Tag: Manufacturing

Automakers, construction, manufacturers raise concerns

If 2021 and 2022 was the party, 2024 is the morning after, one panelist said.

While Canada and Mexico bent the knee to push tariff implementation out another month, the US on Tuesday instituted an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods.

The Vienna-based global refractory product provider said this is its most significant investment since RHI and Magnesita merged in 2017

Following more than two years of contraction, US manufacturing activity rebounded in January according to the Institute for Supply Management.

North American auto assemblies dropped in December, a sharp 22.6% fall below November, reaching the lowest mark in over three years. Assemblies were also down 5.7% year on year (y/y), according to LMC Automotive data. December’s assemblies reached the lowest total since July 2021. Sentiment remains tempered as carmakers continue to downgrade and adjust vehicle […]

Day One of the second Trump administration did not bring tariffs, but it did signal that tariffs, and other major trade actions, are not far off.

The amount of manufacturers who are optimistic about the next three months rose by 5% to 35%.

Recent Federal Reserve data indicates that the US manufacturing sector remains healthy and stable. The strength of the manufacturing economy has a direct relationship to the health of the steel industry.

The incoming administration said it also wants to streamline permitting and roll back regulations.

“Price increases, while subdued, picked up,” Richard Deitz, Economic Research Advisor at the New York Fed. “Firms grew more optimistic that conditions would improve in the months ahead.”

Economic activity across the US experienced slight to moderate growth at the end of 2024, while manufacturing activity showed a slight decline

The company said the biggest headwind it's facing is the downturn in manufacturing.

“U.S. manufacturing activity contracted again in December, but at a slower rate compared to November,” according to Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

Most expect activity to hold steady or increase over the next three months.

Worthington Enterprises' profits edged down in its fiscal second quarter of 205 vs. a year earlier. The company said a slump in sales in the quarter was due largely to the "deconsolidation" of the Sustainable Energy Solutions segment in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.

“Manufacturers are optimistic,” said Timothy R. Fiore, chair of ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

Following a substantial recovery in November, business activity in New York state’s manufacturing sector held steady in December, according to the latest Empire State Manufacturing Survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Highlights from the aluminum industry this week

US manufacturing activity contracted again in November for the eighth consecutive month.

About 23% of respondents expect an uptick in economic activity in the next three months. That’s an increase over the 13% in October.

ITR economist Tyler St. Germain will join SMU for a Community Chat on Dec. 11 at 11 am ET. You can register here. The live webinar is free for all to attend. A recording will be available only to SMU members. We'll discuss the 2025-26 outlook for both the overall economy and also for manufacturing. We’ll in addition discuss how Trump administration policies when it comes to tariffs and immigration might impact the steel sector and key end use markets.

New York state’s manufacturing sector saw substantial recovery in November, according to the latest Empire State Manufacturing Survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

I joined in a Steel Market Update community chat last week. Predictably, many of the questions concerned the likely results of a Trump or Harris victory in the election. Like most people, I don’t know who will win. But by next week I probably will know. Here is my take, with an emphasis on steel policy. There are a surprising number of similarities between the Democratic and Republican candidates’ positions on steel policy. In part, that is because both candidates are going after the same voters—steel workers, whether unionized or not.

Domestic manufacturing contracted for the seventh straight month in October, according to the latest report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). This marks the 23rd time in the last 24 months that it has been in contraction.

Metalformers in the US and Canada expect a decline in economic activity in the coming months, according to the recently released October Business Conditions Report from the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA). Approximately 37% of surveyed manufacturers anticipate weaker business conditions over the next three months. This rate is up from 31% in September but a […]

Growth in the US economy continues to crawl with little change in most districts. The Federal Reserve’s October Beige Book report showed three-quarters of reporting districts with flat or declining economic activity.

Domestic steel champion Barry Zekelman joined SMU to discuss the latest issues impacting the US steel market.

After a brief pickup in September, manufacturing activity in New York state retreated into contraction, according to the October Empire State Manufacturing Survey.

US manufacturing activity contracted for the sixth consecutive month in September, according to the latest report from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM). The index has indicated a contracting industrial sector for 22 of the past 23 months.