Written by: Sandy Williams & John Packard with assistance from John Eckstein & Peter Wright. During our normal conversations with a number of our sources the Conflict Minerals Trade Act was mentioned in relation to a particular service center group. The discussion was centered on purchasing decisions being tied to suppliers in compliance with the […]
According to the results to our most recent SMU steel survey, those actively involved in the buying and selling of steel are mildly optimistic about their company’s ability to be successful in the current market conditions. The Steel Market Update (SMU) Steel Buyers Sentiment Index was measured at +27 which is unchanged from the middle […]
Written by: Sandy Williams The JPMorgan Global Manufacturing PMI was at a ten month high in January—rising three months in a row and posting at 51.5. Growth was led by the U.S. and Mexico, with China also showing its highest output in two years. Emerging markets did well but Europe and Japan dominated the lower […]
Written by: Sandy Williams In the January ISM Steel Buyers Survey, 50 percent of respondents said they had enough inventory on hand to cover 1-2 months (a decrease of 11 percent in December), while 33.3 percents had inventory to cover 2-3 months (up from 15.4 percent last month). Inventory on hand year-over-year was reported as […]
Written by: Sandy Williams The New Year began with promise for U.S. manufacturers. The ISM Manufacturing PMI registered 53.1 percent in January signaling expansion in the manufacturing sector for the second consecutive month and increasing 2.9 percent from December’s seasonally adjusted rate of 50.2. The overall economy rose for the 44th consecutive month according to […]
Our next Steel 101 workshop is looking like another well-rounded group with representatives from the manufacturing sector, service centers, metal building, scrap companies, steel mills and one of our own (Sandy Williams). We have had freight and railroad companies express interest, trading companies, the AIIS, rebar companies, full-line service centers, electrical companies, mining companies, steel […]
Written by: Sandy Williams The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index registered 55.6 in January, a 5.6 point increase from last month and the highest level since April 2012. Business Activity surged in production to 60.9 and new orders to 58.2, both 10 month highs. Employment registered 58.0, up 4.2 points from December and the largest gain […]
Steel Market Update likes to review the transcripts of the earnings conference calls between analysts and the steel mills to see what we can glean from the comments being made by the top executives at the mills. We found a number of items of interest in the U.S. Steel conference call. USS Running at 90% […]
Written by: Sandy Williams New orders and shipments for manufactured durable goods both rose in December. New orders increased $10 billion or 4.6 percent to $230.7 billion, rising for the fourth consecutive month according to figures released by the Department of Commerce. New orders have been up seven of the last eight months, with transportation […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Steel Dynamics doubled its fourth quarter earnings from last year. Net income was $60.57 in fourth quarter 2012 compared to $30.20 million in 2011, and $13 million in third quarter 2012. Results included a positive tax adjustment of $16 million. Steel shipments for the quarter dropped slightly from 1.464 million tons […]
Written by: Sandy Williams New construction starts leapt 23 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $530 billion according to data released by McGraw-Hill Construction. Total constructions starts for 2012 grew 6 percent to $463.6 billion for a moderate gain at a faster rate from the previous two years. Construction growth overall […]
Esmark Inc., Stahlschmidt Inc. and Bouchard Group LLC have announced the joint acquisition of Esmark Technologies. Esmark Technologies will provide technical management services across the steel, manufacturing and industrial sectors and will be based in Cleveland Ohio. Esmark Inc., founded by Chairman and CEO James Bouchard, has strong roots in the steel industry. Current interests […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) participates in a monthly conference call with HARDI wholesalers who sell galvanized sheet and coil into the HVAC mechanical contractors and related industries for residential and commercial construction applications. The purpose of the call is to discuss steel trends which may impact their regional businesses – this includes domestic mill and […]
An overwhelmingly majority of manufacturers reported service center spot prices as “stable” according to the results of our survey conducted this past week. A full 85 percent of those manufacturing respondents taking our mid-January survey reported no change in spot prices from their service center suppliers. This is an increase of 18 percent compared to […]
As Steel Market Update (SMU) checked with various market sources after the AK Steel price announcement we found most of the industry expecting the other domestic steel mills to follow the AK Steel pricing lead. At the same time, most buyers expect the net result to be an end to the current slide in pricing […]
