016 month over month growth has been positive for two months and negative for two month. In April M/M growth on […]
To all of our U.S. readers, welcome back from the Memorial Day Holiday. Each holiday is a big deal to me as this past weekend was one of those rare occasions where I wasn’t writing or studying the market every day and was able to actually take a couple of days off and give my […]
According to a report by Platts, Eurofer has petitioned the European Commission to expand its AD investigation into imports of HRC from China to include HRC from Turkey, Russia, Brazil, Iran and the Ukraine. Charles de Lusignan, Communications Manager for Eurofer, said he could not confirm or deny that report. It is Eurofer’s policy not […]
One of the most important indices a steel buyer (or seller) can follow is that of the value of the U.S. dollar vs. the currency of the key steel trading nations. As the dollar value rises or falls, commodities, including steel, tend to be affected. Currency update articles are normally reserved for our Premium Members […]
New orders for durable goods in April increased 3.4 percent to $235.9 billion from March’s upwardly revised figure of 1.9 percent, according to the advance report from the Department of Commerce. Durable goods are manufactured products that are expected to last at least three years. Transportation orders led the increase with a jump of 8.9 […]
The American Manufacturing and Competitiveness Act of 2016 was passed by Congress and signed into law on May 20, 2016. The bill H.R. 4923 creates a transparent process for businesses to request duty suspensions and reductions on imported products for which there is no, or insufficient, domestic availability. The bill calls for regular updates to […]
The following article was written by Lisa Reisman, Managing Director and CEO Of Azul Partners, Inc., on May 24, 2016 and is reprinted with permission of MetalMiner: Jennifer Diggins is the director of Government Affairs at Charlotte, N.C.-based Nucor Corp., the largest steelmaker in the U.S. and North America’s largest recycler of any material (Nucor […]
Steel Market Update received a note from trade attorney Lewis E. Leibowitz regarding an “ex parte” memorandum from former Michigan Governor and current President of the Business Rountable, John Engler, about the AD investigation of imports of cold rolled steel from Japan. Mr. Engler was intervening on behalf of Steelcase and their subsidiary PolyVision which […]
Twice per month Steel Market Update (SMU) conducts our flat rolled steel market trends analysis. During the process we find out how buyers and sellers are feeling about their company’s ability to be successful in the current steel environment (SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index) and we probe many other areas of interest to those manufacturing, […]
We received this letter from a very large manufacturing company located in the United States. We are unable to identify the company but we think the questions posed to SMU should be aired and a dialogue begun within the manufacturing and steel industry. This is a topic which will be discussed at our Steel Summit […]
Steel Market Update was speaking with a trader on the West Coast about the USS/POSCO $150 per ton ($7.50/cwt) price increase announcement made late last week. The expectation is for California Steel Industries (CSI) to open their order books early this week. The trader shared a story about the steel market that existed in 2004 […]
In this evening’s issue we have quite a bit of information about China and the debate regarding Chinese exports, over-capacity and perhaps implosion of steel prices by the end of June. We also have a letter from a manufacturing company who asked the question, why don’t we accept the transfer of wealth from China to […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel continue to remain optimistic about their company’s ability to be successful in the current market environment (our Current Sentiment Index). On a single data point our Current Sentiment Index was down -1 point from the beginning of May. However, we prefer to use the three month moving average […]
On Monday of this week, Steel Market Update began canvassing the flat rolled steel market as part of our mid-May flat rolled steel market trends analysis. One of the areas we probe is that of mill lead times, the amount of time it takes to get an order produced for new orders placed this week. […]
Manufacturing conditions were essentially unchanged in Philadelphia in May. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Manufacturing Business Outlook registered -1.8 on the diffusion index, the eighth month of negative readings in the last nine months. The slip was a surprise to analysts who forecast a rise to 3.0 for the index. The new orders index decreased from […]
New York manufacturers reported declining general business conditions in the May Empire State Manufacturing Survey. The headline index fell 19 points to -9.0. The indexes for shipments and new orders both fell into negative numbers at -1.94 and -5.54, respectively. The three month moving average (3MMA) of the index rose from -2.15 in April to […]
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 […]