Last week Steel Market Update invited approximately 600 companies to participate in our mid-December 2013 flat rolled steel market survey. Of the companies responding this past week, 49 percent were manufacturing companies, 39 percent were service centers/wholesalers, 4 percent trading companies, 3 percent steel mills, 3 percent toll processors and 2 percent suppliers to the […]
Of the three main ways of procuring prepainted flat rolled steel described in my last article, buying from a service center is the simplest. Service Centers will quote a price that can be compared apples to apples against one other. In addition a good Service Center can consult on the correct specifications and will also […]
Manufacturing activity slowed in the Second and Third Districts in December and fell in the Tenth. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported the general manufacturing index for the region at 1.0, up three points from November but indicating flat conditions for the month. Likewise, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia (Third District) reported […]
The Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index was reported this week to be +37 which is 2 points lower than our last reading made during the first week of December. Nonetheless, SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment is well within the optimistic range of our index where it has been for 24 consecutive months. Sentiment […]
Financial Markets: Well two weeks back the S+P held that 1775 zone it tested. It has since rallied back to new highs yesterday at 1806.75, this for the March future. Yesterday the Fed announced the beginning of the easing of the easing, or bond buyback program. The Fed will start to taper their bond buying […]
Steel Dynamics issued its fourth quarter 2013 guidance on Tuesday reporting earnings in the range of $0.21 to $0.25 per diluted share, below analyst estimates ranging from $0.26 to $0.31. SDI announced a quarterly cash dividend of $0.11 per share. Earnings are expected to be comparable to those of third quarter. Higher steel pricing is […]
Detroit automaker GM and Ford are going into an expansion mode that will add nearly 6000 new US auto industry jobs in 2014. GM plans to invest $1.3 billion at five US plants in 2014 that will create or retain about 1000 jobs said retiring GM CEO Dan Akerson in his remarks on Monday to […]
U.S. industrial production jumped 1.1 percent in November after inching up a revised 0.1 percent in October, according to information released by the Federal Reserve Board on Dec. 16. Manufacturing output increased 0.6 percent for its fourth consecutive monthly gain. Utilities saw a surge of 3.9 percent as winter weather boosted demand for heating. Automobile […]
The December Empire State Manufacturing Survey indicated disappointing manufacturing conditions for December. The survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported the general index at 1.0, up three points from November but indicating almost no change in activity for the month. The new orders index rose slightly but stayed in negative territory at […]
In recent years coil coated painted steel (where a full coil of steel is painted on a continuous coil coating line) has been replacing post-painted steel (where steel parts formed bare are then painted one-by-one). It seems unlikely at first glance that painted coil coated steel can been formed into finished parts (like roof panels […]
The next three months are looking good to metalforming companies in the Dec. 2013 Precision Metalforming Association Business Conditions Report. The number of participants that forecast an improvement in economic activity during the next three months jumped to 41 percent, up from 27 percent in November. Likewise, incoming orders are expected to spike with 43 […]
My final thoughts will be brief this evening. I would like to remind both service centers and manufacturing companies if your company has news – expansion plans, new executives, bringing a plant back to North America from overseas, etc. we would like to know. Please send any press releases or correspondence to: info@SteelMarketUpdate.com My feet […]
The other day Steel Market Update wrote an article about steel buyers anticipating a flat rolled steel price increase announcement out of the domestic mills prior to the end of the year. Not everyone is a believer that will occur and we got several emails and phone calls pointing out short lead times at a […]
Commerce Department data through October 2013. Focus on private construction. The Commerce Department compiles their information based on the source of financing. These categories are, private, state + local and federal. There are a huge number of sub categories in the private and state + local construction expenditure categories, not so many in federal where […]
The U.S. service centers are believers and, according to their customers as well as the distributors themselves, they are raising spot prices on flat rolled steel. It has been Steel Market Update’s opinion for quite some time that for domestic mill price increases to continue to rise the service centers need to support the increases […]
Net job creation in November 2013 was 203,000 of which 159,000 were service providing and 44,000 were goods producing. This was the best goods producing result since February this year. Since February 2010, manufacturing has added 554,000 jobs and construction 329,000. In November the private sector added 196,000 jobs and government added 7,000. Of the […]
One month ago the domestic steel mills and their manufacturing and service center contract customers were locked in a battle over where pricing would be beginning in January 2014 with many mills firming opposed to the negotiated CRU minus and buckets deal made common over the past couple of years. When we polled our respondents […]
We continue to get positive feedback regarding the new SMU website. As with any new site as complicated as ours is there will be a few bugs and a learning curve to negotiate through in the early stages. We are working through those and believe we are offering a unique experience for those involved in […]
Buyers and sellers of flat rolled steel continue to be optimistic about their company’s ability to be successful in the current market conditions. Based on the results of our early December steel market analysis, SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index was measured at +39. This is up 6 points from our last reading and well within […]
Each month Steel market Update publishes a table of 38 indicators that we believe captures the essence of the steel market and its drivers. Six of these indicators deal with construction which we believe consumes about 22 percent of all steel products in the US at present. Table 1 shows the construction section of the […]
One of the keys when determining the strength and or weakness of the flat rolled steel markets is through what is being reported by buyers regarding mill lead times. We have found our analysis, through the use of our steel market survey, provides a better look at the average lead times and changes to those […]
Steel buyers are showing a little less confidence that the trend for general economic activity will improve in the next six months according to the ISM Steel Buyers Survey for November. The percentage of buyers who believe activity will remain the same increased from 46.2 percent to 66.7 percent this month with the balance expecting […]
US automakers had a stellar month, beating analyst auto sales forecasts with November sales of 1,238,322 vehicles. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate for November soared to 16.4 million, well above 15.3 million a year ago. General Motors delivered 212,060 vehicles in November, its highest November sales in six years. Retail sales were up 19 percent […]
The Empire State Manufacturing Index business conditions held steady for New York manufacturers in October. The general business index fell 5 points to 1.5 but remained in growth status. The new orders index rose 5 points while shipping fell 3 points, suggesting modest increases for both indexes for the month. New York manufacturers continued to […]
Negotiations on 2014 flat rolled steel contracts are heating up. Sources are advising Steel Market Update that there has been some movement in the negotiation process by the domestic mills which has allowed a number of the mills to close some 2014 business. We are also hearing from multiple sources of a move by buyers […]
The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI rose to 53.2 in November from 52.1 in October, indicating a faster improvement in overall operating conditions. Manufacturing output and new orders rose at the quickest pace since February 2011. A moderate rise in employment was reported the US, Japan, the UK, India, Taiwan, South Korea, Turkey, Vietnam, Canada […]
The November ISM Report for November 2013 indicated expansion in the manufacturing sector for the sixth consecutive month and the highest PMI (purchasing mangers index) reading for the year. The PMI registered 57.3 percent, up from 56.4 percent in October. Indices for new orders, production, employment and exports picked up their pace of growth in […]
The Chicago Fed Midwest Manufacturing Index (CFMMI) is a monthly estimate by major industry of manufacturing output in the Seventh Federal Reserve District states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin. It is a composite index of 15 manufacturing industries that uses hours worked data to measure monthly changes in regional activity. The three month […]
The Fifth District Manufacturing Index surged to 13 in November from an index reading of 1 in October. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, almost all business activity indicators rose except for capacity utilization and backlog of orders, which were flat for the month. The index for shipments advanced 18 points while the […]
One of the questions we hear on a continuous basis is, how much foreign flat rolled steel import is really coming and what impact will it have on domestic steel prices (and when)? Steel Market Update conducted our most recent analysis of the flat rolled steel market over this past week. Based on the responses […]