Steel Dynamics expects its second-quarter earnings to be significantly lower than first-quarter results. Adjusted earnings per diluted share are expected to be in the range of $0.40 to $0.44, well below $0.88 per share reported in Q1. The decline in earnings is due to lower steel demand and selling prices attributed to the temporary closures […]
Mexican steelmakers Altos Hornos de México (AHMSA) and Villacero have a signed a non-binding agreement to merge assets as a new company. The agreement gives the two parties 90 days to complete regulatory documents to move forward with the reported $300 million deal. A June 18 filing with the Mexican Stock Exchange said: “The agreement […]
Flat rolled steel price momentum, for spot pricing out of the domestic mills, continues to be in transition, and the SMU Price Momentum Indicator is at Neutral. Neutral means spot mill pricing could go in either direction over the next 30 days. However, SMU and our parent company CRU have both been reporting lower spot […]
Flat rolled steel price momentum, for spot pricing out of the domestic mills, continues to be in transition, and the SMU Price Momentum Indicator is at Neutral. Neutral means spot mill pricing could go in either direction over the next 30 days. However, SMU and our parent company CRU have both been reporting lower spot […]
The term “sustainability” is most often associated with environmentalism. True to the word, U.S. Steel’s 2019 Sustainability Report details the steelmaker’s mission to reduce its global greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity by 20 percent over the next decade. But what makes a company’s success “sustainable” over the long term goes far beyond environmental considerations, said […]
The U.S. auto industry is facing a slew of challenges as it emerges from the COVID-19 crisis and plunges into preparations to meet USMCA compliance on July 1. The Center for Automotive Research presented a discussion with Gov. Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council and former governor of Missouri, on the state […]
New York manufacturing conditions stabilized in June after two months of record decline. The Empire State Manufacturing Survey general business index climbed 48.5 points to register -0.2, well outpacing economic forecasts for a reading between -27 and -35. Thirty-six percent of firms surveyed indicated business conditions had improved, compared to 15 percent in May. New […]
My understanding from industry sources is that JSW Mingo Junction has returned their EAF and hot strip mill back to production this week. The mill was idled in April with JSW doing some work on the equipment. This will put some cheaper hot rolled coil into the market (one mill commercial officer telling me they […]
Steel buyers’ attitudes, as measured by Steel Market Update’s Sentiment Indexes, have improved steadily since their low point in the first week of April and are now approaching pre-coronavirus levels once again. Industry executives are clearly feeling more positive about their prospects as the economy begins to normalize. Current Sentiment has improved by 40 points […]
On Wednesday, June 17, 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 […]
On Wednesday, June 17, 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 […]
Every other week Steel Market Update conducts an analysis of the flat rolled and plate steel market trends. This is done via a comprehensive questionnaire, invitations for which are sent to more than 600 individuals representing more than 550 companies. We intentionally weight the invitations heavily to individuals from manufacturing and steel service centers. Combined […]
By CRU Senior Analyst Ryan McKinley, from CRU’s Metallics Monitor The CRU metallics price indicator (CRUmpi) increased slightly in June, rising by 2.9 percent m/m to 208.3. The reduction in lockdowns and other Covid-19-related restrictions across the globe allowed scrap to become more readily available as demand increased in major importing markets. In the near term, we […]
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 […]