A downturn in business conditions is coming, said participants in the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Business Conditions Report for June. Fewer participants are expecting conditions to improve in the next three months (31 percent, down from 33 percent) and more are expecting that economic activity will decline (15 percent, up from 7 percent). PMA president […]
An increase in manufacturing activity in New York took analysts by surprise in June. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported the general business index in the Empire State Manufacturing Survey posted a reading of 19.28, up from 19.01 in May. Economists were expecting the index to decline to 15.0 in June. The new […]
Hello from New York City. If you are in the steel industry and you have never attended a Steel Success Strategies conference (or been a lobby rat hanging out in the hotel lobby and talking to people as they pass in and out of the hotel) then you need to do it at least one […]
“Following the doubling of steel production from 849 million tonnes in 2000 to 1.6 million tonnes in 2014, we are likely entering a period of consolidation, or at the very least, much reduced growth.” That is the opinion of Becky Hites, analyst and president of Steel-Insights, LLC in a June 7, 2014 report, Fixed Asset […]
John, When you mentioned the “Buy American” in response to South Korea dumping steel into America’s OCTG industry, I was reminded of a topic I would bring up with customers over dinner. I’d ask them, “What if we started a company called MIA,” a play on the words Made in America, as well as Missing […]
According to SMU sources, last week ArcelorMittal USA raised the minimum selling price on secondary grades of steel to approximately $500-$520 per ton ($25.00/cwt-$26.00/cwt). This has caused some concern within the industry with one fabricator who has been involved with secondary steel for the past 15 years reporting to Steel Market Update, “…I have been […]
A federal crackdown is needed on the import and dumping of cheap products in the U.S. said US Steel Corp CEO Mario Longhi to attendees at the West Virginia Manufacturers Association Leadership Summit on Monday. Longhi, known for his strong stance on foreign import trade regulations, told manufacturers at the meeting that stronger trade laws […]
A short note to let our Premium Level members know that our Steel Market Update survey results are online and can be accessed on the website. If you need assistance accessing any of the Premium products on our website please let me or Brett@SteelMarketUpdate.com know and we will help you. We are also sharing this […]
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on non-farm employment indicated that 217,000 jobs were added in May, April was revised down by 6,000 to 282,000 and March was unchanged. The three month moving average (3MMA) rose from 190,000 in March to 236,000 in April then declined by 2,000 in May, (Figure 1). All numbers […]
SMU Price Momentum Indicator Adjusted to Lower from Neutral: Steel Market Update conducted our early June flat rolled steel market analysis this past week. The results of our survey, coupled with information being gathered independently of our survey have prompted SMU to revise our SMU Price Momentum Indicator to Lower from Neutral. We now believe […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index is at +54 this week and continues to be well within the optimistic range for the index. Even though the index dropped 8 points from the all-time high recorded during the middle of May, the growing optimistic trend continues as our three month moving average improved to […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index is at +54 this week and continues to be well within the optimistic range for the index. Even though the index dropped 8 points from the all-time high recorded during the middle of May, the growing optimistic trend continues as our three month moving average improved to […]
US Steel says it will indefinitely idle two tubular manufacturing facilities in McKeesport, Pennsylvania and Bellville, Texas in early August. US Steel reported that the decision is a result of poor business conditions due to unfairly traded tubular steel products imported into the United States. The shutdown of the two facilities will impact approximately 415,000 […]
Manufacturing expanded for the 12th consecutive month in May according to the Manufacturing ISM Report on Business released by the Institute of Supply Management. The PMI registered 55.4 percent, an increase of 0.5 percent. The new orders index grew 1.8 points to 56.9. The production index gained 5.3 points to a reading of 61.0 percent. Employment continued […]
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 at present is thirty five, the Chicago Fed Mid-West Manufacturing Index is still on hold to enable the staff to complete a major re-vamp of the […]
Steel Market Update has been following the Armada Corporate Intelligence economists since we first heard Dr. Chris Kuehl present at a conference we attended earlier this year. We were so impressed with both Dr. Kuehl’s (pronounced Keel) presentation skills and their newsletter that we invited Dr. Kuehl to be a keynote speaker at this year’s […]
The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI made a modest uptick to 52.2 in May after dropping to a six month low of 51.9 in April. Faster expansion rates were seen in production, new orders and orders for new exports. Overall improvement, however, remains modest with the average rate of increase in business conditions lower than […]
For those of you who are paying attention to our website you might have noticed we added a new sub-menu under the Resources tab. The new menu is called “The Truth About Selling Steel” and we have attempted to split out those articles associated with sales from our Steel Buyers Basics series of articles many […]
Economic indicators were mostly positive in May. Housing starts and sales improved while the ABI dropped. Respondents to the various economic surveys were generally upbeat about future economic and business conditions. Steel buyers looked for more of the same activity for the next six months. The abbreviated breakdown follows. New home sales bounced back in […]
A flurry of promotions has elevated the positions of five executives at AK Steel, effective May 30, 2014. David C. Horn has been named Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Administrative Officer, and Secretary. Mr. Horn was previously the company’s Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary and will continue to be responsible for all […]
Steel imports to the U.S. totaled 3.7 million net tons according to preliminary data from the US Census Bureau but the reaction to this data depends on one’s point of view. The American Institute for International Steel (AIIS) and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) both came out with reports on April imports, but […]
Last week Steel Market Update conducted our mid-May flat rolled steel market analysis. We thought it would be interesting to compare what our respondents were thinking last week compared to the beginning of May regarding where hot rolled coil spot prices might be by the beginning of June. What our survey discovered was our respondents […]
Durable Goods, a measure of the health of the steel industry, saw new orders increase for the fourth consecutive month in April ,continuing the healthy trend that has existed since the recession. Both March and April were above trend, (Figure 1). The three month moving average (3MMA) increased in both March and April, (Figure 2). […]
Welcome back to those who have returned to your offices for the next big summer push. I spent a portion of my day today trying to get a sense of how business conditions are for those with whom I was speaking. With the exception of one service center located on the East Coast who told […]
Records seem to be breaking just about every time we measure how flat rolled steel buyers and sellers feel about their company’s ability to be successful in the current market environment. There has been a growing optimism within the steel community as business conditions improve for most market segments. This optimism is reported in our […]
Steel mill lead times remained extended (or from a mill perspective, at reasonable levels) on all products. Benchmark hot rolled lead times averaged 4.91 weeks which is essentially unchanged from the 5.00 weeks reported at the beginning of May. Last year at this time HRC lead times averaged 3.03 weeks. We are running approximately 2 […]
Lead times are reported as being relatively stable compared to two weeks ago, but down slightly from the cycle highs which were achieved within the past two months. Our manufacturing and service center respondents reported the domestic steel mills as becoming more flexible in their flat rolled steel price negotiations. Fifty percent of the manufacturing […]
Lead times are reported as being relatively stable compared to two weeks ago, but down slightly from the cycle highs which were achieved within the past two months. Our manufacturing and service center respondents reported the domestic steel mills as becoming more flexible in their flat rolled steel price negotiations. Fifty percent of the manufacturing […]
Demand is continuing to improve according to participants in our Steel Market Update (SMU) mid-May Steel Market Survey. Just over half of our respondents, 50.49 percent, said steel demand is improving, up from 47 percent in mid-April and less than one quarter in mid-March. This month we polled a group consisting mainly of manufacturing companies […]
A reminder that Steel Market Update will not publish this Sunday evening due to the Memorial Day Weekend Holiday here in the United States. We will publish our next steel newsletter on Tuesday. We wish everyone in the United States a safe, healthy and happy holiday weekend. Our September 3 & 4th Forecasting & Steel […]