On Wednesday, June 10, we will host our next SMU Community Chat webinar with our guest speaker Donald Bly, managing director of Applied Value. As with every SMU Community Chat webinar, this is free to the public. Feel free to invite others from your company as well as your suppliers and customers. Click here to […]
The World Steel Association (worldsteel) expects steel demand to contract by 5.4 percent in 2020 to 1.654 billion metric tons. The latest Short Range Outlook forecasts a recovery to 1.717 billion tons in 2021, a 3.8 percent increase over this year. Commenting on the outlook, Chairman of the worldsteel Economics Committee Al Remeithi said: “The […]
Census Bureau data for downstream steel product shipments lags but supports American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) data for crude steel production. The Census Bureau provides monthly data on manufacturing inventories, shipments and new orders for total U.S. manufacturing and for individual industries, one of which is steel products. Therefore, the Census Bureau provides a […]
There was positive net job creation in May following April’s disastrous report. The May jobs report was released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, after which the N.Y. Times reported: “Employers added 2.5 million jobs in May, defying economists’ expectations of further losses and offering hope that the rebound from the pandemic-induced economic […]
In May, manufacturing gained back 17 percent of April’s job losses, while construction gained back 47 percent, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data. The net change in employed persons was negative 20.7 million in April and positive 2.5 million in May. Table 1 breaks total employment down into service and goods-producing industries […]
The House has proposed an infrastructure bill that would provide $494 billion over the next five years to improve the nation’s highways, rails and transit systems. The INVEST in America Act includes $319 billion for highway investment, $105 billion for transit agencies, $10 billion for motor vehicle safety and $60 billion for rail investment. The […]
There is much to discuss, much to learn… As trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz lays out in his article/opinion piece this evening, there are no easy solutions to issues built over decades. International manufacturing companies need to review their supply chains to ensure they are not doing business in countries potentially hostile to the United States. […]
Section 232 tariffs will likely remain in place no matter who is the White House in January, said trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz during the SMU Community Chat on June 3. Legal challenges to the tariff measures, however, could cause a change. Firms are challenging the Section 232 exclusion process that appears skewed toward U.S. steel […]
By CRU Analyst Iris Speelmanns, from CRU’s Global Steel Trade Service The spread of Covid-19 has resulted in an annualized loss of 284 Mt of steel capacity outside China. Slowly easing lockdown measures in most regions have allowed for the resumption of some industrial activities and steel producers in some countries are restarting their operations, […]
SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors (davidfeldstein@rocktradingadvisors.com, twitter @TheFeldstein). In addition to market analysis, RTA provides price risk management not only for ferrous products, but also base metals, energy and interest rates. RTA also trains sales staff and creates the infrastructure necessary for firms to offer their customers fixed pricing on […]
Editor’s note: SMU Contributor David Feldstein is president of Rock Trading Advisors. David has over 20 years of financial market trading experience and has been active in the ferrous futures space for eight years. David earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with concentrations in economics, statistics and analytical finance. Since […]
Rates of contraction eased in the latest analysis of global manufacturing by J.P. Morgan and IHS Markit. The J.P. Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI rose to 42.4 in May from 39.6 in April, but remained well in contraction territory. “Rates of contraction for many of the survey variables, including output, new orders, new export business, quantity […]
Total U.S. construction declined by 2.9 percent in April, compared with March, on a seasonally adjusted basis. On a non-adjusted basis, data for April had a positive growth of 2.3 percent, which was unusually low for this time of year. Normally April expenditures are about 8 percent higher than March. On a year-over-year basis and […]
We had a good webinar with Lewis Leibowitz yesterday (Wednesday). Our next SMU Community Chat webinar will be held next Wednesday, June 10, and our featured guest speaker will be James Banker, Jr., Executive Vice President, NLMK USA. Banker will be the first steel mill to participate in one of our webinars. Jim has a […]
The 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference will be a virtual conference this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage companies to learn more about how we intend to present valuable information on a wide range of topics of imporance to the greater steel community. We will discuss and forecast steel prices, the economy and […]
