Steel buyers in the November ISM Steel Buyers Survey are expecting general economic activity and sales and production to remain at current levels for the next six months. Eighty percent of buyers said general economic activity will remain the same while 90 percent expect the trend for sales and production in their industry to be […]
Part of my talk at the 2014 HARDI conference was regarding galvanized imports which reached 325,000 net tons in October and appear will be approximately 300,000 tons when the November Census Data numbers are released later this month. To put this into perspective, at this point last year the U.S. received 150,000 net tons and […]
SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index came in at +52 this week. This is the same reading we got back in the middle of November 2014 The +52, which is within the optimistic range for our index, was 10 points less enthusiastic than what we measured at the beginning of November. One year ago our current […]
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 36. The Chicago Fed Mid-West Manufacturing Index which was suspended earlier this year was expected to be re-instituted this month but […]
Each month the Commerce Department issues its construction put in place (CPIP) data, usually on the first working day covering activity two months earlier. October data was released on December 2nd. Construction put in place is based on spending work as it occurs, estimated for a given month from a sample of projects. In effect […]
It has now been five weeks (October 28th) since AK Steel became the first domestic steel mill to announce a price increase on flat rolled steel. The relatively modest $20 per ton move was, in many steel buyers’ opinions, meant to stem the decline in steel prices. At that point in time benchmark hot rolled […]
The Institute of Supply Management released their November report on December 2nd and after the October surprise on the upside, the index slid back slightly from 59.0 to 58.7. However, this is still the third best result of the year. Any number >50 indicates expansion and this was the eighteenth straight month for which this […]
Manufacturing expansion slowed around the globe in November. The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI dropped to 51.8 indicating the slowest pace of growth in 15 months. New order growth posted a 16 month low as international trade languished. Commenting on the survey, David Hensley, Director of Global Economics Coordination at JPMorgan, said: “The global manufacturing […]
Big River Steel has asked a federal court to block the Clean Air Act challenge mounted by Nucor last August. In a court filing on Friday, Big River Steel said the challenge is a “collateral attack” by Nucor. Big River Steel received the necessary permits from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (AEDQ) to build […]
The Chicago Business Barometer dropped 5.4 points to 60.8 in November, wiping out October’s sharp increase, and moving closer to September’s level of 60.5. Manufacturing growth continues but at a slower pace. New orders slid 11.7 points to 61.9 following a one year high in October. Overall, barring an unexpected December decline, orders should be […]
Durable goods orders in October rose by 0.4 percent from September to $243.8 billion but the three month moving average (3MMA) declined by 7.1 percent. The problem with the 3MMA was that the huge surge in July which was driven by civil aircraft fell out of the calculation. The October result is close to the […]
Monday is December 1st. This means we will begin our early December flat rolled steel market survey first thing Monday morning. Look for your invitation around 8 AM ET on Monday. If you receive an invitation please take a few minutes to click on the link and respond to our questionnaire which is housed on […]
It has been a very quiet week due to the Thanksgiving Holiday here in the U.S. on Thursday. A number of service centers advised SMU that the number of inquiries had dramatically fallen off and there isn’t much need to buy steel at this time. The question isn’t so much where are prices this week […]
The Sparrows Point blast furnace is scheduled for demolition sometime within the next few days or weeks, according to Sparrows Point Terminal LLC, the current owners of the site. Officials said the 320-foot tall L blast furnace will be imploded by Controlled Demolition Inc on a weekday in December. The furnace from the former Bethlehem […]
Once the site of the largest steel mill in North America, Sparrows Point is being demolished piece by piece. The former Bethlehem Steel plant was put into bankruptcy by its last steel owner, RG Steel and the new owners have sold off the equipment and the buildings have been scrapped. The last major structure left […]
Last week Steel Market Update (SMU) conducted our mid-November flat rolled steel market survey. We invited approximately 600 companies to participate representing manufacturing, steel service centers, trading companies, steel mills, toll processors and suppliers to the steel industry. Last week’s participation mix was very similar to what we see on a regular basis with 46 […]