Steel Market Update was founded because I felt the quality of information (as well as the sourcing of information) was not up to the standards I felt necessary when I was selling steel. I can remember contacting one of the periodicals and asking them why they were referencing prices in a certain way when the […]
On Tuesday, January 15th, Steel Market Update (SMU) began our second steel survey of the New Year. Our surveys are focused on the flat rolled steel market and are conducted by inviting slightly less than 700 companies who are asked to participate by invitation. Of those participating in last week’s survey 48 percent of the […]
Written by: Sandy Williams At least eight new steel plants are under construction in Asia (not including India) that will increase the annual output capacity of steel in Asia by 100 million tonnes within the next few years. Currently China accounts for nearly 50 percent of global steel demand with its own annual output capacity […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Metal forming companies are expecting a spike in business conditions in the next three months according to survey data released Wednesday by the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA). Survey data shows 32 percent of participants are expecting conditions to get better in the next three months (up from 22 percent in December) […]
SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment Index improved to +27 this week, this is 6 points better than the +21 measured during the first week of January and is almost back to the levels achieved during the middle of December (+28). However, current Sentiment is well below the +49 measured during the middle of January 2012 – […]
Steel Market Update (SMU) has developed an exceptional basic steel training program covering the steel industry (flat and long products). Our two day workshop, which we call – Steel 101: Introduction to Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals – is meant to provide a comprehensive review of the way steel is made by the blast/BOF or electric […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Construction employment is expected to rise in 2013 according to survey data presented by the Associated General Contractors of America in their construction industry outlook report for 2013. Of those firms surveyed in 30 states, 31 percent expect to add new staff this year while only 9 percent plan to make […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Conditions for New York manufacturers continue to decline at a modest pace according to the Empire State Manufacturing Survey for January 2013. The general business conditions index declined for the sixth consecutive month to -7.8 in January. New orders fell four points to -7.2 and the shipments index declined 15 points […]
Written by: Sandy Williams Schnitzer Steel, one of the largest U.S. manufacturer and exporter of recycled ferrous materials, reported adjusted operating income of $3 million for the first quarter of 2013, a drop of 81 percent from $15 million reported in first quarter 2011. The adjustment reflected a $2 million pre-tax restructuring charge associated with […]
Have tons to buy? Negotiate… What price you will pay for steel at the beginning of January will depend on a number of variables – but one thing is for certain – if you have tons to buy it is best to negotiate with your suppliers. At least that is what our sources have been […]
A quick note to remind our readers that our first Steel 101: Introduction to Steelmaking & Market Fundamentals workshop of the New Year will be held in Columbus, Mississippi and will include a tour of the Severstal Columbus mini-mill. We highly recommend our program for anyone who is new to the industry, executives who are […]
Forty-seven percent of manufacturing companies responding to last week’s steel survey reported demand as showing improvement over the next three months based on current order flows. During the survey, we asked the entire group being questioned, which consisted of manufacturing companies (44 percent), service centers (40 percent), steel mills (5 percent), trading companies (5 percent), […]
Manufacturing companies reported a slight uptick in service center spot prices – prices service centers are attempting to sell non-contract items to manufacturing companies on the open market – during the first week of January. Of the manufacturing companies responding to our survey, 25 percent – or a gain of 8 percentage points from the […]
After months of uncertainty related to governmental policies and the fiscal cliff negotiations (or lack thereof) combined with normal end of the year seasonal factors, steel buyers and sellers finished 2012 in the Optimistic range of the SMU Steel Buyers Sentiment index. During the first week of 2013 those same buyers and sellers were slightly […]
Written by: Sandy Williams The JP Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI rating increased to 50.2 in December from 49.6 last month according to data released in a composite index produced by JPMorgan and Markit in association with ISM and IFPSM. It is the first time the index has been above the neutral mark of 50.0 since […]