The 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference will be a virtual conference this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is disappointing that we are not able to do a live conference, but we think we are going to provide a solid alternative that will feed your need to interact with multiple companies who buy and sell […]
The 2020 SMU Steel Summit Conference will be a virtual conference this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is disappointing that we are not able to do a live conference, but we think we are going to provide a solid alternative that will feed your need to interact with multiple companies who buy and sell […]
Harry Moser’s phone and email have been ringing off the hook. Moser is the founder and president of the Reshoring Initiative, whose mission is to convince companies to bring manufacturing, and manufacturing jobs, back to America. Reshoring was already gaining momentum prior to the coronavirus outbreak, but the pandemic has infected the marketplace with a […]
Auto sales in May are expected to be up 49 percent from April as the economy starts to reopen, says Cox Automotive. Sales are forecast to finish the year around 11.4 million vehicles, better than last month’s annual rate of 8.6 million, but far below the 17.4 million level seen in 2019, said Cox. “Recent […]
The Institute for Supply Management’s May Report on Business showed improvement, with the manufacturing PMI rising to 43.1 percent from a reading of 41.6 percent the previous month. The PMI score was at a contraction level not seen since April 2009, but the slight uptick was a promising sign. Manufacturers, however, continue to be guarded regarding […]
Domestic steelmakers raised prices twice during the month of May, by a total of $90-100 per ton, hoping to establish a floor and set the stage for recovery in anticipation of improving demand as coronavirus restrictions ease in June and July. Service center and manufacturing executives responding to Steel Market Update’s market trends questionnaire this […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: Editor’s note: Lewis Leibowitz will be the featured speaker during the next SMU Community Chat at 11 a.m. on Wednesday. Register for the free webinar by clicking on this link. It is hard to believe that three months […]
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington: As an international trade attorney, I work hard to explain why we as a nation engage in international trade; this week, two senior administration officials weighed in on that subject. Everyone should take note. I think Ambassador Robert […]
The Chicago Business Barometer dropped to 32.3 in May, indicating further pressure on the manufacturing sector due to the COVID-19 crisis. The barometer was at its lowest level since March 1982. After seeing a dramatic drop in demand during April, new orders fell 2.3 points in May. Production fell 6.3 percent putting the index at […]
New data from U.S. Federal Reserve Districts shows economic activity declined in all regions of the country in April and May due to disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost all areas of economic activity were negatively impacted during the period. Most districts reported a severe drop in manufacturing activity with production especially weak in […]
Covid-19 restrictions kept consumers and businesses from buying big ticket items last month, causing manufactured durable goods orders to plummet 17.2 percent in April. The new data from the Commerce Department follows a 16.6 percent decline in orders during March. Transportation orders, always a volatile data point, plunged 47.3 percent in April. The auto industry […]
Ferrous scrap remains in limited supply, prompting predictions that scrap prices will settle still higher in June, on top of the big increase in May. Steel Market Update sources forecast an increase of $10-20 per ton for obsolete grades and $20-30 per ton for prime grades in June from May levels. Higher scrap prices may […]
Barry Zekelman will be the guest speaker for our upcoming SMU Community Chat webinar. The free webinar will be held at 11 AM ET on Wednesday, May 27. Zekelman Industries buys 200,000 tons of steel each and every month. Their customers are associated with construction, energy, agriculture and many other market segments critical to the […]
Neither rosy nor the voice of doom, IHS Markit analyst John Anton offered a realistic assessment of the U.S. economic recovery post-COVID-19 during Wednesday’s SMU Community Chat Webinar. Recovery from the current recession will not be a quick V-shaped rebound, said Anton, who is associate director of IHS Markit’s Pricing and Purchasing Service. Instead, he […]
By CRU Analyst Nikki Ni, from CRU’s Steel Monitor Over the past month, Chinese steel demand has accelerated, resulting in lower inventories while output remained at a high level. The ongoing demand recovery has improved the Steel PMI to 45.9 in April, up by 3.7pp m/m. Despite being below the 50-mark, the consecutive m/m improvement […]