We understand from press reports in the Baltimore, Maryland area that the new owners of Sparrows Point will announce on Monday, November 24th when the “L” blast furnace will be demolished. It is expected that the furnace, which is one of the tallest structures for miles around, will be taken down sometime in December. The […]
Buyers and sellers of steel are beginning to feel the strain of reduced demand (whether seasonal or otherwise), stable to falling steel prices and a very competitive service center spot market which impacts distributors margins. The bottom line is those actively involved in the flat rolled steel industry in the United States and Canada are […]
Manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area took a huge jump in November. The headline Index for the Philadelphia Manufacturing Business Outlook survey gained more than 20 points, rising from 20.7 in October to 40.8 in November. The surge is surprising given economists expected a drop in the index to 18.5. The dramatic upswing was met […]
Industrial production and manufacturing capacity utilization, both of these data points are reported in the Federal Reserve G17 data base. The IP Index was reported as 104.86 for October a decline of 0.11 percent from September. This is another example where the individual months result can be misleading. The three month moving average (3MMA) was […]
On October 28, 2014 AK Steel announced a $20 per ton ($1.00/cwt) price increase on hot rolled, cold rolled and galvanized steels. Shortly after, ArcelorMittal and then Nucor advised their customers of specific base price levels on new spot flat rolled orders. Hot rolled was to be offered at $33.00/cwt ($660 per ton or higher) […]
Each month the Bureau of Labor Statistics, (BLS) puts out its series of producer price indexes, for thousands of goods and materials. The latest release on Tuesday reported October results. We run this analysis every three months to give readers an opportunity to become aware of any changes in the competitive position of steel against […]
The way our market surveys work is we invite approximately 600 companies to participate. Each individual receives and email invitation with a link to the survey which is hosted on SurveyMonkey.com. The first few questions are posed to the entire group. We asked questions related to our SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index, general demand and […]
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/– United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) today announced the executive leadership for three of the company’s newly created commercial entities. Joseph R. Scherrbaum will serve as acting vice president – Industrial Solutions, Geoff M. Turk will serve as vice president – Service Center Solutions and Lawrence W. Sutherland will serve […]
PITTSBURGH, Nov. 18, 2014 — United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) today announced the executive leadership for three of the company’s newly created commercial entities. Joseph R. Scherrbaum will serve as acting vice president – Industrial Solutions, Geoff M. Turk will serve as vice president – Service Center Solutions and Lawrence W. Sutherland will serve […]
US Steel announced a realignment of its reporting segments in order to meet strategic goals set forth in its Carnegie Way transformation. The North American flat-rolled segment will include creation of commercial entities to address specific markets. The realignment will take effect by January 1, 2015. “These commercial entities will put our company in a […]
Steel buyers in the October ISM Steel Buyers Survey are expecting general economic activity to remain unchanged for the next six months. When asked about the trend for sales and production during the six month period, seventy-five percent responded “the same.” A solid 91.7 percent of steel buyers said the trend for incoming orders will […]
Manufacturing activity in New York expanded at a faster pace in November, according to the Empire State Manufacturing Index, but missed analyst expectations. The Index rebounded to 10.2 from 6.17 in October but failed to reach the forecast reading of 12. The October and November readings are significantly lower than the May through September average […]
WASHINGTON, DC –The Board of Directors of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) today elected three new members to its Board of Directors. Lourenco Goncalves, Chairman, President and CEO of Cliffs Natural Resources, Inc.; Roger K. Newport, Senior Vice President, Finance and CFO of AK Steel Corporation; and Conrad J. Winkler, President and CEO […]
Evraz Claymont Steel is slated for demolition by Commercial Development Company, Inc. (CDC). The Delaware mill, which has been idled since December 2013, will be sold by Evraz to CDC for an undisclosed figure by the end of the year. CDC plans to “take the site through a brownfield-cleanup process, which will include the demolition […]